For the first time in program history, Kentucky women’s basketball will square off against Buffalo, with head coach Kenny Brooks and the Wildcats set to travel north for a nonconference clash at UB Alumni Arena on Sunday, Nov. 9. Tipoff is tentatively scheduled for 2 p.m. ET, though that could shift once television assignments are finalized later this summer.
This isn’t just another early-season road trip for Kentucky. For sophomore center Clara Strack, it’s a homecoming. The Buffalo native, who rewrote the record books at Hamburg High School and was named New York State Sportswriters Association Player of the Year, will return to her roots as the reigning SEC Defensive Player of the Year. Strack’s prep résumé speaks for itself: she averaged 24.4 points, 16.2 rebounds, 3.2 blocks, and 2.3 steals as a senior, shattering her school’s all-time scoring record, boys or girls, with 1,384 career points.
Strack’s transition to the SEC was seamless. The 95th-ranked recruit in the Class of 2023, she started all 31 games for Kentucky last season, averaging 15.4 points, 9.7 rebounds, 2.5 assists, 2.4 blocks, and nearly a steal per contest. She wasn’t just a force in the paint, her 17 made threes included a 3-for-5 performance in a statement win at Oklahoma. Defensively, she set Kentucky single-season records for both blocks (73) and blocks per game (2.4), and her eight-block effort at Ole Miss established a new single-game school mark.
The accolades kept piling up: 15 double-doubles (fourth in the SEC, 26th nationally), second in the conference in total rebounds (300), and a spot on both the All-SEC Second Team and Defensive Team. Strack also shot 48.8 percent from the field and nearly 79 percent from the free-throw line, ranking among the league’s best in both categories. Her 11-for-11 shooting night against Tennessee set a new Kentucky record for single-game field-goal percentage.
But it’s her all-around impact that truly stands out. Strack led the Wildcats in scoring nine times, rebounding 16 times, assists three times, steals eight times, and blocks 18 times. She was the only NCAA Division I women’s player last season to record a game with at least 25 points, 16 rebounds, eight assists, eight blocks, five steals, and three made threes. Statistically, she accomplished feats unseen in the SEC since at least 2002-03, and nationally since 2009-10.
As Kentucky’s nonconference schedule continues to take shape, the return of Strack to Buffalo provides a compelling storyline, and a significant early test for Brooks’ squad. The full nonconference slate will be announced in the coming weeks. photos provided by UK Athletics.
