Amelia Hassett 'a unicorn' for Kentucky women's basketball in NCAA run
Kentucky's Amelia Hassett is "a unicorn" in women's basketball, leading the SEC in 3-pointers and ranking among the league's top 10 in blocked shots.
FORT WORTH, TX — Walking down a hallway in the labyrinthine corridors of Dickies Arena just before his team took the floor for practice Friday morning, Kenny Brooks said Amelia Hassett is "a unicorn. " It's a phrase that has picked up popularity in the basketball word the past decade, affixed to describe seemingly one-of-a-kind players. In Hassett's case, however, it couldn't be more accurate.
The numbers she's posted for Kentucky's women's basketball this season are without compare. Entering Saturday's NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 matchup against Texas , Hassett has knocked down 98 3-pointers, the most in the SEC and doubling as a single-season school record. Yet the senior from New South Wales, Australia, also ranks among the top 10 in the league in blocked shots per game, averaging 1.
4 per outing. To put in perspective how singular those figures are, consider this: The other nine players in the conference's top 10 in blocked shots per game have combined for 167 made 3s this season; the closest to Hassett's tally is LSU's MiLaysia Fulwiley ... who has 40.
Among Division I's top 10 in 3-point field goals (a list where Hassett ranks eighth), no other player averages even half of Hassett's 1. 4 blocks; the closest is High Point's Macy Spencer at 0. 6 rejections an outing.