MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (AP) 鈥� coach Kenny Brooks knows star center Clara Strack doesn鈥檛 have to focus on scoring because there’s plenty of talent surrounding her.
Kentucky鈥檚 imposing length with three starters who are 6-foot-4 or taller, including Strack, will match up against West Virginia鈥檚 full-throttle defense Monday in the second round of the on .
The winner will earn a trip to the Sweet 16. Kentucky (24-10), the No. 5 seed in the Fort Worth Region 3, has advanced to the regional semifinals six times but not since 2016. No. 4 seed (28-6) made its only trip in 1992, when the Mountaineers earned a first-round bye and needed just one win in a field of 48 teams to get there.
The Mountaineers have never won twice in the same women鈥檚 NCAA Tournament in 16 previous trips. Kentucky has lost the last four times it played in the second round, including last season when it was a tournament host.
Solid Strack
The 6-5 Strack earned honorable mention honors on . She鈥檚 averaging a double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds as well as 2.5 blocks per game.
鈥淪he鈥檚 unbelievable,鈥� Brooks said Sunday. 鈥淐lara will do whatever Clara has to do to help us win a basketball game. When you have a superstar like Clara, they want the basketball all the time. And she wants the basketball.
鈥淏ut she鈥檚 so much more to us than scoring. She鈥檚 our leader on the defensive end. She鈥檚 one of the best defensive players I鈥檝e ever coached in my life. And not only because she can block shots. She really understands what鈥檚 going on. She helps out a lot. She quarterbacks our defense.鈥�
Strack has 15 double-doubles this season. On Saturday she had 10 points and 14 rebounds despite being hounded by multiple defenders in a in the first round. She also had four assists, two steals and two blocked shots. The taller Wildcats as a team had eight blocks.
Brooks said Strack expects to be double-teamed and 鈥渟he鈥檚 fine with that as long as she can find her teammates and they can step up and they can score.鈥�
Often, they do. Four other Kentucky players are averaging double figures in scoring. On Saturday, Tonie Morgan had 18 points, Amelia Hassett 14 and Jordan Obi 12.
鈥淚 always try to be locked in,鈥� Strack said. “I鈥檓 just willing to do whatever it takes for the team to win, whether that鈥檚 rebounding, scoring. Really anything on the floor. I think that just also comes with playing hard.鈥�
Getting defensive
West Virginia鈥檚 defense that suffocates opponents and forces them to cough up the ball almost at will has its biggest test yet in Kentucky鈥檚 length and the ability of Strack and others to score from almost anywhere on the floor.
West Virginia coach Mark Kellogg wants to make sure Kentucky doesn鈥檛 get the chance to repeat what it did on Saturday, when it raced to a 32-10 first-quarter lead against the Dukes.
鈥淭hat first quarter won them the game,” Kellogg said. “If you鈥檙e not careful and you鈥檙e not on it, teams go on big runs. I think you鈥檝e got to be dialed in. You just don鈥檛 want them to find rhythm early.”
West Virginia’s full-court press could help preventing that. On Saturday, West Virginia forced five turnovers in a three-minute stretch and took control with a 17-0 run .
鈥淭hey鈥檙e just relentless. Their tenacity is unbelievable,鈥� Brooks said. 鈥淭hey just keep going. They know how to create opportunities for themselves.鈥�
The Mountaineers have won seven straight, including the Big 12 tournament title over TCU. They are forcing 22 turnovers per game and limiting opponents to an average of under 59 points.
鈥淲e鈥檙e going to try our best to turn Kentucky over and get out on offense,” said West Virginia’s Gia Cooke.
No shooting allowed
Both as a player at James Madison and as a head coach at Virginia Tech, Brooks remembers playing West Virginia in Morgantown and being told about the buckskin-wearing Mountaineer mascot, who fires a muzzleloader 鈥� with black powder but minus ammunition 鈥� before every game.
鈥淭hat damn gun going off,鈥� Brooks said. 鈥淢y freshman year, we got warned. Everybody鈥檚 like, 鈥榟ey, they鈥檙e going to shoot that gun off. Don鈥檛 let it scare you.鈥� That gun went off and we all ducked for cover.鈥�
Fortunately for Kentucky, the only shooting will come from the players on the court. The muzzleloader must remain silent in the NCAA Tournament.
鈥淚鈥檓 glad this is a neutral floor and they can鈥檛 do that,鈥� Brooks said.
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