Kentucky Miss Basketball Savannah Wheeler led all scorers with 19 points as Kentucky beat Indiana 79-74 Friday in Louisville. Wheeler, from Boyd County, is headed to Marshall University.
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.
