Kentucky (25-10) got 18 points, 15 rebounds and four blocked shots from Clara Strack, while Tonie Morgan had 15 points for the Cats.
West Virginia hit a three to open the scoring, but Amelia Hassett answered to tie the game. After a four-point play by WVU, Key scored at the rim to cut the deficit to 7-5. Key scored again to tie the game, then Hassett hit another three and the Cats led 10-7.
Jordan Obi scored underneath and Strack scored on a putback to complete an 11-0 run before the Mountaineers scored six in a row. Key stopped the run with a basket to give UK a 16-13 lead but WVU hit two free throws to get within one again. Key converted a layup and Strack scored at the buzzer to give UK a 20-15 lead after one quarter.
Key stayed hot early in the second quarter, scoring again to extend the lead to seven. After a WVU basket, Hassett made three free throws and UK led 25-17. Key made one-of-two at the line and Morgan made a pair to close a 7-0 run. West Virginia scored four in a row to cut the UK lead to 28-21.
Strack scored in the lane but West Virginia went on a 9-0 run to tie the game at 30-30. Obi scored, but the Mountaineers answered to tie the game again. Strack gave UK the lead back, 34-32 but WVU tied it again. Strack scored at the rim again but West Virginia scored the final two points of the half, which ended with the game tied at 36-36.
Asia Boone hit a three to start the third-quarter scoring and Morgan hit two free throws to give UK a 41-36 advantage. Key scored at the rim and Strack converted a putback to close a 9-0 run that gave UK a 45-36 lead. After a WVU bucket, Key scored and Strack hit two free throws to give the Cats a 49-38 lead, but the Mountaineers hit a three tog get within nine.
Boone hit another three to extend the lead to 11 but WVU scored on the other end. Boone hit another three, but the Mountaineers did the same to cut the Kentucky lead to 55-46. Morgan made one-of-two at the line and Key scored on a putback to stretch the lead to 58-46. The teams traded baskets, with Morgan scoring to give UK a 60-48 advantage. Morgan then made two free throws to give UK a 14-point lead. The Cats led 62-50 after three quarters.
West Virginia scored the first five points of the fourth quarter before Key broke free for a layup that gave UK a 64-55 lead. WVU hit another three, then a layup to cut the Kentucky lead to 64-60 but Morgan scored in the lane and Strack scored underneath to extend the lead to eight. WVU hit another three to get within five.
Morgan made two free throws to stretch the lead to 70-63 but WVU scored the next three but Strack responded with a bucket to stretch the lead to six. The Mountaineers hit a three and two free throws to get within one, 72-71, with under two minutes left. Morgan connected on a free throw line jumper to extend the lead to three with 55 seconds remaining.
West Virginia made two free throws with 33.5 seconds remaining to cut the UK lead to 74-73. Kentucky had a possession but Hassett’s three was long and WVU got the rebound and called timeout with 8.3 seconds to play. The Mountaineers got a good look with three seconds to play, but the shot rimmed out and Key got the rebound with 0.8 seconds remaining and called timeout. WVU came up with a steal and got one more attempt, but could not get a shot off as time expired.
Kentucky returns to action on Saturday, facing Southeastern Conference rival Texas in Fort Worth, Texas. Game time and TV designations will be made at a later time.