The Wildcats returned three starters from a team that had an injury-plagued 2008–09 season, finishing 16–16 and 5–9 in SEC play, ending in a second-round exit to Wisconsin in the WNIT.

UK's previous best start had been 9–0 in the 1980–81 season; they broke that record with a 101–67 pasting of Louisville on December 20 in which they forced a then school-record 38 turnovers.

[15] With their second-place finish in the regular season, the Wildcats earned a first-round bye and also were bracketed away from regular-season champion Tennessee.

The Cats' two leading scorers on the season, Victoria Dunlap and A'dia Mathies, respectively scored 24 and 15 points, and the team forced the Tigers into 20 turnovers as they won 65–54.

The Cats won 76–65, with Mathies leading the scoring with 25 points and Dunlap adding 22 to go with 9 rebounds, 5 blocks, and 5 steals.

The result sent the Wildcats to the SEC title game for only the second time in the program's history, with the only other appearance coming in 1982.

The teams had a recent history, as the Lady Vols had clinched the SEC regular-season title on February 25 with an 81–65 home win over the Cats.

This encounter, in front of a nominally neutral though mostly partisan Tennessee crowd, proved considerably closer.

The Lady Flames, making their 13th NCAA tournament appearance in the last 14 seasons, started strongly, scoring the first six points and taking a quick 8-point lead.

A'dia Mathies led the Cats with a career-high 32 points, which was also a record for a Kentucky player in NCAA tournament play.

[22] Next up for Kentucky in Freedom Hall was #5 seed Michigan State, in what was touted as a clash of styles between the undersized Cats and the bigger, though slightly slower, Spartans.

[23] The first half was largely a back-and-forth affair, with Kentucky taking a 35–31 halftime lead after holding Michigan State without a field goal for the last 6½ minutes.

[23] The victory earned the Cats a trip to Kansas City and a date with top seed Nebraska, another team having its best season ever.

The Cornhuskers' only loss going into the game was in the semifinals of the Big 12 Tournament to Texas A&M, and they would have a partisan crowd on their side, as Kansas City is about a 3-hour drive from the school's campus.

[24] This time, it was the Wildcats who took control of the game almost from the start, going on an early 12–4 run and stretching their lead to double digits late in the first half.

While the Huskers made a late comeback while three Kentucky guards had four fouls, the Cats held on for a 76–67 upset win.

[26] The conference's postseason awards announcement, made immediately after the end of the regular season, became a Kentucky coronation.

[31] The Class of 2010 signees are: McDonald's All-American Jennifer O'Neill,[32] 2010 Gatorade Kentucky Player of the Year and Miss Kentucky Basketball Sarah Beth Barnette,[33][34] 2010 Gatorade Connecticut Player of the Year Kastine Evans,[35] Maegan Conwright,[32] and LaQuinta Jefferson.