Kentucky Women Win Season Opener at Historic Memorial Coliseum
- Nov 5, 2024
- 3 min read
Coach Kenny Brooks and Georgia Amoore in postgame press conference
UK WOMEN’S BASKETBALL POSTGAME NOTES
MONDAY, NOV. 4, 2024
HISTORIC MEMORIAL COLISEUM – LEXINGTON, KY.
No. 22 KENTUCKY 98, USC UPSTATE 43 – FINAL
Team Records and Series Notes
Kentucky is 1-0 to begin the season, while USC Upstate fell to 0-1.
The University of Kentucky women’s basketball program is in its 51st season of varsity status.
UK has a 907-608 (.599) all-time record.
UK has a 489-172 (.739) all-time record in Historic Memorial Coliseum
Kenny Brooks is in his first season as the head coach of the Wildcats, holding a 1-0 record in Blue and White.
He improved to 518-204 (.718) in his 23rd overall season as a head coach.
Kentucky remains the leader in the all-time meetings with USC Upstate, 5-0.
UK is 43-8 all-time in season openers, and it has won 16 in a row.
UK is 47-4 all-time in home openers, and it has won 16 in a row.
Team Notes
Kentucky used the starting combination Georgia Amoore, Dazia Lawrence, Amelia Hassett, Teonni Key and Clara Strack for the season opener.
UK is 1-0 when using that starting combination.
The Wildcats won the opening tip.
Clara Strack was the first player to score for Kentucky.
Clara Silva was the first substitute off the bench for Kentucky.
UK began the season shooting 52.2 percent from the field (35-of-67), 29.6 percent from the arc (8-of-27) and 80.0 percent from the line (20-of-25).
Tonight marked Kentucky’s second largest margin of victory ever in a season opener (55 points).
The program record is 77 points, when Kentucky defeated Kentucky State on Nov. 24, 1989.
The last time Kentucky scored at least 90 points was when it scored 95 points against Ohio on Dec. 21, 2022.
The Wildcats had 12 blocks in the game.
The last time the Cats had 10-or-more blocks was against West Virginia in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge on Dec. 1, 2021 (10).
Kentucky recorded 26 assists in the game.
The last time UK had 20-or-more assists in a game was against Furman on Dec. 17, 2023.
UK began the season turning the ball over just nine times. UK has turned the ball over fewer than 10 times for the last two straight games, a stretch dating back to the last game of last season.
Moreover, UK outscored USC Upstate, 34-0, off turnovers.
Ten of the eleven players that took the court tonight scored from the field, while five players scored in double digits.
The last time five players scored in double digits was at Alabama on Jan. 28, 2024.
Player Notes
Clara Strack, sophomore center, led the team with a career-high 22 points on 7-of-11 from the field and a career-high, 8-of-9 from the line.
Strack added a career-high two steals, a career-high tying two assists, two blocks and six rebounds.
Georgia Amoore, graduate guard, had the 13th double-double of her career on 11 points and 10 assists. All 13 of the double-doubles in her career are on points and assists. Jada Walker was the last UK player to have a double-double on points (21 points) and assists (10 assists) against Coastal Carolina on Nov. 13, 2022.
Amoore added six rebounds and one steal.
Clara Silva, freshman center, was one block away from tying the single-game individual blocks record, concluding the game with six in her college debut.
Silva added 14 points on a perfect 6-of-6 from the field and 2-of-2 from the line.
Silva added seven rebounds, five of which were offensive, and two assists.
Teonni Key, junior forward, had a career-high 14 points on 6-of-11 from the field and 2-of-3 from the line. She also had a career-high five assists, and she tied her career high with three blocks.
Key added nine rebounds, one shy of her career high, and one steal.
Amelia Hassett, junior guard, also had 14 points and nine rebounds. Of her five buckets, four were 3-pointers, which is one short of her career high.
Hassett added two assists, two steals and one block.
All three freshmen scored their first buckets, including Clara Silva (14 points), Tanah Becker (five points) and Lexi Blue (four points).
Becker went 2-of-2, including a field goal and a 3-pointer.
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