MEMORIAL COLISEUM “My Old Kentucky Home” • Capacity 8,000 The women’s team has carved a 357-140 (71.8) home-court record into the history of the Coliseum, including a 67-12 (84.8) record under Coach Matthew Mitchell. Over the past three seasons, the Cats have compiled an impressive 47-2 (95.9%) record in the storied Coliseum and have ranked in the nation’s top 25 in average attendance nine consecutive seasons.
HOME ATTENDANCE AVERAGES Year Games 2011-12 (13th) 18 2010-11 (11th) 15 2009-10 (14th) 17 2008-09 (21st) 17 2007-08 (23rd) 18 2006-07 (13th) 15 2005-06 (20th) 15 2004-05 (20th) 19 2003-04 (16th) 14 2002-03 13 2001-02 11 2000-01 12 1999-00 12 1998-99 10 1997-98 11 1996-97 10 1995-96 11 1994-95 13 1993-94 13 1992-93 13 1991-92 13 1990-91 14 1989-90 14 1988-89 13 1987-88 16 1986-87 13 1985-86 16 1984-85 16 1983-84 17 1982-83 17 1981-82 19 1980-81 15 1979-80 15
Total Att. 113,068 ! 95,453 95,615 75,194 85,769 87,943 77,411 90,663 72,553 22,024 12,681 17,746 29,643 18,443 15,728 6,817 8,456 15,540 17,649 19,511 17,087 16,011 18,777 14,575 13,400 18,025 18,887 23,990 18,880 61,975 41,000 29,224 22,500
! New Season Record Years include games at Rupp Arena 1974-79 attendance not available
Avg. 6,282 6,364 ! 5,624 4,423 4,765 5,863 5,161 4,772 5,182 1,694 1,153 1,479 2,470 1,844 1,430 682 769 1,195 1,358 1,501 1,314 1,143 1,341 1,121 837 1,386 1,180 1,499 1,110 # 3,645 2,158 1,948 1,500
• UK’s 18-0 home record in 2011-12 was just the third undefeated home season in UK history. The 1980-81 (15-0) and 2009-10 (17-0) teams also went undefeated. • The attendance of 14,508 vs. Duke in Rupp Arena set a new school record. • The attendance of 7,961 for the Tennessee game on Jan. 12, 2012 was the sixth-highest attendance in Memorial Coliseum history. • In 18 home games last season, a school-record 113,068 fans passed through the turnstiles, breaking the previous record of 95,615 set in 2009-10.
# Led the nation
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Situated along Euclid Avenue on the University of Kentucky campus, Memorial Coliseum is the home of one of the richest basketball traditions in the nation. It is also home to the University of Kentucky women’s basketball team, a team that has returned glory and excitement to a facility that has known a wealth of both. For 25 years, the historic coliseum housed the renowned Kentucky Wildcats men’s team, which won two national championships and 16 Southeastern Conference titles while playing in the facility under the direction of legendary coaches Adolph Rupp and Joe B. Hall. When the Wildcats moved downtown to 23,000-seat Rupp Arena in 1976, the then-11,500 seat Coliseum became the exclusive basketball home for the women’s team. Although the Coliseum is nicknamed “the house that Rupp built,” University President H.L. Donovan is credited with beginning the plans for the Coliseum’s construction in 1941 when he recommended a building that would “properly take care of our athletics, our health services, our physical education and our recreation.” Memorial Coliseum was completed in 1950 at a cost of $3,925,000. The huge building was dedicated to serve as a memorial to the nearly 10,000 Kentuckians who lost their lives in World War II and the Korean conflict. The Coliseum covers an entire city block and has as much space as a seven-story office building. A new state-of-the-art floor was installed in the summer of 2007, as the original 52-year-old floor was taken out in place of a playing surface that will be much more friendly to each athlete’s tendencies and will cut down on injuries. A new sound system and speaker cluster were added in the summer of 2008.