Key and Strack help Kentucky women beat West Virginia 74-73 to secure Sweet 16 trip


MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (AP) — Teonni Key scored 19 points, Clara Strack had 18 points and 15 rebounds for her 16th double-double of the season and Kentucky nearly gave up a big lead and held on to beat West Virginia 74-73 Monday to advance to the NCAA women’s Sweet 16 for the first time in a decade.

No. 5 seed Kentucky (25-10) will meet top-seeded and Southeastern Conference rival Texas on Saturday in Fort Worth, Texas. Kentucky will make its seventh trip to the regional semifinals in program history and its first since 2016.

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No. 4 seed West Virginia (28-7) nearly stormed back from a double-digit deficit. Sydney Shaw scored 11 of her 23 points in the fourth quarter and two Jordan Harrison free throws with 1:20 left brought the Mountaineers within 72-71. But West Virginia never retook the lead.

Led by Strack, Kentucky scored the first nine points of the third quarter to break open a tie game and take the lead for good. She had eight rebounds, four points, two assists, a block and a steal in the period and Kentucky built its largest lead, 62-48.

The Mountaineers were trying to get to the Sweet 16 for the first time since its only trip in 1992, when West Virginia earned a first-round bye and needed just one win in a field of 48 teams to get there.

Kierra Wheeler added 16 points for West Virginia.

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Kentucky lost to Texas twice earlier this year.

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AP March Madness bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-womens-bracket and coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness



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