Kentucky Women's Basketball - LIVE BREATHE BLUE - With both the SEC Tournament and the NCAA Tourney looming, it won’t take long to find out what the UK women can become.

     The outcome was never in doubt.  On February 27th, the Kentucky women’s basketball team had a decisive 82-58 victory over Tennessee before a boisterous sellout crowd at Historic Memorial Coliseum.  The Wildcats never trailed in the contest and led 80-45, for their largest lead, at the 7:02 mark of the fourth quarter.  

     Coming into the contest, Tennessee was the highest scoring team in the nation, averaging right at 90 points a game.  However, on Thursday night, Kentucky had the most potent offensive attack.  The ‘Cats broke Tennessee’s vaunted press with relative ease and netted a number of lay-ups to fuel their high-powered offense.  

    Coach Kenny Brooks was asked how his team seemed to handle the Volunteers press so very well.  “For the first two days when we were preparing (for the press) I didn’t sleep at all.  We were horrible breaking it.  That defense will play tricks on you.  I told our team to just go and they did that,” Brooks stated.  Star UK guard, Georgia Amoore, chimed in and said that the team tried to simulate Tennessee’s full-court pressure by playing against eight boys.  Whatever Coach Brooks did during the lead-up to the game,  it certainly worked in a monumental way.  

     Sophomore center, Clara Strack, set a UK single-season record when she recorded her 68th blocked shot.  Her most spectacular block came at the 3:45 mark of the final quarter when Strack emphatically rejected a short jumper by the Vols Talaysia Cooper.  That block produced one of the loudest roars of the night by the partisan UK crowd.  UK also set a school record with 189 total blocks for the year.

     Strack, a transfer from Virginia Tech, was a perfect 11-for-11 from the field.  “She’s a phenomenal player, “Tennessee coach Kim Caldwell said.  “She was hitting some tough shots but she was shooting right over us.  We had multiple bodies on her.  She didn’t have her perfect night off of one player.  We tried two, three, four different people on her and we didn’t have an answer.”   

     Coach Brooks was very pleased with UK’s defensive effort.  He stated, “I am extremely proud of our defense.  It doesn’t get talked about as much but our defense has given us a lot of offensive opportunities.  UK’s defense held Tennessee to 31.1% shooting percentage while the ‘Cats shot 51.5%. Volunteer standouts Jewel Spear and Zee Spearman were held to a combined three points.  For the Wildcats, Strack chipped in 23 points, while Amoore and Teonni Key each contributed 18 points to aid in the lopsided win.

     UK out-rebounded Tennessee by a 52-31 margin.  That rebound advantage meant a number of second offensive chances for UK and they took full advantage.  When asked about how difficult it was to rebound against Kentucky, UT’s Samara Spencer stated, “It’s honestly hard to go against such big people because they are very good at keeping the ball high and all of them go and get the rebound with force, it’s hard, they have very good players.”

     Tennessee suffered their largest loss since a 27-point setback against Mississippi State in 2019.  Coach Caldwell was asked if she would burn the tape of this lopsided loss as some coaches tell their teams after a blowout defeat.  “We will not burn the tape Caldwell emphatically stated.  We will watch it in slow motion,” Caldwell bemoaned.

     In the latest NCAA women’s basketball reveal, UK is slated as a three-seed and UT has been slotted as a four-seed, although in different regions.  The top four seeds in each region will mean that those teams will host a first and second round game on their home floor.  After UK’s blowout win, things may change for both squads concerning where each team is seeded.

     Coach Brooks was asked about the powerhouse teams in the Southeastern Conference.  Seven SEC teams currently are ranked in the Associated Press Top 25.  Coach Brooks said, “I’ve heard it a lot, are your guys ready for the SEC?  Yeah, OK, we are a good team too and that’s not being overconfident, if you don’t believe you are a good team, you aren’t going to survive in this league.  We know what we do well and we have to go out there and do it to the best of our ability.  The top three teams (in the SEC) are considered national contenders and we’re right there.  I am excited about who we are and I’m excited about whom we have become and I’m excited about what we can become.”

     With both the SEC Tournament and the NCAA Tourney looming, it won’t take long to find out what the UK women can become.