Georgia Amoore scores career-high 43 points and No. 12 Kentucky wins at No. 13 Oklahoma
Kenny Brooks and the No. 12 Kentucky Wildcats picked up their second consecutive ranked victory on Sunday with a 95-86 defeat of No. 13 Oklahoma on the road.
The Wildcats (19-2, 8-1 SEC) got out to a red-hot start, sinking 75% (12-for-16) of their first-quarter shots from the field to take an 11-point lead in front of a loud Oklahoma crowd. All-America point guard Georgia Amoore led the way with 10 points and four assists in the first 10 minutes, while graduate guard Dazia Lawrence (eight points) and freshman center Clara Silva (six points, one block) bolstered UK’s strong foundation.
Oklahoma (16-6, 4-5) entered the matchup ranked second on the Southeastern Conference’s rebounding leaderboard, pulling in a dominant 47.2 per contest. Though the Sooners did a fine job outdoing UK on the boards — and the Wildcats’ Clara Strack and Teonni Key sat for several first-half minutes due to foul trouble — Kentucky’s dominant first quarter provided some necessary comfort when things got tougher in the second period.
Strack sat the entirety of the second quarter, and Silva earned her fourth foul before halftime as UK shot just 35.3% (6-for-17) in the second quarter. The Sooners outscored the Wildcats 17-15 in the second period to cut their deficit to nine.
Strack and the rest of the Kentucky starters returned to the floor to start the second half, but the Sooners scored eight unanswered points in 95 seconds to pull within one point and force a Kentucky timeout with 6:40 to play in the third quarter.
The Wildcats responded out of the timeout with a 13-0 scoring run to regain their double-digit lead.
Though OU came back with a 6-0 scoring run to close the period, 10 third-quarter points from Strack meant an 11-point edge for the Wildcats with 10 minutes to play.
Kentucky’s depth grew thinner in the fourth quarter as Key, Strack and Silva each fouled out of the contest. Oklahoma did not relent and pulled within single digits; ultimately, any momentum came too late for the Sooners, whose fans started exiting the Lloyd Noble Center with less than two minutes to play.
Oklahoma did win the battle of the boards 50-34.
It was a career-best performance for Amoore, who scored 43 points and was 7-for-12 from 3-point range. She also had eight assists.
Strack added 19 points, six rebounds, two blocks and five steals. Lawrence finished with 14 points, two rebounds, four assists and two steals.
Sahara Williams led the Sooners with 27 points. Zya Vann scored 15, Skylar Vann finished with 11, Payton Verhulst contributed 11 points and 10 rebounds, and Raegan Beers had 18 points and 10 rebounds
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Next game
No. 12 Kentucky at Ole Miss
When: 7 p.m. EST Monday, Feb. 10
TV: ESPN2
Radio: WLAP-AM 630
Records: Kentucky 19-2 (8-1 SEC), Ole Miss 15-6 (6-3)
Series: Ole Miss leads 28-19
Last meeting: Ole Miss won 75-45 on Feb. 29, 2024, at Rupp Arena
This story was originally published February 2, 2025 at 6:10 PM.
