Ajša Sivka wasted no time making her presence felt in college basketball. Just three games into her Kentucky career, the former WNBA first-round pick has already etched her name into the program’s history books, delivering a performance to remember in the Wildcats’ third regular-season game on Sunday night.
Watch What’s Trending Now!
Facing No. 25 NC State at the Ally Tipoff, Sivka exploded for 32 points, including eight three-pointers, to lead No. 14 Kentucky to a convincing 93-78 victory. As shared by the NCAA March Madness X page, that performance saw her tie the Kentucky women’s basketball single-game record for most three-pointers made, matching the mark previously set by former Wildcats standout and All-WNBA star Rhyne Howard.
Sivka’s performance was indeed a shooting masterclass. The 6-foot-5 guard went 8-for-12 from beyond the arc and shot 11-for-17 from the field overall. She also contributed five rebounds and three assists across 37 minutes of action, showcasing just how much she can offer the Wildcats beyond her scoring ability.
Her impressive shooting display also helped Kentucky as a team tie its single-game program record with 18 made three-pointers on 39 attempts. The Wildcats also established a new program record for a single half by knocking down 13 triples in the opening 20 minutes. And their victory, which improved the Wildcats’ record to 3-0 on the young season, marked Kentucky’s first win over NC State since 1984.
Ajša Sivka, who is a 6-foot-5 Slovenian guard, was the No. 10 overall pick in the 2025 WNBA Draft, selected by the Chicago Sky after playing professionally in Europe. However, rather than immediately joining a WNBA roster, she opted to sit out the 2025 season, remaining in Slovenia to finish high school and represent her country at the 2025 FIBA Women’s EuroBasket Championship. She also continued her club basketball career in Spain with Joventut Badalona.
And rather than making her WNBA debut in 2026, the 20-year-old decided that she needed more time to develop physically and technically. And that decision eventually brought her to the Wildcats.
So far, Sivka has proven to be a crucial addition to the team, averaging 11.5 points, 5.5 assists, and 5.0 rebounds across her first three games. And now against NC State, she offered a different dimension to her game, showing just how dangerous she can be when she gets going from beyond the arc.
For Kentucky head coach Kenny Brooks, though, this level of performance from Sivka is hardly a surprise. In fact, the Wildcats coach believes she is already one of the best players in the country.
“I Just Laughed”: Kentucky Coach Takes Dig at Watch Lists After Ajša Sivka’s Record-Breaking Performance
Despite being a top-10 WNBA Draft pick, Ajša Sivka was left off several national and conference women’s college basketball preseason award and positional watch lists. The Slovenian standout did not make the Preseason All-SEC team and was also absent from several major national player of the year and positional watch lists. For Kentucky women’s basketball head coach Kenny Brooks, however, those omissions were more amusing than anything else.
“I just laughed at all those little watch lists, and she’s not on any of them and, you know, all that kind of stuff. We just kind of chuckled,” Brooks said during his postgame press conference. “I don’t even know if she knows about the watch list or whatever, but she’s definitely one of the best players in the country. We knew that when we got her.”
For Brooks, Sivka is undoubtedly a player with the talent and ability to compete at the highest level. And now, she is beginning to show the rest of the conference, the country, and the basketball world at large exactly what he has seen in her since she arrived in Lexington.
“She’s been as advertised. You know, we watch her. We marvel at what she does. And now we’re catching up to her. Like you saw today, she scored 32 points, but she has great vision. I think the first week she probably got a couple of people on the head because they weren’t expecting the basketball. But she’s as advertised. This is nothing new to us, and we knew she’s capable of this,” Brooks added.
With a record-tying 32-point performance against a ranked opponent, Sivka has certainly made an emphatic statement about her ability and potential. Watch-list voters, opposing coaches, and the rest of the country will almost certainly start paying much closer attention from here.