‘We’re not done yet.’ Kentucky women optimistic about NCAA path despite early SEC knockout
Friday didn’t go as Kenny Brooks and Kentucky had hoped, as the fifth-seeded Oklahoma Sooners outscored the fourth-seeded Wildcats 11-6 in the final 3 1/2 minutes of their SEC Tournament quarterfinal matchup to secure a 69-65 victory and advance to Saturday’s semfinals.
The Wildcats (22-7) led for more than 27 minutes of the contest — which served as a redemption win for the Sooners after Georgia Amoore’s 43-point performance led the way for a Kentucky victory in Norman on Feb. 2 — but could not hold on as Oklahoma worked its way back from as many as 10 points midway through the third quarter. From that point forward, the Sooners outscored Kentucky 40-26 while forcing any Wildcat not named Amoore to single-digit contributions. Kentucky committed 19 fouls on the day, setting Oklahoma up to go 19-of-20 from the free-throw line, while UK made seven of its eight attempts after drawing 15 fouls. The Cats also committed 20 turnovers.
UK shot 38% (27-of-71) from the field, including a disappointing 17.4% (4-of-23) from beyond the arc, and successfully navigated seven lead changes before giving up its final advantage (59-58) with just under four minutes left.
“We have to finish,” Brooks said. “We have to finish basketball games. I thought we had a good stretch. I know somebody’s going to talk about fatigue, but with three minutes to go in the game, we’re down by one and we have a double timeout. We did that intentionally so we could get some rest. When you get into those opportunities, you have to take advantage of them. There’s some plays we’ll look at down the stretch that we didn’t make, and they made. That was a big part of the game.”
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Difference-makers
1. Teonni Key
The junior forward is one of four Wildcats averaging double-figure scoring, but was limited to just five points on 2-of-8 shooting Friday; Key also grabbed seven rebounds, but committed four fouls and five turnovers.
At several moments throughout Key’s 20 minutes and 25 seconds on the floor, the starter appeared frustrated and out-of-rhythm. When asked what kind of conversation he can have with her ahead of the NCAA Tournament, Brooks emphasized her importance to the team.
“We need her,” Brooks said. “We need her. We need her contributions. And she means a lot to the success of our team. And when she’s playing at a high level, then, you know, we’re a really good basketball team. If she’s not, then we’re not. So we need her production, and we need her to be confident out there.”
2. “A bit more passion.”
Just like the Wildcats’ dominant victory in Norman, Amoore paced all players in scoring. In Friday’s loss, Amoore finished with 29 points, five rebounds, seven assists and one steal. She was also the only player to score for Kentucky in the final third of the fourth quarter.
“I just don’t think we were aggressive enough,” Amoore said. “I don’t think we placed emphasis on the possessions we had. We knew they were creeping back and scoring. We were probably a step behind more often than not. Down the stretch, I would have liked to have seen a bit more passion.”
3. Minimizing turnovers in the post
Clara Strack joined Amoore and graduate guard Dazia Lawrence (11 points) in double figures with 12 points and 16 rebounds for her 14th double-double of the season. The sophomore center added a pair of steals, but committed six turnovers. Combined with Key’s five and an additional five from freshman Clara Silva, the post group was responsible for all but four of the team’s total.
Brooks said he doesn’t think the turnovers resulted in the loss, but that the post group’s combined turnover total meant a lack of scoring opportunities in the paint. Sure enough, though Kentucky outrebounded Oklahoma 38-32 (each team pulled in 11 offensive boards), the Wildcats trailed the Sooners 30-24 in paint points.
“Some of those (turnovers) are the tie-ups,” Brooks said. “They weren’t turnovers that really hurt us. You want to give yourself a chance to shoot the basketball every time you get it. They weren’t live-ball turnovers. They didn’t hurt us that bad. Our post players getting double-teamed, we’re not getting opportunities.”
Preparing for the NCAA Tournament
The Wildcats will now turn the page to the NCAA Tournament, and won’t know their precise seeding for the Big Dance until Selection Sunday on March 16.
“We’re not done yet,” Brooks said. “We got a lot of basketball left to play. This league is going to produce teams that are going to contend for a national championship. Even though our run in the SEC is over with, I’m excited to get out there and play with a whole new cast of characters all throughout the floor. See what we’ll be able to do.”
The Wildcats’ odds of securing a top-16 overall seed — and consequent hosting privileges for the opening weekend — would’ve been helped by additional wins this weekend, particularly against stacked competition like Oklahoma, or the Sooners’ semifinals opponent, South Carolina. However, the Wildcats may have entered the weekend with a strong enough résumé to maintain its standing as an NCAA Tournament host, regardless of Friday’s outcome.
The Wildcats were named a top-16 overall seed by the Selection Committee in both of its early reveals, coming in as a four seed in each of them. ESPN’s Charlie Creme listed Kentucky as a No. 3 seed in his Bracketology post Friday morning, and UK remained on that line in his Saturday morning’s report.
ESPN’s latest Bracketology projects six Southeastern Conference teams to earn top-16 seeds and hosting privileges for the first two rounds — No. 1 seeds Texas and South Carolina, No. 2 LSU, No. 3s Kentucky and Oklahoma and No. 4 Ole Miss.
SEC Tournament scores, schedule
At Bon Secours Wellness Arena in Greenville, South Carolina. All times approximate and Eastern:
WEDNESDAY
Game 1: No. 9 seed Tennessee 77, No. 16 seed Texas A&M 37
Game 2: No. 12 Georgia 79, No. 13 Arkansas 74
Game 3: No. 10 Mississippi State 75, No. 15 Missouri 55
Game 4: No. 11 Florida 60, No. 14 Auburn 50
THURSDAY
Game 5: No. 8 Vanderbilt 84, No. 9 Tennessee 76
Game 6: No. 5 Oklahoma 70, No. 12 Georgia 52
Game 7: No. 7 Ole Miss 85, No. 10 Mississippi State 73
Game 8: No. 11 Florida 63, No. 6 Alabama 61
FRIDAY
Game 9: No. 1 South Carolina 84, No. 8 Vanderbilt 63
Game 10: No. 5 Oklahoma 69, No. 4 Kentucky 65
Game 11: No. 2 Texas 70, Ole Miss, 63
Game 12: No. 3 LSU 101, No. 11 Florida 87
SATURDAY
Game 13: No. 1 South Carolina vs. No. 5 Oklahoma, 4:30 p.m. (ESPN2)
Game 14: No. 2 Texas vs. No. 3 LSU, 7 p.m. (ESPN2)
SUNDAY
Championship game: Game 13 winner vs. Game 14 winner, 3 p.m. (ESPN)
