Georgia Amoore scores 34 points and Kentucky holds off charge by Liberty for 79-78 March Madness win

LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) — Georgia Amoore scored 34 points, including three free throws in the final 10 seconds for fourth-seeded Kentucky, which nearly blew a 17-point fourth-quarter lead but held on for a 79-78 victory over 13th-seeded Liberty in the first round of the women’s NCAA Tournament on Friday.

The second-team All-America guard made 6 of 10 3-pointers and added eight assists, two steals and two blocks. She scored 23 first-half points for the Wildcats (23-7), who led 67-50 in the opening minute of the fourth quarter.

But Kentucky then went cold, going nearly five minutes without scoring and missing eight straight shots over that stretch. The Flames (26-7) got within 74-73 on a 3-pointer by Avery Mills — her only basket of the game — with 1:14 remaining.

“It’s hard when you’re down, but we really encouraged each other to keep our heads up and just fight hard,” said Jordan Hodges, who had 13 points for Liberty.

Amoore responded with a driving layup, her first points since the final minute of the third quarter.

“We might be the higher seed, but Liberty had nothing to lose,” Amoore said. “They wanted to come out and win and had all the energy.”

Liberty’s Emma Hess drained a 3-pointer for the final points of the game, but Amoore avoided getting fouled in the final 2 seconds to preserve Kentucky’s first tournament win in four years.

The Wildcats will face either Kansas State or Fairfield in the second round on Sunday.

“Thank goodness for Georgia’s performance,” Kentucky coach Kenny Brooks said. “(She) and Dazia (Lawrence) really carried us from a mental standpoint, and we have to have others step up if we want to continue on.”

Lawrence added 16 points for Kentucky, which also got 15 points and 10 rebounds from Clara Strack.

Emmy Stout came off the bench to lead Liberty with 20 points. Hess added 17.

Liberty rallied despite Asia Boone leaving the game midway through the first quarter with a left foot injury. The sophomore guard led the team with 62 treys and was second on the team averaging 10.5 points.

Stout, a 6-foot-3 freshman center, picked up the scoring slack with Boone’s departure. She and Bella Smuda, a 6-foot-6 senior center, fueled the Flames in the second half as they combined for 22 points and went 8 for 9. They also got Kentucky’s bigs, Strack and Teonni Key, to foul out in the fourth quarter to further aid their comeback bid.

Smuda finished with 14 points and 12 rebounds.

Takeaways

Liberty: Seeking their first March Madness victory in 20 years, the Flames couldn’t quite complete the comeback.

Kentucky: Amoore scored plenty early, but with the game and season in the balance, she made the plays to help the Wildcats survive and advance.

Key moment

Amoore had the ball as the first half ended and Liberty had cut a 14-point deficit in half. Rather than put up a shot, she found Lawrence in the corner, and Lawrence drained a buzzer-beating 3-pointer to make it 44-34 at the break. Those points turned out to be crucial.

Amoore said she knew the Flames were going for a ball screen and that her teammate would be open when that happened.

“I threw it kind of knowing she was there, but I knew she was going to hit it down,” she said.

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