Kentucky women's basketball ready to prove themselves to the world after rivalry win

Kentucky walked into the KFC Yum! Center in Louisville on a mission – and they came out with a 72-62 win. A dominant third-quarter and key performances from Clara Strack, Teonni Key and Tonie Morgan propelled the Wildcats to consecutive wins over their in-state rival. 

“I’m super proud of my kids – the way they fought tonight, resilient,” Brooks said. “This venue is always one of the hardest and they’re extremely knowledgeable…and the way we handled ourselves during that situation just shows who we can be. We’re growing as a basketball team, and we’re learning each other each and every day, but I thought we got some tremendous performances.”

Morgan, who transferred in from Georgia Tech, earned her first win against Louisville. Taking over for Georgia Amoore at the point guard position is no easy task, but Morgan has leaned into her playmaking abilities and made a big splash offensively on Sunday, 

“Tonie was unbelievable,” Brooks said. “Just very proud of the way that she has really adapted to play in this system. She really became a facilitator in the first six games and today she found herself a little bit more…She did a tremendous job in just controlling the game. I think she only had one turnover.”

The third quarter was the turning point of this game. Kentucky outscored Louisville 20-6 and held star guard Tajianna Roberts to just three points after she put up 19 points in the first half. Brooks said that was largely due to putting Amelia Hassett on her after the break. 

“Amelia is our Swiss Army knife,” Brooks said. “We ask her to do so many different things… Amelia did a really good job on her and it freed Tonie up to do some other things and really focus on the offensive end.”

With a challenging schedule looming that includes Maryland, Miami and Belmont, Kentucky views Sunday’s win as a real confidence-booster moving forward. 

“We believe in ourselves,” Brooks said. “Now it’s just a matter of proving it to the rest of the world.”

Strack echoed the sentiment. 

“It gave us a lot of confidence within ourselves that you can’t really get off just practice. Down the road, knowing we did this and we can do better, too.”