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03-17-2012, 07:54 PM
AMES, Iowa — Kentucky's star was off.
Its timing was off.
But the Cats still had just enough horsepower to slide past McNeese State 68-62 on Saturday at Hilton Coliseum in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
The Cats will face the winner of the later game between Green Bay and host Iowa State on Monday night.
Kentucky (27-6), which earned a No. 2 seed for the first time since 1982, will have to play much better than it did against the Cowgirls if it hopes to advance.
Saddled with foul trouble, A'dia Mathies struggled. The Southeastern Conference Player of the Year finished with just six points, missing all but two of the 10 shots she tried.
UK's bigs and balance were big enough, outscoring McNeese State in the paint and outrebounding them 58-40.
The Cats were led by Keyla Snowden's 11 points.
Azia Bishop added 10 points and three rebounds. Three other UK players had eight points each in the win.
With nine minutes to go, McNeese State scored seven unanswered to cut UK's lead to 46-42, but that was as close as it would get. UK responded with an 11-3 run to put it out of reach. The Cowgirls hung around, but never got the late surge they needed.
Despite having Mathies and UK's next two leading scorers, Bria Goss and Snowden combined for three points in the first half, the Cats led McNeese State 31-28 at the break.
Midway through the first half, UK scored 10 unanswered and grabbed a 21-12 advantage, holding McNeese nearly six minutes without a field goal.
But when Cowgirls came back, they came back with guns blazing, using a 15-3 run (including 12 straight) to grab the lead back 26-23 with four minutes to go in the half.
UK turned up the pressure again, though, and McNeese went without a field goal before the break while Kentucky used an 8-2 run to take the lead into the locker room.
Amber Smith, back in the starting lineup, sparked that late surge with an 18-footer and then assisted on the next two buckets for UK, which missed all nine three-pointers it attempted in the first half.
Caitlyn Baggett led the Southland Conference champion Cowgirls (26-8) with 22 points. Senior Martika Hull added 20 points and 13 rebounds in her final game.
Read more here: http://www.kentucky.com/2012/03/17/21147...rylink=cpy
Its timing was off.
But the Cats still had just enough horsepower to slide past McNeese State 68-62 on Saturday at Hilton Coliseum in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
The Cats will face the winner of the later game between Green Bay and host Iowa State on Monday night.
Kentucky (27-6), which earned a No. 2 seed for the first time since 1982, will have to play much better than it did against the Cowgirls if it hopes to advance.
Saddled with foul trouble, A'dia Mathies struggled. The Southeastern Conference Player of the Year finished with just six points, missing all but two of the 10 shots she tried.
UK's bigs and balance were big enough, outscoring McNeese State in the paint and outrebounding them 58-40.
The Cats were led by Keyla Snowden's 11 points.
Azia Bishop added 10 points and three rebounds. Three other UK players had eight points each in the win.
With nine minutes to go, McNeese State scored seven unanswered to cut UK's lead to 46-42, but that was as close as it would get. UK responded with an 11-3 run to put it out of reach. The Cowgirls hung around, but never got the late surge they needed.
Despite having Mathies and UK's next two leading scorers, Bria Goss and Snowden combined for three points in the first half, the Cats led McNeese State 31-28 at the break.
Midway through the first half, UK scored 10 unanswered and grabbed a 21-12 advantage, holding McNeese nearly six minutes without a field goal.
But when Cowgirls came back, they came back with guns blazing, using a 15-3 run (including 12 straight) to grab the lead back 26-23 with four minutes to go in the half.
UK turned up the pressure again, though, and McNeese went without a field goal before the break while Kentucky used an 8-2 run to take the lead into the locker room.
Amber Smith, back in the starting lineup, sparked that late surge with an 18-footer and then assisted on the next two buckets for UK, which missed all nine three-pointers it attempted in the first half.
Caitlyn Baggett led the Southland Conference champion Cowgirls (26-8) with 22 points. Senior Martika Hull added 20 points and 13 rebounds in her final game.
Read more here: http://www.kentucky.com/2012/03/17/21147...rylink=cpy
03-17-2012, 10:46 PM
We were lucky in this one...
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