No. 16 Kentucky women’s basketball (21-8, 8-7 SEC) took down Auburn (14-15, 3-12 SEC) 63-56 to close out its regular season road slate.
The win for Kentucky established it as the leader in the all-time series, trumping the Tigers 29-28 all time, and 13-12 at Auburn.
The Wildcats got off to a hot start in Alabama, where they took a 10-0 run over the first two minutes, and a 14-1 run throughout the first five. The Cats forced Auburn into an early timeout at the 7:12 mark.
Forward Amelia Hassett took an early lead in scoring, going 2-2 from the 3-point line just two minutes into game action; she closed out the first quarter shooting 2-4 from beyond the arc to complement her pair of 3’s.
The Cats closed out the first shooting 54% from the field compared to Auburn’s 27%, with Kentucky leading the Tigers 19-11.
Kentucky extended its margin over Auburn to 10 points right into the quarter, however started feeling the Tigers’ intense pressure, going on a two minute scoring drought.
Kaelyn Carroll broke the drought with a 3-pointer, her first of the night, and enabled the Cats to go on a 6-0 run over 1:31 with a second beyond the arc.
The streaky scoring continued however, where Kentucky moved to a 2:40 scoring drought.
Auburn wasn’t necessarily performing offensively well in the second quarter, but its harsh pressure paired with Tiger Kaitlyn Duhon’s stealing abilities caused problems for the Cats.
At the half, Duhon had three steals to contribute to seven Kentucky turnovers. The Tigers capitalized on nine points from Kentucky’s mistakes.
Leading the Cats in scoring to cap the first 20 minutes was Tonie Morgan with eight points and three assists. Morgan did, however, have four of Kentucky’s turnovers.
The half closed with the Cats still leading 35-27.
Kentucky’s immediate start out of the break felt reflective of its biggest struggles this season – the Tigers forced a Wildcat turnover within the first 30 seconds.
Auburn had the first points of the second half, and Kentucky got to scoring after two minutes from a Teonni Key layup.
The Cats did well to force the Tigers into a two-and-a-half minute scoring drought.
Morgan was the first of the game to hit double-digit scoring, where full court pressure didn’t stop her from going coast-to-coast off the inbound for a layup. Clara Strack joined her in double-digits shortly after.
Hassett got herself her third 3-pointer of the night just past the halfway point in the third quarter, moving the Cats to finishing four of their last five from the field.
At this point in the game, Asia Boone was shooting an uncharacteristic 0-4 from beyond the arc, and field in general. Boone, however, was leading in assists with five, doubling her game average.
Another Hassett contribution from the arc capped the third quarter, where the Cats saw their largest lead yet at 52-38.
The fourth quarter was generally not Kentucky’s best work as a team – the Cats had four more turnovers in the first half of the fourth and allowed the Tigers to get four points in turn.
Coming out of a timeout at the halfway point, the Tigers went on a 8-0 run paired with a more-than three minute Kentucky scoring drought to put some pressure on the Cats.
Kentucky still held onto its lead on Auburn, despite heading into another drought and shooting 1-for-8 with a minute left in the game.
The Cats finished the game shooting 46% from the field and 37% from beyond the arc.
Leading the scoring was Hassett with 15 points, followed by Strack (12), Morgan (11) and Key (11).
Boone had the most assists on the night with five, despite not having any points on the game.
Kentucky also finished with 17 total turnovers, allowing 15 points for the Tigers.
The game continues Auburn’s season-long streak of holding its opponents below their season scoring averages.
Kentucky women’s basketball will close out the regular season officially with a home matchup against No. 3 South Carolina. The Gamecocks will come to Lexington on Sunday, March 1, with Tipoff set for 2 p.m. ET, and game action can be streamed on the SEC Network.
