No. 18 Kentucky women’s basketball (20-7, 7-6 SEC) used a strong offensive outing to defeat No. 14 Ole Miss (20-6, 7-4 SEC) 74-57.
This was the 49th meeting between UK and Ole Miss, with the Rebels holding a 29-20 lead in the series. Ole Miss holds a slight 12-11 edge in games played in Lexington.
With this win, Kentucky snapped a six game losing streak against Ole Miss, the Cats first win since Feb. 20, 2020. This was the Wildcats first win over the Rebels at home since Jan. 26, 2017.
It was a second quarter that included a 19-0 UK run and nine and a half minutes without an Ole Miss field goal that helped UK to pick up the win. The Cats outscored Ole Miss 22-9 in the second quarter and took a 19 point lead into halftime.
Clara Strack led the Wildcats in this one, leading the team with 28 points and nine rebounds.
Asia Boone and Tonie Morgan provided lots of support. Boone finished with 15 points, six rebounds and three assists. Morgan scored 14 points while dishing out nine assists.
The Wildcats were much more efficient in this one. The Cats shot 50.9% from the field and 36.8% from three. Ole Miss shot 27.1% from the field and 20% from behind the arc.
Both teams turned it over 14 times, but the Cats were able to score 22 points of turnovers while Ole Miss had just eight.
Strack made her second shot of the day to break a 2-2 tie. Ole Miss tied it back up on the next possession.
Strack and the Rebels Latasha Lattimore each had their teams first four points.
Strack’s hot start continued as she made her fourth straight field goal, accounting for eight of the Cats first 10 points.
Morgan found Boone in the corner on an inbound pass for a 3-pointer.
This gave the Wildcats a 17-11 lead after the first quarter.
The Wildcats made four of its first five shots in the second quarter to take a 26-14 lead.
Buckets on back-to-back possessions by Strack and Boone put the Cats on top 33-15.
Morgan drove down the lane before dishing it out to a wide open Boone for another 3-pointer. Boone sunk the shot through contact and made the free throw to convert the four-point play.
The Rebels missed once more on the next possession, Morgan found Amelia Hassett in transition for another 3-pointer to put UK ahead 39-15.
Ole Miss put an end to the Wildcats 19-0 run with two free throws.
Kentucky turned the ball over four times amidst a three minute scoring drought to end the half, but this stretch had little impact. Ole Miss missed 15 straight field goal attempts to close the first half, going nearly an entire quarter without.
The Cats shot 8-17 (47.1%) from the field and 5-9 (55.6%) from 3-point range in the second quarter. Ole Miss shot just 1-17 (5.9%) from the field in the quarter.
This allowed the Cats to take a 19 point lead into the break, after outscoring the Rebels 22-9 in the second quarter.
Strack and Boone led the Wildcats scoring effort in the first half, Boone led the team with 13 points while Strack scored 12.
Morgan played a large role in the Wildcats first half explosion. As the Cats primary offensive facilitator, Morgan had four points and six assists at half time.
The Wildcats were far and away the more efficient team in the first half. Kentucky shot 15-31 (48.4%) from the field, 6-12 (50%) on 3-pointers. Ole Miss went 5-28 (17.9%) from the field and 1-7 (14.3%) from 3-point range.
Ole Miss turned the ball over nine times in the first half, just once more than Kentucky. However, the Wildcats scored 13 points off turnovers while the Rebels had just three such points.
Ole Miss came out of halftime with a 9-2 run, cutting the Wildcats lead to 12 points.
Boone drained a mid-range jumper following the media timeout, snapping a two minute scoring drought by Kentucky.
Morgan made a reverse layup on the following possession, then assisted on a Hassett 3-pointer on the possession after that. Three straight made field goals extended the Cats lead back to 18 points.
Another layup by Morgan snapped a 6-0 run by Ole Miss and the Wildcats two minute scoring drought. She converted through contact and made the free throw to put the Cats ahead 55-40.
The Rebels made a layup as time expired to head into the final quarter trailing by 13 points. Kentucky was outscored 22-16 in the quarter.
Teonni Key scored her first points of the game on the first possession of the fourth quarter.
Three Wildcat turnovers in a two minute span allowed the Rebels to mount a 9-0 run, pulling back within six points.
Kentucky called a timeout after its double digit lead was nearly erased in three minutes.
Strack broke a streak of seven straight misses with a mid-range jumper to put Kentucky ahead 59-51.
Ole Miss went scoreless for three minutes, Kentucky took advantage with an 8-0 run to extend its lead back to double digits.
Strack had all eight of these points on four straight made field goals.
With Strack’s fifth straight make, Kentucky pull ahead by 16 points with just over two minutes remaining.
The Cats made their last eight field goal attempts of the game, allowing the margin of victory to grow to 17 points as the final buzzer sounded.
The Cats will travel to Nashville, Tennessee for their next game to take on the Vanderbilt Commodores. The game is on Sunday, Feb. 22, with tip off scheduled for 3 p.m. ET.
