It’s no secret that, in women’s hoops, the SEC is the second-best best league in America, only trailing the WNBA. It’s practically a “mini-WNBA”, as Kenny Brooks has described the conference time to time.
Kentucky went .500 in league play this season, and if you count the SEC Tournament, the Cats went 10-9 against intra-conference foes in Brooks’ second year at the helm. Of course, that’s not the most sexy-looking of record, but considering that Teonni Key was out for six of those games while Kentucky was lucky enough to play a two top six programs in South Carolina and Vanderbilt twice, 10-9 doesn’t really seem all that bad, now does it?
Of course, when you play in a conference as tough as the SEC, it forces you to perform at a high level every night out — actually, it forces you to play at your highest level every night out.
That’s why Clara Strack, who recently earned All-American honorable mention honors, believes that Kentucky’s 19-game SEC gauntlet got the team exactly where they need to be heading into March Madness.
“The SEC’s obviously like the top conference and obviously, every night you have an incredible game, incredible matchup,” Strack said after Kentucky learned that it would be a 5-seed taking on 12-seed James Madison at West Virginia. “So, I think it’s definitely prepared us. I think we’ve already played the best teams in the country, so I think that we know that we can go out and play with anybody.”
Tonie Morgan spent the first three years of her collegiate career playing at Georgia Tech in the ACC, but the SEC is a completely different beast. Like her teammate, Morgan thinks that Kentucky has been through enough to have them ready for the adversity that the NCAA Tournament can bring.
“I’d like to say we’re battled-tested,” Morgan said on Selection Sunday. “I mean, it was a battle day in, day out… So, I think it’s got us ready to play anybody in this tournament.”
Of course, Kentucky has to pass its first test in the big dance when the Cats take on James Madison, Brooks’ alma mater and first stop as a head coach, at 2:30 p.m. ET on Saturday on ESPNU.