Kentucky’s girls are showing they are beginning to close the basketball gap with their Hoosier neighbors to the north. The Kentucky All-Stars beat their Indiana counterparts 79-74 Friday at Bellarmine University, assuring themselves of no worse than a split in the series for the third straight year.
Kentucky jumped out to an 8-1 lead and led 22-17 after one quarter before Indiana used a 23-10 run to take a 40-32 lead into halftime. Indiana hit just 2-of-15 from behind the arc but scored 14 points off 10 Kentucky turnovers.
Kentucky pushed the ball more in the third quarter and took a 47-46 lead with 4:49 left in the third quarter. They were up 59-57 after three quarters thanks to a trio of 3-pointers down the stretch.
Scott County’s Maaliya Owens, who is headed to Tennessee Tech, hit three 3-pointers in the final five minutes to keep Indiana at bay. Owens finished with 18 points, including 5-of-11 on threes.
While Indiana had the size advantage in the contest, they had trouble keeping pace with the quicker Kentucky guards. Indiana shot just 5-of-22 behind the arc for the contest, while Kentucky was 12-of-34. Kentucky also outrebounded Indiana 45-39.
Kentucky Miss Basketball Savannah Wheeler (Boyd County) led all scorers with 19 points. The Marshall University-bound guard also had six rebounds.
Indiana still leads the border series 49-38. The two teams will play again Saturday night in Indianapolis.