Former players share how Kentucky WBB can make March Madness run

At every place he’s been, Kenny Brooks has made history.

He has the most wins (337) in James Madison women’s basketball history, and he took them to five NCAA Tournaments in his last seven seasons there. At Virginia Tech, he took the Hokies to four NCAA Tournaments, and in 2023, to the Final Four. In his first season at the helm at Kentucky, he has the Cats back in the big dance for the first time since the 2021-22 season. Brooks has a chance to make more history and take Kentucky to places it’s never been.

The program has been to four Elite Eights in its 51-year history, but never a Final Four. It’s hard to expect Kentucky to get that far, but then again, it wasn’t expected for Kentucky to make the Elite Eight the times it did either. Who knows what can happen? That’s the beauty of March Madness, after all.

Former Cats Makayla Epps, Patty Jo Hedges-Ward, A’dia Mathies, Bria Goss, Victoria Dunlap Connley and Amber Smith — all of which played key roles on those Kentucky teams — told KSR what they thought it would take to make a deep run in this year’s NCAA Tournament.

The “three winning tools” needed in postseason play

First of all, what kind of intangibles and qualities does a team need to have in order to make a run like that? Makayla Epps let KSR in on what Matthew Mitchell — who took Kentucky to three of those Elite Eights — instilled within his teams for these types of runs.

“During my time at Kentucky, coach Mitchell’s biggest thing that he really drilled into the players’ heads was the winning tools, or what he called the winning tools,” Epps said. “The three winning tools were honesty, hard work and discipline. Over my course of four years, that’s what we were built on.”

“You got to be honest with your team, yourself, your coaches,” Epps explained. “Are you giving all effort? Are you going as hard as you can? Do you want to win the ball game? Are you going to fight through the battle? The discipline — you got to be locked in. It’s do or die.”

In those “do or die” situations, things can get out of hand. The moment can get big, the lights can shine extra bright, and sometimes, that causes players to falter in crunch time. You often see players trying to be the hero, trying to do too much at times.

As Patty Jo Hedges-Ward told KSR, Kenny Brooks will have to make sure that his players are playing within their roles.

“This team is probably a lot like ours back then in that everyone pretty much has their role on the team,” Kentucky’s all-time career assists leader (731) noted. “I always found when playing, you know, being a point guard, that you have to stay within your means. You have to do your job. So, if everybody takes the same idea, things get done. It’s when you try to do too much — you’ve worked all season for the physical part of it. Now, it’s just the mental. You just have to block out the pressure to win or you’re done. Just try to continue to do the things you’ve done all year.”

Kentucky must play to its strengths and stick to what it does well

Kentucky is currently 22-7 on the year, and that is by no means a fluke. To have that kind of record and to go 11-5 in the SEC, you have to be doing something right. Kentucky’s all-time steals leader (320), A’dia Mathies, told KSR that this team’s versatility should be able to carry them far.

“I think just the versatility of the team in and of itself allows them to be able to be scary once the NCAA Tournament comes around,” she mentioned. “They have the experience with key contributors being upperclassmen, and they have people who can do a lot of things well.”

She added, “As long as they stick to what their specific formula is and listen to the coach and believe in the preparation that all the coaching staff does — to have great film and great game plans for the opponents‚ if you stick to that and do what you do, I think that it’s a recipe to have great success in the NCAA Tournament.”

Bria Goss shared the same sentiment as Mathies, really drilling in the fact that Kentucky must continue to play to its strengths and the work that they’ve put in up until this point.

“Keep the main thing, the main thing. Just try to focus in on the scout at hand,” Goss said. “Our game plan — by that time, we have been in it since the beginning of the summer, so you want to make all that mean something.”

However, she also wanted to emphasize that it’s not necessarily a bad thing to embrace the moment when you’re out on the court. So, stick to the game plan, the scout, all of that, but still realize the opportunity that you have and enjoy it and relish in it.

“If you can’t get excited for the big-time, that the lights are actually on, you’re in the in the wrong sport. So, it’s about showing up and playing hard and just leaving it on the court. I know that it sounds basic, but it’s really that simple.”

Having someone like Georgia Amoore is a huge advantage

It’s no secret that what Kentucky does under Kenny Brooks revolves around his point guard, his mini-me, his brain on the court, Georgia Amoore.

