UK Women to Face Buffalo in Clara Strack's Hometown

LEXINGTON, Ky. – The University of Kentucky women’s basketball program and head coach Kenny Brooks has announced its nonconference matchup with Buffalo on Sunday, Nov. 9 at UB Alumni Arena in Buffalo, New York.

Clara Strack, former New York State Sportswriters Association Player of the Year and reigning Southeastern Conference Defensive Player of the Year, is a native of Buffalo.

The game time is currently scheduled for 2 p.m. ET, which could be revised after TV designations are announced later this summer.

It will mark the first meeting between the Wildcats and the Bulls in program history.

Strack was the 95th-ranked recruit in the Class of 2023, according to ESPN HoopGurlz. She played club ball for Team Exodus NYC EYBL, while she also played four years at Hamburg High School under Amy Steger. She was named the New York State Sportswriters Association Player of the Year after averaging 24.4 points, 16.2 rebounds, 3.2 blocks and 2.3 steals as a senior in high school in 2022-23. That same season, she broke her high school’s 22-year-old, all-time career scoring record – both girls and boys – with her 1,384th point.  

The All-SEC Second Team and Defensive Team selection is coming off her sophomore season in the Bluegrass, which featured a new school in a new conference with mostly new teammates. She played and started all 31 games, averaging 15.4 ppg, 9.7 rpg, 2.5 apg, 2.4 bpg and 0.8 spg. She also added 17 3FG on the season, even going 3-of-5 from the arc in a ranked win at Oklahoma on Feb. 2.

She finished the season ranked first in the SEC and 11th and 13th in the nation, respectively, in blocks (73) and bpg (2.4). She set Kentucky’s single-season school records in both statistical categories, too. She also set Kentucky’s single-game school record for blocks with eight at Ole Miss on Feb. 10.

The center had 15 double-doubles on the season, which ranked fourth in the league and 26th in the nation in the final statistics. She also ranked second and sixth in the league, respectively, in rpg (9.7) and rebounds (300). Her 9.7 rpg also are eighth on Kentucky’s single-season records list. She shot 48.8 percent from the field, good for eighth in the league, and 78.6 percent from the line, ninth in the league.

She set the school record for best single-game field-goal percentage after going 11-of-11 in a win against Tennessee on Feb. 27.

The Lisa Leslie Center of the Year Top 10 Finalist led UK in scoring nine times, in rebounding 16 times, in assists three times, in steals eight times and in blocks 18 times.

She was the only NCAA DI women’s basketball player on the season to do each of the following at least once in a game on the season (25 pts, 16 rbs, eight asts, eight blks, five stls, 3 3FGM). She became the only SEC player since at least 2002-03 – and the first NCAA DI player since 2009-10 – to have at least 429 pts, 266 rbs, 76 asts, 70 blks and 20 stls in a regular season. She also became the only SEC player since at least 2002-03 to have at least 236 pts, 150 rbs, 41 blks, 35 asts and 12 stls in a SEC regu­lar season.

The Wildcats’ remaining nonconference games will be announced soon.