Fourth-quarter surge sends No. 14 Kentucky women’s basketball to rout of No. 19 Illinois
Kenny Brooks and the Kentucky Wildcats extended their win streak to 7-0 on Wednesday night with a 76-53 victory against No. 19 Illinois in front of a packed Trojan Fieldhouse at Trevecca Nazarene in Nashville.
After leading for the majority of the first quarter, Illinois took advantage of a minutes-long Kentucky shooting slump to grab its first lead of the game with 1:32 to play in the period. Foul trouble plagued the Wildcats for the entirety of the first half, making it difficult to hang on to any lead captured thanks to the 13-point, nine-rebound performance in the first 20 minutes from leading scorer Clara Strack. Through two periods, the game was tied 28-28 and Kentucky had been called for 10 personal fouls; Illinois committed just four fouls in the first half but made eight of its 10 free-throw attempts while the Wildcats went 0-for-1 from the charity stripe.
However, the Wildcats opened the second half with renewed energy and jetted out to an 8-1 start to the third quarter, allowing some distance between them and the Illini. And, following a slower start than Big Blue Nation is used to seeing from the No. 14 Wildcats, Kentucky’s offense really turned it up in the third period.
The fourth quarter saw a dominant surge from the Wildcats, who assembled a 23-3 scoring run to completely shut down the Illini.
Strack owned the game from stem to stern and finished with 25 points, 15 rebounds, four assists, one block and one steal. Wednesday was also her birthday. Strack was joined in double figures in scoring by Dazia Lawrence, who, after scoring just three points in the first half, added 10 in the fourth period. Lawrence finished with 15 points, one rebound and two steals.
Teonni Key and Amelia Hassett also got in on the fourth-quarter surge, tacking on six points apiece in the final 10 minutes. Key finished with 12 points, 10 rebounds, three assists and three blocks. Hassett added 10 points, nine rebounds and one assist.
Adalia McKenzie led Illinois in scoring with 18 points. Kendall Bostic finished with 10 points and 12 rebounds for a double-double. Makira Cook added 11 points.
Next up
No. 14 Kentucky vs. No. 16 North Carolina
What: ACC/SEC Challenge
When: 8 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 5
Where: Chapel Hill, N.C.
TV: ESPN2
Radio: WLAP-AM 630
Records: Kentucky 7-0, North Carolina 6-1
Series: North Carolina leads 3-1
Last meeting: UK won 85-75 in the Paradise Jam Tournament championship in St. Thomas, Virgin Islands, on Nov. 24, 2018
