After a dominant 55-point performance on Monday against the USC Upstate Spartans, Kentucky was set to take on the Norse of Northern Kentucky. However, the Cats weren’t as fast out of the gate in this one.
Still, even after coming out slow, No. 22 Kentucky was able to walk away with a 70-41 win.
At the end of the first quarter, Kentucky led 18-14. Northern Kentucky’s zone defense slowed things down for Kenny Brooks‘ team offensively. Even through the conclusion of the first half, Kentucky had just scored 36 points. Clara Strack, however, was ready from the get-go. She had nine points, nine rebounds and five assists at halftime. To finish the game, she had 15 points, 13 rebounds, eight assists and four blocks.
The third quarter started off about the same — slow and not a whole lot going on offensively. Every time the guards would feed the ball into the post, Northern Kentucky would swarm and cause a disruption in the offense. However, Clara Silva‘s size quickly became a problem for the Norse. Off the bench, she posted 18 points and five blocks in 22 minutes of play.
Heading into the last quarter of play, the ‘Cats lead by 18, though it felt like it should have been a one-possession game. Even through all of the sloppiness, UK still had firm control of the game. Luckily, Kentucky started playing like the Kentucky of usual, and pulled away in the end.
Georgia Amoore played a large role in willing the team to victory with her 13 points, though she shot just 5-13 (1-5 3PT) from the field. She also dished out eight assists while grabbing five rebounds on the night. The 5-foot-6 point guard had three blocks to her name as well.
After struggling to find her stride in the first half, Dazia Lawrence ended up with 10 points on 4-9 (2-4 3PT) shooting. All of her scoring came in the second half, so it’s better late than never as far as her production goes.
Even after a bit of a slow start, Kentucky is 2-0 in the Kenny Brooks era. They’ll look to make it 3-0 against Wofford on Tuesday.
