Kentucky Women Hold Off Liberty in NCAA First Round
Georgia Amoore tied the Kentucky women’s basketball record for most points in an NCAA Tournament game with 34 as the Cats held on to beat Liberty 79-78 on Friday afternoon at Historic Memorial Coliseum.
Amoore made 12 of 24 from the floor, including six of 10 from beyond the arc and four of five at the line on her way to tying A’dia Mathies (March 26, 2013 vs. Dayton) for most points by a UK player in a women’s tournament game. Amoore added eight assists for good measure.
UK got 16 points from Dazia Lawrence and 15 points and 10 rebounds from Clara Strack in the win.
Kentucky (23-7) got on the board first via an Amoore basket, but Liberty scored four in a row to take an early lead. An Amoore three gave UK a 5-4 lead before the Flames tied the game with a free throw. Another Amoore three gave the Cats an 8-5 lead before Liberty tied the game again with a three of their own.
Lawrence hit a three, then a hit a pair of free throws to give UK a 13-8 lead. After another Lawrence free throw, Liberty scored to get within four, but an Amoore basket, followed by an Amoore three, made it 19-10 Kentucky. After two Liberty free throws, Teonni Key scored on a drive to the basket, giving the Cats a 21-12 advantage. UK would lead 23-14 after one period.
Kentucky scored the first five points of the second quarter on an Amoore three and a layup by Strack. After a Liberty three-pointer, Amoore scored again and the Cats led 30-17. Liberty would answer with a 7-2 run to cut the UK lead to 32-24. However, UK responded with its own 7-2 run to lead 39-26.
Liberty (26-7) scored the next five points before a Key layup made it 41-31 UK. Kentucky would lead 44-34 at the half. Amoore led all scorers with 23 points in the first half.
Lawrence scored the first points of the third quarter with a three-pointer, but Liberty answered with a three of their own. Strack then hit a three for the Cats before the Flames scored to make it 50-39. UK then got an Amoore three and a Lawrence layup to extend the lead to 55-39.
After Liberty scored four in a row, Strack scored four in a row herself to extend the UK lead to 59-43. The Flames would respond with a 7-2 run to cut the UK lead to 11 points, 61-50, but an acrobatic three-point play from Amoore gave UK a 64-50 lead, which would be the score after three quarters.
Amelia Hassett drilled a corner three to start the fourth quarter. After Liberty scored five consecutive points, Hassett hit another three and the Cats led 70-55. The Flames would go on an 13-2 run to cut the UK lead to 72-68 with 2:26 to play. A Lawrence baseline jumped would give UK a 74-68 lead with 2:02 left.
Liberty would respond with two free throws and a three to get within one, 74-73, with 1:14 remaining. Amoore scored on a drive to the basket with 57 seconds left, extending the UK lead to 76-73. Liberty answered with a basket of its own, then appeared to have gotten the defensive stop it needed, but Hassett came up with a huge offensive rebound and Amoore was fouled. She calmly made both free throws to extend the UK lead to 78-75 with 10.9 seconds left. After UK got a defensive stop, Amoore was fouled, and she made one of two at the line to give UK a 79-75 lead. Liberty banked in a three with two seconds left to close the scoring.
Kentucky will return to action on Sunday, hosting the winner of Friday’s second game, between Kansas State and Fairfield. Tip time for Sunday’s game has not yet been determined.
