No. 12 Kentucky women’s basketball continued its impressive form in SEC play, moving to 5-0 in the conference after defeating the Georgia Bulldogs 78-64.
The matchup is the first of two times the teams will meet during conference play. They will rematch in February inside the Historic Memorial Coliseum.
Kentucky, led by its usual starting five of Georgia Amoore, Clara Strack, Amelia Hassett, Teonni Key and Dazia Lawrence, made a strong start. Amoore’s early 3-pointers and offensive leadership set the tone for the game, leading the team to a 7-0 run in the first two minutes.
Georgia showed offensive struggles early on, shooting 0-13 following an early media timeout. It could only score four points in the first period, giving Kentucky a 19-point lead.
Strack showed her strength in the paint early on on the defensive side, with seven rebounds in the first quarter and six points heading into the second period.
The second period began in Georgia’s favor, as it was able to go on an 8-0 run and shot 4-4 in the first five minutes—however, the Bulldogs’ struggles early on still left the Cats up by double-digits.
The Bulldogs, despite the early struggles, showed resilience coming out of a media timeout. An early defensive steal gave them two easy points, moving to a 10-1 run. However, continued rebounding struggles kept them from decreasing the point deficit.
Kentucky bounced back and finished the first half on a high note, going on an 8-0 run in the final few minutes, leading 44-21 at halftime.
Amoore led the team with 16 points and four assists, while Strack led the Cats with nine rebounds and 13 points. She found herself just short of a first-half double-double.
Georgia started the second half strong, scoring five points in the first minute and a half, but the Bulldogs could not stop Kentucky’s offensive dominance.
Three minutes into the third period, Strack secured her eighth double-double this season off of a defensive rebound in the paint. The rest of the half was not successful for the Wildcats. Heading into a media timeout, they struggled with turnovers and miscommunications, leaving them not only with five turnovers but also shooting 0-5, which left them in a three-minute scoring drought.
Luckily for them, their early dominance gave them a slight safety bubble as the Bulldogs were still down by 18 even after going on a 6-0 scoring run.
Georgia continued chipping away at the point defect but found itself struggling with fouls that dampened its offensive success. Georgia outscored the Wildcats 21-13 in the third quarter, but it was still down by 15 as the buzzer went off.
Strack took over on offense, tallying 23 points going into the fourth quarter. She quickly made a three to begin the final 10 minutes of play. The Cats continued finding the rim and extended their lead once again.
In the final few minutes, UK found itself in yet another scoring drought, allowing Georgia to chip away at the gap further.
Even with the efforts and dominant third-quarter performance, Georgia was simply unable to find its way back into the game after its early struggles, which allowed Kentucky to lead by as many as 24.
Kentucky secured the win following a missed shot by Georgia in the game’s final seconds. Strack finished the game leading the team with 25 points and 12 rebounds and Amoore led the team with eight total assists.
The Wildcats will be back in action on Thursday, Jan. 23, when they travel to College Station to face Texas A&M. The tip-off against the Aggies is set for 7 p.m. and will be streamed live on the SEC Network.