Kentucky WBB opens NCAA Tournament with win over James Madison

The Kentucky Wildcats women's basketball team began their NCAA Tournament run on Saturday by taking on coach Kenny Brooks' former team, James Madison. A Cats team that is capable of making a deep run opened things up with a dominant victory, winning 71-56. Kentucky jumped out in front early, and led 43-18 at halftime.

The second half saw James Madison play much better, and they closed the gap some, but were just too far behind, and unable to get close enough. Neither team shot the ball well overall. Kentucky made just 38% of their shots, but they out-rebounded their opponent 46-38 and got some second chance points.

Both teams turned it over 16 times, but the Wildcats turned them into more points. Tonie Morgan led the Cats with 18 points and 7 assists. Amelia Hassett added 14 of her own.

Clara Strack didn't have her best game, but still had 10 points and 14 rebounds. She also blocked two shots. Kentucky moves on to round two now, where they will face the winner between West Virginia and Miami (OH).