NASHVILLE, Tenn. — When Kentucky went into halftime of its Southeastern Tournament quarterfinal matchup against LSU, it had every reason to be concerned. The Tigers had imposed their will in a bruising first-half performance and had staked themselves to a 27-23 lead in a grind-it-out affair.There was one mitigating factor in particular though: Victoria Dunlap.With 10:08 left in the opening half, Dunlap picked up her second foul and head coach Matthew Mitchell sent his star player to the bench for the rest of the half. At halftime, Mitchell knew just what buttons to push with his senior leader.”I did talk to Victoria and halftime and (told her) ‘We’re going back to Lexington if we don’t win today,’ ” Mitchell said. “I don’t think she wanted to go back to Lexington.”Not when the final chapter of her storied career is coming to a close. Dunlap did not want one of her final memories to be an early exit in the SEC Tournament.With that in mind, there was little doubt about where the ball was going after the break.In the first 7:25 of the second half, Dunlap scored 12 of Kentucky’s 14 points. She hit 5-of-7 shots from the field, hit two free throws and grabbed three rebounds. Dunlap’s early second-half stretch, along with some solid defense, turned a four-point deficit into an eight-point lead.LSU came back twice and nearly pulled off an upset in the final minute of the game, but Dunlap’s second-half play and a brilliant last-minute pass (more on that later) preserved a 60-58 win for the Cats.”Boy, did she respond,” Mitchell said of Dunlap.”That’s about as good a stretch she’s ever had facing the basket. (It) shows you she’s still developing, getting better.”Outside of Dunlap, UK is not a very experienced team. The Wildcats’ young players had trouble against LSU’s stingy defense. Her teammates managed just 13-of-44 (29.5 percent) shooting for the game, but Dunlap scored 21 points on 8-of-13 shots.”A player of her caliber, arguably the best player in this league, needs to come up big in that kind of situation,” Mitchell said. “She did. That’s why she’s one of the best players that’s ever played at Kentucky.”Even with Dunlap’s heroics to start the half, the UK-LSU rematch turned out be a barn burner, just like seemingly every time these two teams get together.Following her her quick start to the second half, Dunlap did not score for the next 12 minutes and had limited involvement in the offense as the Wildcats tried to hold on to a late lead. The Tigers slowly but surely mounted a comeback, taking a 58-56 lead with just 1:29 remaining.All-Freshman performer Bernisha Pinkett comitted a turnover on the ensuing possession, but the Cats bailed her out with a key defensive stop. When the Cats got the ball back, Mitchell called timeout.He was not willing to fall without putting the ball in the hands of his best player.With 40 seconds remaining and the focus of LSU’s defense trained on her, Dunlap got the ball on a set play. For a split second, Dunlap said she thought about shooting it until she found a cutting A’dia Mathies for an “and-one” layup.Mathies made the free throw to give UK a one-point lead. “I knew the shot clock was running down,” Dunlap said. “I saw A’dia cut backdoor, saw she was open, passed it to her and she finished.”Dunlap’s clutch play did not end there.She grabbed a contested defensive rebound with 17 seconds remaining and hit one of two free throws on a one-and-the-bonus opportunity. Then, it was Dunlap huddling her team up and barking final instructions before the Wildcats’ stop on LSU’s final attempt to tie the game.Facing an LSU team playing for its NCAA Tournament life was no small task for the young Wildcats, but with Dunlap willing her team to victory, they were able to get the job done.”I don’t think we started the game out the way we wanted to, but we definitely finished it the way we wanted to,” Dunlap said. “We’ve had a couple games like this where the game has been close at the end, but we got it done together.”Winning close games in the clutch has been a hallmark of this Kentucky team and more often than not, Dunlap has been the driving force.With a huge sigh of relief out of the way, the Cats will get ready to face the winner of the Vanderbilt-Missisippi State game on Saturdy at 6:30 p.m. ET. UK beat Vanderbilt 80-71 just 12 days ago.Preparation for Saturday’s semifinal will begin in short order, but the Wildcats will relish Friday’s win, at least for a little while.”Tremendous win for Kentucky today,” Mitchell said. “I’m very proud of our players and the fight they were able to show.”