Freshman center Silva drops 18 as No. 22 Kentucky beats Northern Kentucky

LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) — Freshman center Clara Silva scored 18 points, Clara Strack had 15 points, 13 rebounds and eight assists and No. 22 Kentucky beat Northern Kentucky 70-41 on Thursday night.

Strack started a 10-3 run to close the first half that gave Kentucky a double-digit lead it would not relinquish. She also scored six points during a 11-2 run to begin the fourth quarter for a 64-37 lead.

Northern Kentucky made just 3 of 16 shots in the fourth quarter.

Silva, from Portugal, was coming off a 6-for-6 performance on Monday to become the first Kentucky player to be perfect from the field – with at least five field goals – since Makayla Epps in 2014. Silva's debut was Kentucky's first game under head coach Kenny Brooks — and it ended in the second largest margin of victory in a season opener (55 points) in program history.

Kentucky (2-0) has won the last seven meetings with Northern Kentucky, dating to 1980.

Virginia Tech transfer Georgia Amoore had 13 points, five rebounds and eight assists and Dazia Lawrence scored 10 for Kentucky. Amelia Hassett grabbed 16 rebounds as Kentucky had a 52-34 edge on the glass.

Kalissa Lacy had 10 points on 4-of-15 shooting for Northern Kentucky (0-2).

Brooks built Virginia Tech into an NCAA Tournament regular and brought Strack, a 6-foot-5 sophomore, and Amoore, a graduate senior and All-American candidate, with him as his Wildcat roster has 11 new players.

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AP women’s college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-womens-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/womens-college-basketball