Kentucky kicks off SEC Women's tournament with a W over Georgia

In the opening game of the Southeastern Conference Tournament, No. 12 seed Kentucky beat 13th-seeded Georgia 64-50 behind 19 points from Eniya Russell and 11 points and 14 rebounds from Ajae Petty.

Kentucky (12-19) will play No. 5 seed Tennessee on Thursday. After winning the title in 2022 and reaching the quarterfinals of the SEC Tournament in 2023, the Wildcats have improved to 7-1 in their last three SEC Tournament appearances.

The Cats missed their first six shots of the game until Russell got going, scoring 10 points in the first quarter. This helped build a 21-14 lead. The Wildcats led 36-22 at the break for their largest halftime lead of the season against an SEC opponent. The Kentucky basketball team held a 25-13 edge on the glass thanks to a strong performance by Petty who scored eight points and grabbed nine rebounds.

A string of seven consecutive missed shots by Georgia during the break in the fourth quarter helped Kentucky widen its lead to 16 points. The Bulldogs got as close as nine points the rest of the way. Russell's layup with 1:20 left was Kentucky's first field goal of the fourth.

With this win Kentucky will take on the Lady Vols at 2:30pm on The SEC Network.