Kentucky-N.C. State Postgame Notes

#14/14 KENTUCKY 93, #25/25 NC STATE 78 – FINAL

Team Records and Series Notes  

• Kentucky is 3-0 to begin the season and NC State is 2-1.

• UK is 1-0 against Associated Press Top 25 teams in 2026-27.
  • Kentucky has won its first ranked opponent of the season all three seasons in the Kenny Brooks era.
• The University of Kentucky women’s basketball program is in its 53rd season of varsity status.

• UK has a 957-627 all-time record.
• Kenny Brooks is in his third season as the head coach of the Wildcats, holding a 51-19 record in Blue and White.
• He is 568-223 in his 25th overall season as a head coach.
• Kentucky is 18-1 under Brooks in the month of November.

• Kentucky remains trailing NC State in the all-time series, 5-3.
  • UK snapped NC State’s a three-game win streak in the series.

Team Notes

• Kentucky used the starting combination Diana Collins, Asia Boone, Ajša Sivka, Me’Arah O’Neal and Clara Strack for the third time this season.
  • UK is 3-0 when using that starting combination.
  • UK won the opening tip for the for the third time this season.
  • Ajša Sivka was the first player to score for Kentucky for the first time this season.
  • Savvy Swords was the first substitute off the bench for Kentucky for the third time this season.
• Kentucky led NC State by 12 points, 56-44, at the end of the first half. Meanwhile, UK enjoyed 62.5 percent shooting from the field (20-32) and 61.9 percent shooting from the arc (13-21).
  • UK’s 13 made 3s at the halftime is a half school record.
    • UK already had 10 3s by 5:45 in the second quarter.
  • UK took a 21-5 lead to begin the game, in part thanks to a perfect 8-of-8 start from the field.
• Kentucky defeated NC State, 93-78.
  • UK led NC State for more than 38 minutes in the game.
  • UK scored its second-most points in regulation against an AP ranked opponent since 1992-93 (also 95 points at No. 13 Oklahoma on Feb. 2, 2025).
  • UK has scored at least 79 points in each of its first three games this season.
  • UK improved to 25-1 when it scored at least 80 points in the Brooks era.
• UK shot 53.2 percent from the field (33-62) and 46.2 percent from long range (18-39).
  • UK’s 18 3s tied the single-game school record, which Brooks’ team set in the SEC opener against Mississippi State on Jan. 1, 2025.
  • UK is 16-1 when it shoots 50.0 percent or better in the Kenny Brooks era.
  • It marked just the third time since 2002-03 that UK shot at least 53.0 percent from the field against an AP ranked opponent (and the second in the Brooks era).
• Since the start of the Kenny Brooks era – the start of 2024-25 – his teams now have eight performances on the top-10, single-game, team 3s list in program history, including tonight’s single-game, school-record tying 18.
• Kentucky outrebounded NC State, 38-29.
• Two players had at least 24 points, which marked just the second time against an AP ranked opponent since 2002-03 (also Evelyn Akhator and Makayla Eps vs. No. 5 South Carolina on March 4, 2017.
• NC State went to the line 33 times, making 27 of those attempts.
  • While UK went to the line just 14 times, making nine of those.

Player Notes

• Ajša Sivka, first-year guard, led the team with 32 points from 11-of-17 from the field and 8-of-12 from the arc. She added five rebounds and three assists.
  • Her eight 3s tied the single-game school record, which was previously held solely by Rhyne Howard (8 vs. Auburn on Feb. 27, 2022)).
  • The last player to score 30 or more points was Clara Strack vs. Georgia on March 5, 2026.
• Clara Strack, senior center, had 24 points on 10-of-15 from the field and 3-of-7 from the arc. She added a team-high eight rebounds, three assists and a team-high two blocks.
  • Prior to today’s game, she was averaging 16.2 points per game on 50.9 percent from the field and 9.7 rebounds, 2.0 assists against 25 AP ranked opponents.
  • Strack, who already has 12 blocks through three games, is just 19 blocks from tying the Kentucky career school record.
• Savvy Swords, freshmen forward, added 14 points on 5-of-9 from the field and 2-of-4 from the arc. She added five rebounds and two assists.
• Diana Collins, senior guard, led the team with four assists. She added four points, three rebounds and one steal.
• Asia Boone and Me’Arah O’Neal added two 3s apiece to contribute to that school-record-tying 18 team 3s.