Kentucky women’s basketball’s dream season ends in overtime heartbreak
Kentucky women’s basketball’s first season under head coach Kenny Brooks came to an end Sunday afternoon with an 80-79 overtime loss to five-seed Kansas State in the second round of the NCAA Tournament at Memorial Coliseum in Lexington.
Kentucky All-American Georgia Amoore drove the right baseline in the closing seconds of the extra period and got a clean look at the basket, but her short floater rolled off the rim as time ran out, sending Kansas State on to the NCAA Sweet 16 this week in Spokane, Washington.
The Wildcats (23-8) fell victim to 14 3-point baskets by Kansas State (28-7), including eight by Temira Poindexter, one of the nation’s best 3-point shooters this season. Kentucky made eight 3-point attempts in 30 attempts.
Amoore scored 18 points in her final game as a Wildcat, shooting 7-of-23 from the floor and 3-of-9 from beyond the arc. Sophomore center Clara Strack won her battle with Kansas State superstar Ayoka Lee, outscoring the All-American 22-16, but containing both Lee on the inside and Poindexter on the outside proved too big a defensive challenge for UK.
Kentucky, the No. 4 seed, got out to a quick start in front of a loud Memorial Coliseum, opening the game with a 3-pointer from SEC Defensive Player of the Year Strack. The bucket was the beginning of a 7-0 UK scoring run, while Kansas State struggled to find the basket until WNBA hopeful Serena Sundell broke through at the 5:51 mark with a 3-pointer of her own, followed by a layup to make it a single-possession game halfway through the first quarter. Sundell’s offense was complemented by the awakened K-State defense, which held UK scoreless for nearly four minutes, and drew the first fouls on Kentucky junior forwards Teonni Key and Amelia Hassett, the latter of which K-State used to even the score from the free-throw line.
Out of a much-needed timeout, Kentucky fired back with three consecutive field goals, and four of five straight attempts, to retake the lead. Throughout the first period, UK struggled to contain Sundell, who reached double-figure scoring before the end of the period. Lee was held to just two points, and Kentucky led 20-15.
Key was called for her second foul on the first possession of the second quarter — an offensive foul 10 seconds into the period. Hassett tacked on her second with just over six minutes to play in the half, and Lee was called was for her second soon after. Strack paced the UK offense at an efficient clip (6-of-9 at the half) during what was a tough-shooting period as both teams’ defense locked in with a spot in the Sweet 16 on the line.
Both teams suffered scoring dry spells of more than two minutes, including Kentucky’s five-plus-minute field goal drought. Kansas State drew even with fewer than 90 seconds to play in the half on the back of back-to-back 3-pointers from Poindexter — the senior forward’s first points of the game — and secured its first lead with a pair of free-throws from senior forward Kennedy Taylor. UK freshman center Clara Silva’s third foul (called with seven seconds left) resulted in two more from Taylor at the line, but a late jump shot from graduate guard Dazia Lawrence put an end to K-State’s 10-0 run and cut Kentucky’s deficit to 33-31 at the half.
The third quarter was a back-and-forth affair, as each team of Wildcats took turns with the lead. Fortunately for Kentucky, the start of the second half also brought the first points for Key, who Brooks has referred to as “the key” to the team’s success all season long. After a scoreless first half (and two fouls), Key scored five points in the third period, a helpful boost to UK’s offense while graduate point guard Amoore was held to only three points in the quarter. UK shot 50% (9-of-18) from the field in the third quarter, and won the period by a single point to trail 54-53 with 10 minutes to play.
Lee was called for her fourth foul — an offensive foul beneath the basket — early in the fourth quarter, forcing head coach Jeff Mittie to sub the experienced center out in crunch time. UK missed six consecutive field goals in the first half of the period, but a wild layup from Lawrence sent the guard to the floor (and Big Blue Nation to its feet) and forced a Kansas State timeout with just over six minutes to play in the game.
Out of the timeout, with its lead taken again, Kansas State opted to return Lee to the game; almost immediately, she restored K-State’s lead with back-to-back layups, despite being double-teamed. Kentucky took a five-point lead with just over two minutes to play, thanks to three consecutive baskets courtesy of Lawrence, Hassett and Key.
Kentucky fans were screaming “BLUE! WHITE!” as Kansas State pulled back within a single possession off a 3-pointer from Jaelyn Glenn, and was silenced by a follow-up 3-pointer from Poindexter to take a one-point lead with 38 seconds remaining. Brooks called a timeout, and Amoore answered with a long-range jumper to give UK a two-point edge with 32.8 seconds on the clock.
With 17.1 seconds to play (and 15 seconds on the shot clock), Mittie burned his final timeout to draw up a play; Sundell, reliable as ever, drained a floater with eight seconds on the clock to tie it. Poindexter logged her sixth block of the night on a Lawrence layup attempt, and fans were granted extra basketball.
Key was the first to score in the overtime period, sinking a putback layup with 3:44 to go. The teams continued to trade buckets, and the game stood tied at 77 with 98 seconds on the clock before an Amoore jump shot — UK’s fifth straight field goal — marked the 20th lead change of the contest and gave the home team yet another advantage.
Out of a timeout, Poindexter hit her eighth 3-pointer, and Kentucky lost possession of the basketball on the inbounds play — a reviewed call that Kentucky fans did not appreciate. The subsequent K-State possession did not result in points, and UK’s possession resulted in a jump ball — with the possession arrow favoring UK.
Amoore inbounded to Strack, got it back and drove the baseline, but her shot missed the mark and Kansas State escaped.
Strack’s 22 points led UK in scoring. She added eight rebounds, two assists, one block and one steal. Lawrence posted 15 points, five rebounds, one assist and two steals. Amoore added three rebounds, six assists, one block and one steal. Key finished with 13 points, 15 rebounds, three blocks and two steals. Hassett added eight points, seven rebounds, three assists and one steal.
Poindexter paced K-State with 24 points, making 8 of 15 from 3-point range. Sundell added 19 points, and dished 14 assists for the double-double. Lee finished with 16 points. Taylor added 11 points.
This story was originally published March 23, 2025 at 4:31 PM.
