Greenville, S.C.- No. 14 seed Kentucky (12-18, 2-14 SEC) defeated No. 6 seed Alabama, 71-58, in the second round of the SEC Women's Basketball Tournament on Thursday at Bon Secours Wellness Arena in Greenville, South Carolina.

The Wildcats trailed majority of the game but pulled away in the fourth to silence the Tide crowd. With the upset, Kentucky became the lowest seed to advance to the quarterfinals of the conference tournament.

Jada Walker led the Wildcats with a career-high 24 points and posted seven assists with six steals. Maddie Scherr tacked on 19 points, but made a bigger impact on defense by holding a block party with six.

Aaliyah Nye was the lone player to crack double-digit scoring for the Crimson Tide with 15. Brittany Davis has averaged 17.6 points this season but was held to nine.

Kentucky and Alabama opened with fast-paced offense and capitalized off each other's turnovers. The Tide shot 75% from behind the arc to start the quarter, which was led by timely shots from Hannah Barber, resulting in the 20-15 lead to close the first.

The Wildcats went on a 6-2 run to start the second to inch within one point, but four straight points for Alabama stretched the lead back out, 26-21.

The half came to a close with neither team able to convert on the offensive end and were held scoreless for the final 1:30 for Tide to remain ahead at the break, 32-26.

UK's offense was led by Walker's 13 points in the first half, which was her most in a half since Jan. 22 against Mississippi State. To open the scoring in the third, Nye drove to the lane making a finger-roll layup and later followed up with a jumper to put the Tide on a 4-0 run.

Kentucky quickly responded with a 14-4 run led by Walker and Scherr to bring the score to 40-40, but Nye ended the run with a three pointer.

Alabama headed into the fourth with a slight advantage, 45-44.

Ajae Petty converted a tough layup to give the Wildcats their first lead since the opening minutes of the game and was quickly followed up with a Walker pull-up jumper off a Tide turnover, forcing Alabama to call a timeout, 48-45.

Eniya Russell and Scherr knocked down tough shots for the Wildcats, to extend the lead to seven, 58-51. Every time the Tide tried to rally, Kentucky produced stops on defense and responded offensively.

Walker became the first Kentucky player with five steals in an SEC Tournament game since Taylor Murray in 2019, and became the first UK player with 20 points and five steals in the conference tourney since Victoria Dunlap in 2010.

Up Next
Kentucky will face 3-seed Tennessee in the quarterfinals of the SEC Women's Basketball Tournament on Friday, 25 minutes after the conclusion of the LSU-Georgia game.

Alabama (20-10, 9-7 SEC) is eliminated from the tournament.