Kentucky women’s basketball bounced at Ole Miss hours after moving into nation’s top 10
No. 8 Kentucky women’s basketball could not defend the defensive glass in its 66-57 loss to Ole Miss in Oxford on Monday night. The Rebels grabbed 27 offensive rebounds alone, while the Wildcats grabbed 33 boards overall.
The Wildcats (19-3, 8-2 SEC) opened the game shooting an efficient 66.7% (10-of-15) from the field, with nine points from point guard Georgia Amoore leading the way. The graduate guard didn’t show any signs of rust in the first period, not missing a beat after her career-high, program-record-tying 43-point performance in the team’s win over Oklahoma on Feb. 2. Though the Rebels shot just 33.3% (8-of-24) from the field in the first quarter, their offensive rebounding kept them within four after the first 10 minutes. Nevertheless, the Wildcats’ post length kept Ole Miss at a distance.
Neither team showed much offense in the second quarter, as Kentucky narrowly edged Ole Miss 15-13 while Amoore sat for much of the period due to foul trouble. In Amoore’s absence, reserve guard Saniah Tyler orchestrated the Wildcats’ offense, and Teonni Key and Clara Strack set the tone with a team-leading five points apiece — they each drained one 3-pointer in the second period to push UK’s lead to six at the half.
Kentucky’s offense continued to struggle in the third quarter, and eventually gave way to the persistent, though inefficient, Ole Miss attack. The Rebels, who had not made a 3-pointer since their win over Vanderbilt on Feb. 2, took the lead with a 3-pointer from Kennedy Todd-Williams with eight seconds to play in the quarter. Ole Miss closed the third period on an 11-2 scoring run — and the Wildcats, making just one of their final seven attempts from the field — to gain a single-point edge entering the final 10 minutes.
Ole Miss (16-7, 7-4 SEC), which began the fourth period on a 7-2 scoring run, created a six-point lead with over four minutes to play. The Wildcats pulled within a single possession at the final media timeout, but a pair of free throws followed by a layup from Starr Jacobs returned the Rebels’ largest lead of the night and forced UK coach Kenny Brooks to call a timeout with just under two minutes remaining. Jacobs scored all of her eight points in the fourth quarter, as Kentucky failed to score a field goal in the final 3:13.
Three Wildcats finished in double-figure scoring. Key led the way with 18 points, 10 rebounds, two assists, four blocks and three steals. Amoore added 15 points, five assists and one steal. Strack contributed 13 points, 10 rebounds, three assists, eight blocks and one steal. Dazia Lawrence added nine points, two rebounds and two assists.
Kentucky moved into the top 10 of the Associated Press Top 25 poll earlier in the day for the first time since 2021 and rose as high as No. 8 for the first time since 2015.
Though the Wildcats found defensive success all night — recording a dominant 14 blocks in the contest — they didn’t have any answers for Madison Scott, who delivered her second game with at least 20 points this season. She finished with 22 points, the only Rebel to score more than nine points.
The Rebels finished with 54 rebounds to UK’s 33.
Next game
No. 3 Texas at No. 8 Kentucky
What: Play4Kay Game
When: 7 p.m. Thursday
TV: ESPN2
Radio: WLAP-AM 630
Records: Kentucky 19-3 (8-2 SEC), Texas 24-2 (10-1 SEC)
Series: Texas leads 2-0
Last meeting: Texas won 72-60 on Nov. 24, 2007, in Honolulu in the second round of the Wahine Classic
