No. 15 Kentucky women’s basketball (22-6, 11-5 SEC) fell just short of upsetting No. 6 South Carolina (27-3, 15-1 SEC) with a final score of 78-66, concluding Kentucky’s regular-season schedule.
Kentucky sent out the same starting five for all 16 conference games: Amelia Hassett, Clara Strack, Teonni Key, Georgia Amoore and Dazia Lawrence. Amoore and Lawrence were playing in their final regular-season games as collegiate athletes.
The reigning National Champions came out to a hot start, fueled by the loud and packed stands of Colonial Life Arena, which honored the three Gamecocks for senior day, recognizing Sania Feagin, Bree Hall and Raven Johnson as the most decorated four-year class in program history.
USC was finding early success in transition. Within the first five minutes, it scored four points off of turnovers and shot 67%, putting it above the Cats quickly.
However, Key kept the game within one point heading into the first timeout as she found seven points, assisted by Strack, who found success through offensive rebounding and gave Kentucky multiple second-chance point opportunities, keeping the score at 12-11.
The defense undoubtedly kept Kentucky in the game. However, its common enemy, scoring droughts, put the Cats on the wrong side of a 7-0 scoring run. In the remaining four minutes of the first quarter, the team made only one of its last nine shots.
Out-rebounding the Cocks 11-9 kept the Cats within single digits even with a 7-0 run for South Carolina. The score stood at 21-14 as time ran out for the first period.
Unfortunately, the rebounding wasn’t doing UK too much good, as its zero points of turnovers compared to USC’s ten put it down by double digits halfway through the second quarter. Kentucky was finding the shots, but it struggled to make any of them.
Although all offense momentum was in South Carolina’s favor, it could not pull away by more than 11 points as the two teams began exchanging shots in the second quarter. More notably, the Cats shot a perfect 7-7, totaling 15 points in the last five minutes.
Although South Carolina was still ahead of Kentucky 41-33 heading into halftime, this gave UK the confidence it desperately needed, especially given its constant struggle with second-half offensive efficiency this season.
The third quarter started like the first half ended, as the two teams found the basket again. However, early on, the SEC competitiveness became present, and both teams were met with a more chippy and strong defense front.
This led the two teams to combine for an 0-11 scoring drought in the middle of the period, which was eventually broken by Lawrence’s 3-pointer and a USC jumper. The Cocks were only up 50-45 heading into a timeout.
Two open 3-point shots for Strack put Kentucky back within two scores, and the Cats led USC shooting 44% compared to the Cocks’ 40% and 33% from the three compared to their 17%. With that, the final ten minute period began with South Carolina up 58-53.
It was a back-and-forth battle, and Amoore was finally able to put the Cats within a point, but was quickly answered by USC. Heading into a Kentucky timeout, it was officially a one possession game, the Cocks up 65-62.
Drive after drive, Kentucky was falling just short of breaking the one-point deficit and tying the score. Unfortunately, after a 3-point shot and scoop-and-score, Kentucky was back down by six heading into a media timeout.
Four turnovers and a 9-0 South Carolina run forced Coach Kenny Brooks into a timeout, making winning increasingly more improbable than it had been throughout the game.
As the time was running down to two minutes, the Cats were again down by 11, and the Arena was roaring louder than ever, with another two forced UK turnovers. After that, the game was simply out of reach, and the Cats would fall just short of the historic upset.
Kentucky will travel to Greenville, South Carolina, from March 5 to March 9 to participate in the 2025 SEC Women’s Basketball Tournament at the Bon Secours Wellness Arena.
The Cats have been named the four-seed and will have a double-bye. Their first game will be Friday, March 7, at 2:30 p.m. ET, against the winner of game six, which will be aired live on ESPN.
