LEXINGTON — It will be a battle of the Wildcats in the second round of the
NCAA Tournament at Memorial Coliseum. Fourth-seeded
Kentucky women's basketball's will face fifth-seeded
Kansas State on Sunday. Kentucky (23-7) defeated Liberty,
79-78, in the first round of the NCAA Tournament behind a 34-point performance by guard Georgia Amoore. Kansas State (27-7) took care of Fairfield quickly, jumping to a 21-9 lead in the first quarter. The Wildcats, led by Serena Sundell, beat Fairfield, 85-41.
It was unsurprising that Amoore had a career game in the first round of the NCAA Tournament against Liberty. Scoring 34 points and dishing out eight assists, Amoore carried the Wildcats to victory over the Flames. Her backcourt partner, Dazia Lawrence, and center Clara Strack also scored double digits for the Cats. The Cats' defense performed well in the first half, blocking five shots and holding the Flames to 40.6% shooting from the field. However, their post defense was exposed in the fourth quarter, as Liberty went on a 16-2 run. "I was disappointed with our post defense. We let the kids know we got to be better. I thought we were late. (Emmy Stout) did a really good job establishing position down low, and then she has a sweeping hook where it's really hard to defend it if you can't get down low. So she played really well. (Bella) Smuda played well, too. They hit some tough shots. That's an area we talked about," Kentucky coach Kenny Brooks said. "Obviously we don't have much time to get ready for the next opportunity, but we will talk about our post defense." Another key for UK is identifying which role players will step up in the tournament. Teams will start focusing on Amoore, and Kentucky will need players Lawrence, Strack, Teonni Key and Amelia Hassett to make tough shots in crunch time.
Ayoka Lee, Serena Sundell and Jaelyn Glenn have combined for over 400 starts in their careers. Lee is the anchor in the paint and entered the tournament averaging 15.5 points and 6.1 rebounds per game. Lee is Kansas State's all-time leading scorer, rebounder and block leader. She missed time this season because of a fractured foot, but Kansas State is 18-1 with her on the floor. Sundell ranks second all time in program history for assists and second on the team in scoring (13.6). Out on the wing, Temira Poindexter averages 12.5 points per game, has made 81 3-pointers this season and is shooting 41% from beyond the arc. Kansas State has one of the most explosive offenses in college basketball. They entered the NCAA Tournament averaging 79.8 points per game and are in the top 20 in the nation for 3-pointers per game (8.9), assists (17.7) and field-goal percentage (.464). They have defeated teams by a margin of 20.7 points.
SCORE: Kansas State 69, Kentucky 64: Kansas State's experience and depth will be the difference. Amoore will be the dynamic playmaker she always is, but who else in Kentucky will step up when the lights are at their brightest?
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