What Kim Caldwell said about facing Kenny Brooks, who knocked her out of NCAA tournament last year
Now, Caldwell and Brooks will face off again, both at different schools, coaching in the SEC for the first time. No. 11 Tennessee (21-6, 8-6 SEC) faces No. 14 Kentucky (21-5, 10-4) on the road at Memorial Coliseum on Thursday (7 p.m. ET, SEC Network).
Brooks brought point guard Georgia Amoore and 6-foot-5 center Clara Strack with him when he was hired at Kentucky last March. Strack had 17 points on 7-for-7 shooting against Marshall last year.
“I don’t think Clara missed a shot when we played,” Caldwell said. “And so just phenomenal players that are already established, and we’re going to have to put our foot on the gas a little bit more with our pressure.”
Caldwell didn’t have the size at Marshall to stop Strack last season, but the sophomore will be just as much of a challenge to defend. Strack averages 14.7 points, 9.3 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 2.5 blocks.
Caldwell said Amoore is one of, it not the best, point guard in the country. The fifth-year senior from Australia leads the team with 18.9 points and seven assists per game, and she has the speed and ball-handling skills to handle Tennessee’s full-court pressure.
“They’re a very good team,” Caldwell said. “They play similar – they have two of their key pieces. They are led by the same player. Obviously, Kenny Brooks is a great coach, and he has that program doing exactly what he wants them to do.”
Thursday’s matchup has postseason implications for both teams with the SEC and NCAA Tournaments quickly approaching. Caldwell said it’ll be a “championship-type game” for Tennessee, and “it’s great” to be in that position.
“When you look at big picture, SEC seeding, this game is very important,” Caldwell said. “And so those are really good problems to have.”
