No. 15 Kentucky Pulls Away from Auburn on Sunday
Georgia Amoore had 21 points and a season-high 11 assists as the 15th-ranked Kentucky women’s basketball team beat Auburn 80-61 on Sunday inside Historic Memorial Coliseum.
Dazia Lawrence also had 21 points for the Cats, while Clara Strack had 16. Teonni Key added 15 points and seven rebounds for UK.
Kentucky (15-1, 4-0 Southeastern Conference) used its fast break offense to score easy buckets on several occasions on Sunday. In fact, the Cats had 18 fast break points, compared to just one for Auburn.
Auburn (9-8, 0-4) scored first before Amoore broke loose for a fast break layup to tie the game at 2-2. After another Auburn bucket, Key hit one of two at the line to get the Cats within one. After Auburn stretched the lead to three, Amelia Hassett found Strack underneath for a layup that made it 6-5. On the next possession, Amoore found Key for a fast break layup that gave UK its first lead, 7-6. After a defensive stop, Amoore found Strack on a similar play that extended the Kentucky lead to 9-6.
UK extended the lead when Amoore stole the ball and raced to the other end for a layup that made it 11-8. Auburn cut it to 11-10 before Amoore spun to the basket and made a layup, making it a three-point lead again, 13-10. The Tigers hit a free throw before Amoore scored again, making it 15-11. A Strack free throw was the final point of the quarter and UK led 16-11 after 10 minutes of play.
Auburn scored the first points of the second quarter before Amoore hit a three to give UK a 19-13 advantage. After Auburn scored three in a row, Strack hit a three from the top of the key to stretch the UK lead to 22-16. Two free throws from Strack made it 24-16. Auburn scored to cut the deficit to six before Dazia Lawrence hit a three from the left side, giving the Cats a 27-18 lead.
After Auburn hit a free throw, Key scored on a layup and Amoore made two free throws to give UK a 31-19 lead. After two Auburn free throws, Key scored on a spin move in the lane, making it 33-21 Kentucky. Auburn scored, but Key answered again and the Cats had a 35-23 lead. Kentucky would lead 36-25 at the half. Amoore led Kentucky with 13 points in the first half.
Kentucky got off to a hot start in the third quarter. UK got a Strack layup and a Hassett three to lead 41-25. After an Auburn basket, Lawrence scored on a nifty reverse layup to make it 43-27. Auburn answered with seven straight points before Key got loose on the fast break for a layup, making it 45-34.
Auburn would score five in a row to get within six, 45-39, before Lawrence hit a right corner three to give the Cats a 48-39 advantage. On the next possession, Lawrence struck again, hitting another three to extend the lead to 51-39. Then, Lawrence scored again, this time on a fast break layup, making it 53-39 and completing an 8-0 run. After an Auburn bucket, Clara Silva completed a three-point play to give the Cats a 56-41 lead. UK led 58-44 after three quarters.
In the fourth quarter, Auburn scored first before UK got baskets from Key and Strack to extend the lead to 62-46. After another Tigers’ bucket, Kentucky got baskets from Lawrence and Amoore to lead 66-48. Auburn would score before a Key bucket made it 68-50.
Auburn went on a 7-3 run to get within 71-57. However, UK scored the next seven points to put the game away.
Kentucky returns to action on Sunday, visiting Georgia in Athens. Tipoff is set for 2 p.m. ET and the game can be seen on SEC Network Plus.
