Big Blue Preview: 4-Seed Kentucky Women’s Basketball Will Play Host to 13-Seed Liberty in the NCAA Championship First Round
LEXINGTON, Ky. – The No. 4-seed University of Kentucky women’s basketball team will play host to No. 13-seed Liberty in the NCAA Championship First Round on Friday, March 21 at noon. ET in Historic Memorial Coliseum.
Big Blue Nation can purchase tickets to the First Round and / or Second Round in the $82 million renovated arena here. The Wildcats have played host to the NCAA Championship seven seasons in program history, while this is the first season since 2017.
Darren Headrick will have the radio call of the UK-LU game for UK Sports Network, which will be carried on 630 AM WLAP. Fans also can watch the game on ESPN, with Sam Gore and Tamika Catchings on the call.
This is Kentucky’s 18th appearance in the NCAA Championship, and its first since 2022. The Wildcats have a 22-17 all-time record in the championship, including a 13-4 mark in the First Round and a 6-7 mark in the Second Round.
The No. 4 seed for UK is its fifth in program history, while it has been a four seed or better 12 times in program history. UK was last a No. 4 seed in 2021, when it defeated Idaho State in the First Round and fell to Iowa in the Second Round in San Antonio, Texas.
Kentucky and Liberty met one other time in the NCAA Championship in 2010, with UK defeating LU, 83-77, on March 20, 2010, in Louisville, Kentucky, in the First Round. That season, UK advanced to the Elite Eight. This will mark the fourth meeting between Kentucky and Liberty in the all-time series, which began in 1998. UK dropped to LU in the first game of the series, 80-76, Dec. 12, 1998 at home, before winning the next two in 1999 and 2010.
This is Kenny Brooks’ 11th appearance – and his fifth straight – in the NCAA Championship. With UK’s selection this season, he has taken three programs to the NCAA Championship, including JMU (6x), Virginia Tech (4x) and now Kentucky (1x). He has reached at least the Second Round four times, while his best run ended at the 2023 Final Four with Virginia Tech. Current All-American point guard Georgia Amoore also was on that team.
That dynamic duo of Brooks and Amoore have hauled in numerous honors this week.
Brooks was named The Sporting News’ National Coach of the Year on Wednesday, while Amoore has hauled in three All-America second team nods this week, including from The Sporting News, Associated Press and the U.S. Basketball Writers Association.
Brooks’ revamped roster has met several benchmarks this season, including finishing fourth in the league standings – after being picked to finish eighth in the preseason poll – and also breaking nine school records thus far.
The Wildcats enter the game 22-7 this season, including 11-5 in the Southeastern Conference and 14-2 in Historic Memorial Coliseum. In home games this season, UK is averaging 78.2 points per game on 45.8 percent from the field, while it is holding opponents to 59.2 ppg and 34.4 percent shooting.
Through 29 games overall in2024-25, four players are averaging double-digit scoring, and three players have hit at least 50 3-pointers, but its Kentucky’s defense that has taken center stage of late. UK has held 22-of-its-29 opponents to under 40.0 percent shooting, including 13-of-its-16. UK is ranked in top 10 nationally in four categories, including first in blocks per game (6.9), sixth in three-point, field-goal percentage defense (26.0), eighth in field-goal percentage defense (35.7) and ninth in defensive rebounds (29.5).
It recently held then-No. 10/10 Oklahoma to 30.6 percent shooting from the field (22-of-72), which marked Kentucky’s best field-goal percentage in an SEC Tournament game since 2013.
Amoore, who is third in the nation with 6.9 assists per game, and Dazia Lawrence are a spark in the backcourt, each with at least 63 3-pointers, while Clara Strack, Teonni Key and Amelia Hasset anchor the front court as the only trio in the nation averaging at least 8.1 rebounds per game.
This season marks the fourth time the NCAA Championship includes 68 teams. The championship will again be utilizing a two-site regional format, with eight competing teams playing at Legacy Arena in Birmingham, Alabama, and eight teams playing at the Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena in Spokane, Washington. Regional action in Birmingham and Spokane will take place March 28-31, with each site hosting two regional semifinal games March 28 and two March 29. In addition, each site will host a regional championship game March 30 and one March 31.
The 2025 NCAA Women’s Basketball Final Four will be played April 4 and 6 at Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida.
For more information on the Kentucky women’s basketball team, visit UKathletics.com or follow @KentuckyWBB on X, Instagram, and Facebook.
