Georgia Amoore stars as Kentucky avoids collapse vs. Liberty - ESPN

LEXINGTON, Ky. — Kentucky senior guard Georgia Amoore had a couple of things riding on a pair of free throws late on her home court on Friday.

The 4-seed Wildcats needed every point to avoid one of the biggest collapses in NCAA tournament history against 13-seed Liberty in the first round of the tournament. She also needed both shots to own a piece of school history.

Amoore split the difference. She made one of two and the Wildcats did just enough down the stretch to beat the Flames, 79-78, for the team's first tournament win since 2021. Amoore's 34 points also matched the most by a Kentucky player in a tourney game, tying A'dia Mathies' total in 2013 against Dayton.

Amoore had no idea she was on the verge of history when she stepped to the line with seven seconds left in the game. She just knew the Wildcats (23-7) needed to meet the energy required for the big moment.

«Anything can happen,» Amoore said after the game at Lexington's Memorial Coliseum.

Friday afternoon was on the verge of becoming a historic day for an entirely different reason. With 9:36 left in the game, Liberty trailed by 17 points. Had the Flames (26-7) overcome the deficit, it would have been the second-biggest fourth-quarter comeback in NCAA tournament history, per ESPN Research.

That was trimmed down to a point in the final minute. Had Liberty secured a defensive rebound, it had a shot at a go-ahead possession with roughly 23 seconds left. However, Kentucky's Amelia Hassett secured her own miss to start the free-throw parade that gave Amoore her share of the school record. She made three of four attempts to seal the win. All of them were needed considering Liberty's Emma Hess, who scored 17 points, banked in a miracle 3-pointer with :02 left.

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