GREENVILLE, SC — College basketball changes the second the calendar flips to March. For the Kentucky women's basketball team, perhaps that's the change they needed to get back into the win column. On the first day of the month, the No. 14 seeded Wildcats upset No. 11 seeded Florida in the opening game of the SEC Tournament, 72-57, to advance to the next round.
Senior guard Robyn Benton finished with a game-high 20 points, while Adebola Adeyeye recorded a double-double: 11 points and 17 rebounds. Jada Walker and Maddie Scherr also hit double-digit scoring with 13 and 10 points, respectively.
As a team, Kentucky shot 44 percent from the field, 20 percent from behind-the-arc, and 75 percent from the charity stripe.
The Cats came out firing. Kentucky went on a 9-0 run to lead by as many as eight, before settling for an 18-12 lead after the first ten minutes of play. The Wildcats went 7-17 from the field, 1-6 from deep and 3-4 from the free throw line in the game's opening quarter.
The Cats built a 22-14 lead when there was a game-changing altercation that started between Kentucky's Ajae Petty and Florida's Tatyana Wyche, which quickly spilled into the Kentucky bench area.
Eight players were ejected in the SEC women's tournament after a scuffle broke out during the Kentucky-Florida game.
— ESPN (@espn) March 1, 2023
The game was delayed over 20 minutes. pic.twitter.com/iXUgUzltgj
After a lengthy delay, the officials handed out a series of technical fouls and eight active player ejections.
Kentucky's Saniah Tyler, Eniya Russell, Cassidy Rowe and Zennia Thomas were ejected; Florida's Taliyah Wyche, Tatyana Wyche, Ra Shaya Kyle and Faith Dut were ejected, as well. Petty received a technical foul, while Benton picked up an intentional foul.
22 minutes later, play finally resumed in Greenville.
Florida regrouped quicker than the Wildcats, using a 7-0 run to cut into Kentucky's lead going into halftime. The Wildcats went to the locker room leading by one, 22-21. One positive the Cats could cling onto at the end of the first half was the return of junior guard Maddie Scherr, who had previously left the game with an injury.
When Scherr and her teammates returned to the court after the break, Scherr hit her stride on offense. She scored eight points in the third quarter to help push the Cats to a 43-41 lead by the end of the period.
Kentucky just kept pushing down the stretch. Their largest lead of the game came by way of the final score: 15 points, 72-57.
Kentucky will play 6-seed Alabama Thursday night in the next round of the SEC Tournament.
BBN Tonight's Austin Pollock is in Greenville, South Carolina with the team, so follow along with us as the Cats continue to compete.
Annnnnd that'll do it!
— Austin Pollack (@AustinPollackTV) March 1, 2023
Kentucky upsets #11 Florida 72-57 in Greenville.
Cats take on #6 Alabama tomorrow night. @BBNTonight
