UK Hoops used a big first half and a big night from Samarie Walker to hold off a late charging Green Bay to advance to the Sweet 16 65-62 in Ames, Iowa.
Walker led the Wildcats with 15 points, 13 rebounds, and 3 steals to lead Kentucky to their 27th victory of the season.
Kentucky was on their game in the first half, led by A’dia Mathies 10 points.
Leading 10-6, UK hit an 11-0 run for a 21-6 lead. Green Bay narrowed the lead to 10 points before UK scored the final seven points of the half and went into intermission leading 42-25.
The second half was a different story as Green Bay outplayed the #2 seeded Wildcats.
With UK ahead 51-37 with 11:59 to play, Green Bay went on a 25-10 run to go up 62-61 with 1:57 to go. Neither team scored again until Keyla Snowden tallied a jumper at the free-throw line with 18 seconds left to put UK ahead 63-62 with 18 seconds left.
After UK forced a miss, Snowden was fouled with 5.4 seconds. Shooting a 1-and-1, she made both for a 65-62 lead. Green Bay missed a three and UK rebounded the miss for preserve the win.
Snowden finished with 13 points off the bench, including the final 4 points of the game.
[SIZE=2][FONT=arial][COLOR=#000000]Kentucky advances to the Kingston Regional on Sunday against Gonzaga[/COLOR][/FONT][/SIZE]
