No. 4 Kentucky gets past No. 13 Liberty
March 20, 2010 | Women's Basketball
March 20, 2010
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) - A'dia Mathies wouldn't let Kentucky's return to the NCAA tournament be just a cameo.
Mathies, the Southeastern Conference Freshman of the Year, scored a career-high 32 points as the fourth-seeded Wildcats beat 13th-seeded Liberty 83-77 on Saturday in the opening round of the women's NCAA tournament at Freedom Hall.
SEC Player of the Year Victoria Dunlap scored 15 points and added eight rebounds while Keyla Snowden sparked the Wildcats (26-7) with 15 points - all in the second half - as Kentucky moved into the second round for the first time since 2006. The Wildcats will play fifth-seeded Michigan State on Monday.
Mathies, a Louisville native, chose to play for the Wildcats rather than the hometown Cardinals. Good move. While the Cardinals missed the tournament after making it to the NCAA championship game last year, the Wildcats have surged behind the play of their scintillating freshman.
Though Freedom Hall is typically inhospitable to the Wildcats - they hadn't won on Louisville's home floor since 1999 - Mathies appeared right at home in her hometown.
She helped the Wildcats overcome a shaky start by turning up the pressure on the Flames (27-6). Mathies, who led the SEC in steals, led the charge as Kentucky forced 22 Liberty turnovers.
Kentucky took the lead for good on a 3-pointer by Mathies with just over 12 minutes remaining then held on. The Flames hung around but would get no closer than six over the game's final 10 minutes.
The NCAA-tested Flames were hardly intimidated playing in front of a highly partisan crowd in what was a de facto home game for the Wildcats. Liberty, making its 13th NCAA appearance in the last 14 seasons, scored the game's first six points and led by as much as eight before the Wildcats woke up.
Kentucky stormed back with a 17-0 run, holding the Flames without a field goal for seven minutes to take a 21-13 lead.
Liberty responded with an 11-0 run of its own to go back in front and the Flames took a 35-33 lead into the break and appeared on the verge of posting their first NCAA win since 2005.
The Wildcats, however, steadied themselves behind Mathies to move on.
