Big Blue Preview: No. 16/17 Kentucky Women’s Basketball Begins Play in the NCAA Championship
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The No. 16/17 and fifth-seeded University of Kentucky women’s basketball program (23-10, 8-8 Southeastern Conference) will play 12th-seeded James Madison (26-8, 14-4 SEC) in the NCAA Championship First Round in Hope Coliseum in Morganton, West Virginia, on Saturday, March 21 at 2:30 p.m. ET on ESPNU.
Darren Headrick will have the Kentucky-James Madison radio call for UK Sports Network on 630 AM WLAP in Lexington and on 790 AM WKRD in Louisville.
Big Blue Nation also can watch the game on ESPNU, with Brenda VanLengen and Anne O’Neil on the call.
The other First Round game in Morgantown is fourth-seeded West Virginia against 13th-seeded Miami (Ohio) on Saturday at 5 p.m. ET.
The winner of each game will compete in the Second Round on Monday. The tip time and TV designation will be determined later.
This is Kentucky’s 19th appearance in the NCAA Championship, including its second straight appearance and its second straight appearance under head coach Kenny Brooks. The Wildcats have a 23-18 all-time record in the championship, including a 14-4 record in the First Round and a 5-8 record in the Second Round.
It also is Brooks’ 12th appearance – and his sixth straight – in the NCAA Championship. He has taken three programs to the Big Dance, including James Madison (six times), Virginia Tech (four times) and Kentucky (two times). While Brooks is familiar with Kentucky’s First Round opponent because he is the all-time winningest coach there, he also is a James Madison men’s basketball letterwinner and former men’s basketball assistant coach.
In Brooks’ first season in the Bluegrass, Kentucky earned the No. 4 seed and hosting privileges for the NCAA Championship First and Second Rounds. Kentucky defeated 13th-seeded Liberty in the first round, 79-78, before falling to fifth-seeded Kansas State in one overtime, 80-79, in overtime.
UK will have gone more than two weeks without a game before meeting JMU on Saturday. UK brings a 23-10 overall record and an 8-8 mark in the Southeastern Conference into the contest, while it’s coming off a 2-1 performance at the SEC Tournament.
That run featured Kentucky getting past No. 22/22 Georgia, 76-61, after dropping to the Bulldogs earlier in the season in a game that was the team’s sixth game without starting forward Teonni Key and a game that got moved up one day because of a winter storm.
Going into the NCAA Championship, the Wildcats are ranked top 25 in the nation in five areas, including second in blocks per game (6.6), 23rd in assists per game (17.2), 11th in assist-turnover ratio (1.35), 19th in rebound margin (8.0) and 20th in fewest turnovers (12.7). The Cats also boast the nation’s leader in total assists in Tonie Morgan (269), third leader in total blocks in Clara Strack (85) and the SEC’s first and second leaders in 3-pointers in Amelia Hassett (92) and Asia Boone (89).
In fact, UK is the only team in the country to have two players with at least 89 3s on the season. UK also is one of just 11 teams in the country to have five players averaging double-digit scoring.
Saturday’s long anticipated game will mark the fourth all-time meeting between UK and JMU.
The Wildcats lead the Dukes, 2-1, in the series, including 2-0 at home and 0-1 on a neutral court. The Wildcats’ lone loss to the Dukes was in the NCAA Championship First Round, as ninth-seeded Kentucky fell to eighth-seeded James Madison, 70-62, in the JMU Convocation Center in Harrisonburg, Virginia, on March 13, 1991.
For more information on the Kentucky women’s basketball team, visit UKathletics.com or follow @KentuckyWBB on X, Instagram, and Facebook.