This season, Amoore tied the program record for points in a game (43) at Oklahoma, and she also became the third player in D-1 women’s basketball history to tally 2,300+ career points and 800+ career assists, joining Sabrina Ionescu and Caitlin Clark.

Victoria Dunlap Connley, who is second in career rebounds (1,099) and blocks (178) at Kentucky, told KSR that her on-court abilities should create tons of havoc for opposing defenses, especially when you also consider the talent around her.

“I think as long as Amoore is pushing the ball up and putting pressure on the whoever’s guarding her, they have to respect her driving to the basket and also shooting the three, but also the other wing players and other post players, they have a lot of versatility that can make a defense have to think about how they’re going to play certain people.”

Amoore also possess some key leadership qualities that Amber Smith — who played and coached as an assistant at Kentucky — took notice of this season. However, she went out of her way to point out some of the other key contributors that she’s been impressed by.

“I think number one, they have a great point guard in Georgia Amoore, and then they have Clara Strack, and then you have a scoring guard in Dazia Lawrence and obviously Teonni [Key]. Having a guard on the wing that can score, having a point guard that can run the show and having a post player — like you fit everybody else in around that, and it makes the team go. So, I think it starts with Georgia and her leading the team. You can just tell that her team loves her and they feed off her energy.”

One piece of advice for how to go about moving forward

If these former players were able to sit down one-on-one across a table with each and every player on this year’s team, what advice would they give heading into the NCAA Tournament having been there and done that?

Makayla Epps: “Enjoy the moment because I truly mean that, man. My four years at Kentucky went so fast. I was just a freshman, and then I looked up and I was a senior, and it was over. Just truly enjoy the moment. I know it’s a lot of their first years at Kentucky. Georgia came in for first and last year at Kentucky, stuff like that. So, just really enjoy the moment, enjoy each other and enjoy what all you’ve accomplished this season. Even if you fall short in the NCAA Tournament, enjoy the moment, live in the moment.”

Patty Jo Hedges-Ward: “I think that you have to depend on each other. I think that was one of our positives that we had back with our SEC Championship team. We were good friends off the court, and we didn’t want to let each other down on the court. So, we did our jobs. Mine, obviously, was to get the ball down the floor and get it to Valerie [Still] or Lea Wise [Prewitt]. Lisa Collins was on the other side shooting. Leslie Nichols, driving to the basket. Tayna Fogle — I mean, we just had a solid 5-6 players that played a lot like they do, and everyone just needed to do what they could to help the team. You have to sacrifice. Sometimes, you can’t always be the one shooting or the one getting all the glory, but it will pay off in the end with winning some games.”

A’dia Mathies: “Have fun and enjoy it. I think because they’re in it, you don’t really get to see the other side of it that once it’s done, it’s done. So once you’re in it, it’s just really about giving all that you’ve got when you’re on the floor, giving every ounce that you have. Every moment that you have on the court, make every moment that you have on the court with your sisters and your teammates to be worth it. Don’t have any regrets where ‘I could have sprinted a little faster’, ‘I could have dove after that loose ball’, or ‘I could have boxed out harder for this rebound’. It’s really just giving it all you got. Whatever the outcome is at the end, you will be satisfied with that regardless.”

Bria Goss: “It’s a game runs. Don’t get too high, don’t get too low. That tournament momentum is real, so coming out ready to go is pivotal. You’re not going to hit every shot, so you got to be able to bring that defensive game through and through. I think it’s important to reiterate, do you know your strengths? Excel in those strengths, play to your strengths and expose their weaknesses.”

Victoria Dunlap Connley: “I was a defensive-minded player and a defensive-minded coach, so make defense as hard as you can, take up as much space as you can, and then rebound and go after the ball. So, pick up space and be versatile, take up space on the defensive end, be versatile on the offensive end. Don’t focus on like ‘I’m gonna make this shot’, but making sure ‘I’m getting the right shot’. Make the best play for your teammates.”

Amber Smith: “Play for the name that’s across the front of the jersey, which is Kentucky. Represent Kentucky proud. Back during Alumni Day, coach Brooks had a great message for the team that we laid the foundation, but they are in charge of it now. So, just really representing what we’ve represented, and that’s working hard, playing hard no matter what, finishing games to the end, but competing, is the big thing. So, I would just tell them that’s what Kentucky is about. We’re about competing.”

This year’s Kentucky team could add to the legacy that these former players left behind, and it all starts on Friday against Liberty in Historic Memorial Coliseum.