Kentucky edges West Virginia to end decade-long Sweet 16 drought

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.

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