By Jamie H. Vaught
KySportsStyle.com Magazine
LEXINGTON -- The UK fans who attended the first and second rounds of NCAA women’s tournament definitely got their money’s worth this past weekend.
The Wildcats had two exciting ESPN-televised games with a one-point win over Liberty (after giving up a 17-point lead in early fourth quarter) on Friday and a one-point overtime loss to Kansas State on Sunday.
And two-time All-American Georgia Amoore of Kentucky was all over the floor against Liberty, entertaining the crowd while gunning in 34 points and giving out eight assists, both game-highs. Amoore now is the only player in program history to total 52 points in any two-game span in the NCAA Tournament.
But the heartbreaking loss on Sunday meant UK’s 2024-25 memorable campaign is over, finishing with a 23-8 mark, including five wins against AP Top 25 teams. And the evenly-fought contest -- an 80-79 thriller won by K-State -- was a classic NCAA Tournament matchup that many folks won't forget. It was an exciting game that you hated to see either team lose.
“It was a very good basketball game,” said Kentucky coach Kenny Brooks, who came to Lexington from Virginia Tech last spring. “I hope everybody was entertained. It was really fun to be a part of. It was two good basketball teams going at it. They made probably one more play than we did. So they're moving on (to the Sweet Sixteen), so congratulations to them.”
Personally, this is the most fun UK women’s basketball team that I have ever covered in my long sportswriting career since the early days of the late 1970s when I was the sports editor of the Kentucky Kernel, the student daily newspaper at UK. In addition to Amoore, the players, including 6-foot-5 All-SEC Clara Strack, were polite, pleasant and personable. And they were entertaining to watch.
Don’t forget that I also enjoyed covering the local standouts (and classroom stars) like Maci Morris from Bell County and Blair Green from Harlan County during their days at UK. But overall this Kentucky team has a special personality.
At the postgame news conference, Amoore, who grew up in Australia, was asked what she will remember the most about her only season at Kentucky. Amoore played four years for Brooks at Virginia Tech before transferring to UK.
“That's deep,” she said. “I think in the locker room we were kind of saying that it's been such a blessing for both of us to like bring Kentucky back. Obviously Kentucky is a name brand on the men's side. I told the girls, it's up to you, whatever you decide, but hang around because it's only going to go up from here. It's an attractive style of play. Coach Brooks proves that he's a winner.
“So, I think it's cool to be the foundation and be the the program forward. That's been the greatest thing is seeing the crowds come back game after game. Even Memorial (Coliseum), like I didn't see the old one, but I heard of it. It's been cool to play in the new one and to kind of just get things rolling back again.”
Said Brooks, “This is one of the most enjoyable seasons that I've ever had in my 24 years of coaching because of the way that they came together.”
Brooks added Amoore’s growth and maturity “has gone through the roof this year. You get to a point where sometimes you have special players and you kind of know that it's time for them to move on because she was just so special, she was coaching us some. She was interjecting her thoughts more.
“This year, more so than any, they became conversations. It wasn't a lecture. It wasn't, hey, you do as I say. They became conversations. When they become conversations, you're in a special situation because not every coach gets to have that relationship with a player, and I've been blessed to be able to have that to the point where she just didn't do what I said, she wanted to know why, and it became a point where it's a two-way street, and it's fun.
“Some coaches don't ever get it. Sometimes you get it once. But when you have it, you learn to appreciate it. As she mentioned before, this year was very special for our relationship because it grew even more so when you didn't think it could grow.”
While the Big Blue Nation will miss Amoore and dependable redshirt senior guard Dazia Lawrence, the future of UK women’s basketball is bright, and its brand will continue to grow.
And I can’t wait to cover the Lady Kats, I mean the Wildcats, again next season.
Jamie H. Vaught, a longtime sports columnist in Kentucky, is the author of six books about UK basketball, including recently-published “Forever Crazy About The Cats: An Improbable Journey of a Kentucky Sportswriter Overcoming Adversity.” Now a retired college professor who taught at Southeast Kentucky Community and Technical College in Middlesboro., he is the editor and founder of KySportsStyle.com Magazine. You can follow him on Twitter @KySportsStyle or reach him via email at KySportsStyle@gmail.com.
