MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (AP) 鈥� Teonni Key had 19 points and 10 rebounds, Clara Strack had 18 points and 15 rebounds, and nearly gave up a big lead and held on to beat 74-73 Monday to advance to the for the first time in a decade.
No. 5 seed Kentucky (25-10) will meet top-seeded and Southeastern Conference rival on Saturday in Fort Worth, Texas. Kentucky will make its seventh trip to the regional semifinals in program history and its first since 2016.
Kentucky second-year coach Kenny Brooks wants to savor this win first before turning his attention to the Longhorns.
鈥淭o do this in two years is pretty remarkable,” he said. “So heck yeah I鈥檓 going to step back and smell the roses and enjoy this.鈥�
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.
Key said Kentucky has been in enough nail-biters under Brooks that the players have learned to handle those challenges.
鈥淏asketball is a game of runs, especially in March and in this environment,” she said.
West Virginia had the 鈥渆xtra fuel鈥� of playing at home, “I think us just staying composed and staying together was the main focus,鈥� Key said.
Strack, who earned honorable mention honors on , had her 16th double-double of the season, and Key her seventh.
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.
鈥淪he鈥檚 an All-American for a reason,” said West Virginia coach Mark Kellogg. “She鈥檚 a matchup problem. She鈥檚 perfected her craft, for sure.鈥�
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.
Gia Cooke added 23 points and Kierra Wheeler had 16 for West Virginia, which saw its seven-game winning streak snapped.
The taller Wildcats held a 39-23 rebounding advantage and withstood both West Virginia鈥檚 trapping defense and a noisy crowd of nearly 13,000 that favored the host Mountaineers.
鈥淭hat was a fun game, fun atmosphere,鈥� said Kentucky’s Tonie Morgan, who finished with 15 points. 鈥淵ou want to play tough teams like that because you’ve played them all year, so why change it up now?鈥�
Close endings
The win broke a four-game losing streak for Kentucky in the second round and after the Wildcats lost 80-79 to Kansas State on their home court with a Sweet 16 trip on the line.
Monday’s game ended in similar fashion as that one.
A year ago, Kentucky star Georgia Amoore missed a floating layup that danced around the rim and fell off at the buzzer. On Monday, Cooke took an inbounds pass with eight seconds left, moved to her left and missed a 12-foot jumper that rimmed in and out.
鈥淏asketball is such a beautiful sport. It’s a crazy sport,鈥� Brooks said.
West Virginia’s Shaw said she thought Cooke did a great job finding open space for the nail-biting attempt.
鈥淚 think everybody thought that shot was going in,” Shaw said. 鈥淣ine times out of 10, that shot’s going in. This was that one out of 10.鈥�
Up next
Kentucky is 0-4 all time against Texas, losing once in each of the past two seasons. The Longhorns won at home 64-53 on Feb. 9. The Longhorns won both of their tournament games by 42 points and are in the Sweet 16 for the third straight season.
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This story has been corrected to show that Kentucky and Texas played once earlier this year, not twice.
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