No. 23 Kentucky women’s basketball (4-0) remains undefeated with a 90-30 over USC Upstate (1-3). A dominant defensive outing with a team effort on offense allowed the Wildcats to easily pick up their fourth consecutive win.
This was the first win of 60 points or more since Kentucky defeated Wofford 98-37 on Dec. 19, 2020.
The Wildcats defense has been nothing short of incredible all season, that continued today. The Cats forced 24 turnovers with 12 blocks and eight steals. The Spartans were held to 11-52 (21.2%) from the field, and 4-16 (25%) from 3-point range.
USC Upstate had 24 turnovers and just 11 made field goals.
Coming off a career-high scoring performance against Buffalo, Clara Strack showed out once again. She picked up her third double-double of the season with 18 points, 16 rebounds, four blocks and three steals on 8-12 (66.7 %) shooting.
Tonie Morgan recorded a double-double as well, her first of the season and the 16th of her career. She ended with 11 points and a career-high 16 assists on 4-7 (57.1%) shooting.
This 16 assist effort tied a school record. She had over three times as many assists as the Spartans team total (5).
Morgan’s 11th assist of the night was the 500th of her career.
The Wildcats spread out the scoring in this game, with six players in double-digit scoring. These players were Strack (18), Morgan (11), Asia Boone (12), Jordan Obi (12), Teonni Key (10) and Amelia Hassett (20).
After surrendering the first basket of the game to USC Upstate, Kentucky mounted an 8-0 run over the next two minutes, fueled by a Strack fadeaway with a 3-pointer from Hassett and Obi.
USC Upstate ended this run with two made free throws, Kentucky responded with yet another run. This time it was a 9-0 UK run spanning 2:10 of game time, pulling ahead 17-4.
Boone provided a boost to the Wildcats offense off the bench in the first quarter. In Boone’s first six minutes she made two 3-pointers, on as many attempts, and picked up two assists.
Kentucky held a 25-11 lead after one quarter of play. The Wildcats assisted on eight of their nine made baskets in the quarter.
The Cats held USC Upstate scoreless through the first 7:43 of the second quarter, mounting a 16-0 run in that time to pull out to a 41-11 lead. In that span, the Spartans shot 0-7 from the field with six turnovers.
The scoreless run was put to an end by two made free throws from the Spartans, they were without a made field goal until 1:21 before halftime. The field goal drought spanned into the first quarter and lasted more than 10 minutes.
Kentucky held a 46-15 lead at halftime following a dominant first half on both ends of the court.
The Spartans were held to 5-25 (20%) shooting in the half while the Cats shot 17-36 (47.2%).
The Wildcats were oppressive on the defensive end, forcing 12 turnovers while racking up six blocks and three steals. UK also held a 21-16 edge on the glass.
Strack dominated the first half, recording the 19th double-double of her career in just 15 minutes played. At the break she had 11 points, 10 rebounds, three blocks and two steals on 5-9 (55.5%) shooting.
USC Upstate hit a 3-pointer early in the third quarter before the Wildcats put together yet another scoring run. This time it was a 10-0 run over a 3:10 span that extended the Kentucky lead to 58-18.
Kentucky outscored USC Upstate 25-7 in the third quarter to stretch its lead to 71-22.
The Wildcats put together another run in the fourth quarter, forcing a USC Upstate timeout with a 14-0 run over 3:16.
Kentucky outscored the Spartans 19-8 in the fourth quarter to hold a 60 point lead at the final buzzer.
This was the sixth meeting between the Wildcats and the Spartans, all meetings have been in Historic Memorial Coliseum. It is the third consecutive season the teams have played each other, the most recent was in Kenny Brooks’ first game as the Wildcats head coach.
With this win, Kentucky has moved to 6-0 in the all-time series. Kentucky is now 16-0 against opponents in the Big South conference, USC Upstate moves to 0-18 against SEC opponents.
The Wildcats will head back on the road for their next matchup. Kentucky will head to Huntington, West Virginia, to take on the Marshall Thundering Herd on Saturday, Nov. 15, with tipoff scheduled for 1 p.m. ET.
