Georgia Amoore scored 34 points and dished eight assists as No. 4 seed Kentucky escaped with a 79-78 win over No. 13 seed Liberty in the first round of the Women’s NCAA Tournament on Friday afternoon in Lexington, Ky.

Dazia Lawrence added 16 points for Kentucky (23-7), which will face No. 5 seed Kansas State in the second round. Clara Strack notched a double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds.

Emmy Stout scored 20 points on 6-for-7 shooting off the bench to lead Liberty (26-7). Emma Hess scored 17 points, and Bella Smuda recorded a double-double with 14 points and 12 boards.

Liberty trailed 64-50 at the end of the third quarter and nearly completed a wild comeback.

Amoore made one of two free-throw attempts to nudge Kentucky’s lead to 79-75 with seven seconds to go.

Hess banked in a 3-pointer to cut the deficit to one point with two seconds left, but time expired before the Flames could finish their rally.

No. 5 Kansas State 85, No. 12 Fairfield 41

Serena Sundell scored 18 points on 8-for-10 shooting to lead the Wildcats to a lopsided win over the Stags on Friday afternoon in Lexington, Ky.

Ayoka Lee finished with 17 points and 10 rebounds for Kansas State (27-7), which advanced to face No. 4 seed Kentucky in the second round. Taryn Sides added 14 points off the bench for the Wildcats, which led 21-9 at the end of the first quarter to set the tone for the rest of the game.

Kaety L’Amoreaux scored 11 points to lead Fairfield (28-5). The Stags shot 29.4 percent (15 of 51) from the field and 16.1 percent (5 of 31) from beyond the arc.

–Field Level Media