No. 8 Kentucky Rolls Past Georgia on Sunday
Five players scored in double figures as the eighth-ranked Kentucky women’s basketball team thumped Georgia 84-55 on Sunday inside Historic Memorial Coliseum.
Georgia Amoore led the Cats with 21 points, while also handing out seven assists. It was the 12th time this season that Amoore has reached at least 20 points.
Kentucky (20-4, 9-3 Southeastern Conference) got a double-double from Teonni Key, who had 14 points and a career-high 14 rebounds. Sophomore Clara Strack had 14 points, while Amelia Hassett also scored 14. Dazia Lawrence made five of her six field goals, including three from beyond the arc, on her way to 15 points.
Georgia (10-16, 2-10) scored the first points of the game on a three-pointer, but UK answered when Hassett hit a three of her own. Each team hit a pair of free throws to make it 5-5 before Hassett hit another three to give the Cats an 8-5 advantage. After Lawrence and Amoore both scored in the lane, the Cats had a 12-5 lead. The Lady Bulldogs scored the next four points to make it 12-9.
Key hit a pair of free throws, then a layup, to give the Cats a 16-9 lead. And when Amoore and Lawrence made consecutive threes, UK had a 22-9 lead. Hassett added her third three of the period to extend the lead to 25-9. The Cats would lead 30-15 after one quarter.
The Lady Bulldogs got on the board first in the second quarter but Kentucky answered with a Strack bucket in the lane, making it 32-17. However, Georgia went on a 9-1 run to cut the UK lead to 33-26. A pair of free throws from Strack and a Key layup gave the Cats an 11-point lead and an Amoore three stretched the lead to 40-26.
After a Georgia basket cut the UK lead to 12, Lexi Blue hit a three to make it 43-28. Georgia scored to get within 13, but a pair of Amoore free throws extended the UK lead to 45-30, which would be the halftime score. Amoore led the Cats with 15 points in the first half.
In the third quarter, both team struggled to score early. Georgia missed seven of its first eight shots in the period and UK made just two of its first seven. UK led 47-33 before buckets by Strack and Key made it 51-33. Georgia would score the next three points but the Cats went on an 11-2 run and would lead 62-40 after three quarters.
The final stanza saw the Cats lead by as many as 29 points, including at the final buzzer.
Kentucky returns to action on Thursday, visiting Missouri for an SEC matchup. Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m. ET and the game can be seen on SEC Network Plus.
