UK Women Come Up Short, Fall to Rival Louisville
By Victor McKay
Lexington, KY – The University of Kentucky Women’s basketball took on their instate rival Louisville Sunday in front of packed house at Rupp Arena. It was a game that didn’t disappoint as the Lady Cards escaped with a single point victory 67-66.
UK’s Rhyne Howard had a chance to win it for Kentucky but her last second shot bounced off the back of the rim as the horn sounded giving the 7th ranked Cardinals their 11thwin on the season.
Louisville had the size advantage and out rebounded 14thranked Kentucky 37 to 17 and also outscored the Cats 36-16 in the paint. The Cards lead after the first quarter of play 21-16.
Kentucky opened the second period on a 7-2 run to tie the game at 23-23. The game was tied at 25 apiece when Sabrina Haines hit a three from the left wing while being fouled. The UK senior converted the four-point play to give the Cats a 29-25 advantage with 5:07 left in the half.
Louisville would cut UK’s lead to 31-27 before the Cats closed the period on a 9-4 run, on six points by Howard and a three from Blair Green as the Cats took a 40-31 lead to the break.
In the third period, Louisville came out hot, hitting six of its first eight shots to cut the Kentucky lead to four, 49-45. But Tatyana Wyatt, as she did for most of the third period, had an answer, nailing a three to extend the UK advantage to 52-45 with 4:12 left in the period. Haines followed with a three of her own to give UK a 55-45 lead with 3:14 left in the third.
But it was Louisville who would outscore the Cats 27 to 15 to take a 58-55 in the final period of play. UK outscored the Cards 11-9 in the fourth but it wasn’t enough as Howard’s game ending three-pointer missed it marks handing the Cats only their second loss of the season.
Kentucky returns to action on Saturday, visiting Berkeley to face California. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. ET and the game can be heard on the UK Sports Network.
UK – 21 10 27 09 – 67
UL – 16 24 15 11 – 66
Scoring:
Kentucky: KeKe McKinney 9, Tatyana Wyatt 12, Sabrina Haines 12, Rhyne Howard 26, Jaida Roper 4, Blair Green 3
Louisville: Kylee Shook 11, Bionca Dunham 10, Dana Evans 18, Elizabeth Balogun 2, Jazmine Jones 10, Elizabeth Dixon 6, Mykasa Robinson 2, Yacine Diop 8
