A fully packed Historic Memorial Coliseum erupted as No. 12 Kentucky women’s basketball (18-2, 8-1 SEC) defeated No. 22 Alabama (17-5, 4-4 SEC) 65-56.
The Wildcats have tied the best 20-game start to a season in program history and have extended their undefeated home winning streak to 12-0.
Coach Kenny Brooks sent out his usual starting five for tipoff: Georgia Amoore, Teonni Key, Dazia Lawrence, Clara Strack and Amelia Hassett.
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From tipoff, the two teams made it clear that the game would be a battle, as the Wildcats and Crimson Tide went back and forth, exchanging points in the first seven minutes.
Brooks subbed in Saniah Tyler and Clara Silva early, leaving Claras in the lineup as the team looked to fix early problems rebounding.
Unfortunately, due to multiple fouls on the Cats, Alabama found points through free throws and its top scorer, Sarah Ashlee Barker, leading it to an 8-0 run. This gave the Tide a 21-15 point lead heading into the second quarter.
However, luckily for the Cats, the rowdy and packed stands inside Historic Memorial Coliseum began to play in their favor, and after Lawrence was able to get the Cats rolling and the crowd on its feet to start the second period with an early 3-pointer, they shrunk Bama’s lead to 21-18.
Two baskets by Amoore and Hassett tied the teams at 25 in the first couple minutes of the quarter. The Cats continued with the momentum in their favor and went on a 12-0 run before forcing Alabama to take its first time out, leaving UK up 32-25.
Kentucky headed into halftime up 34-30 and was led by Lawrence, who scored all ten of her points in the second quarter and shot 100% from the three. Strack led with four rebounds, and Amoore with three assists.
Kentucky started the second half with its original starting lineup. Amoore hit a career milestone in the first three minutes of play, as she officially hit 800 career assists. She became the second active player in all three divisions of the NCAA (both men and women) to make the milestone.
The Cats carried their momentum and offensive dominance to start the second half. The struggles continued for Bama as Kentucky scored four points early on off of two turnovers.
The Crimson Tide cut Kentucky’s lead to five, but that would be the end of its offensive success, as Alabama could not find the net and shot 0-4 from the three throughout the quarter.
It seemed it simply could not answer the Cats’ momentum-driven offense. Alabama would find itself down by double digits heading into the final ten minutes of play, with Kentucky up 52-40 to end the quarter.
Strack started off the fourth quarter for UK, and a jumper from the paint marked her tenth double-double on the season. Alabama’s Zaay Green was able to put up two layups early in the quarter but was quickly answered by a Hassett jumper and a 3-pointer.
Hassett continued dominating and tallied seven points in the first five minutes, mainly due to successful rebounding from Strack and Key.
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Alabama went on a 7-0 run, which led Coach Brooks to take his first timeout of the half. Luckily for UK, its dominance gave it a cushion, and Bama could only shrink the lead to 10 before Strack answered with a jumper.
Amoore ran the clock out as Kentucky took home yet another home win.
In a tough-fought battle and foul-heavy game for the Wildcats, their offensive production, defensive dominance and success in finding points off of turnovers allowed them to secure the win and continue proving themselves as a top contender in the SEC.
The Wildcats will return to action this Sunday, Feb. 2, in another ranked SEC matchup against the No. 13 Oklahoma Sooners in Norman. Tipoff is set for 4 p.m. ET, and the game will be aired live on the SEC Network.