WOMEN’S BASKETBALL POSTGAME NOTES 
KENTUCKY VS. RV/#24 LOUISVILLE 
SUNDAY, DEC. 11, 2022 
RUPP ARENA AT CENTRAL BANK CENTER – LEXINGTON, KY.  


RV/No. 24 Louisville 86, Kentucky 72 – FINAL 
  
Team Records and Series Notes  

  • The University of Kentucky women’s basketball program is in its 49th season with an 889-571 (.609) all-time record.
    • The Wildcats are now 7-2 on the season.
      • The Cats’ only two losses of the season are to ranked teams.  
    • The Cardinals are now 7-4 on the season. 
  • Kyra Elzy is in her third season as the head coach of the Wildcats, holding a 44-23 overall record.  
  • Kentucky remains the leader in the all-time series with Louisville, 34-24.
    • UK remains the leader in the all-time series with UofL in games played in Lexington, 22-7. 
  • Kentucky will return home to Memorial Coliseum to host its fifth in-state opponent of the season, Murray State, on Friday, Dec. 16 at 7 p.m. ET on SEC Network. 

Team Notes  

  • Kentucky used the starting combination Jada Walker, Maddie Scherr, Robyn Benton, Blair Green and Adebola Adeyeye for the fifthstraight game this season. UK is 3-2 using that starting combination.
    • Louisville won the opening tip. 
    • Robyn Benton was the first player to score for Kentucky, on a free throw, while Maddie Scherr was the first player to make a field goal for UK. 
    • Ajae Petty was the first substitute off the bench for Kentucky. 
  • Louisville led Kentucky, 14-6, through the firstmedia timeout with four minutes and 43 seconds remaining in the first quarter.
    • The Cardinals put together a 6-1 lead in the first two minutes, but Maddie Scherr shot one from long to cut down on the Cards’ lead. 
    • Kentucky kept it close with Louisville over the next two minutes, until the Cardinals went on a 6-0 run to hit the first media timeout at 4:43. 
    • Out of the first media timeout, Kentucky led Louisville in scoring, 8-7, in the final four-plus minutes of the first quarter.
      • Amiya Jenkins capped scoring in that period with a 3-pointer. 
    • The Cards led the Cats, 21-14, at the end of the first quarter. 
  • The Cardinals opened up the second quarter on a 6-0 run, scoring on a couple jumpers and a layup.
    • Their run prompted the Wildcats to call a timeou.
      • The Cats came out of the timeoutwith a 4-0 run on a jumper by Scherr and a layup by Robyn Benton. 
    • Scoring was back-and-forth through the fifth minute. 
    • Kentucky then broke the back-and-forth with a 5-0 run just under five minutes, keeping Louisville scoreless from the field for more than four minutes during that stretch. 
    • The Cardinals escaped their scoring drought to cap the period with a 7-0 run under two minutes in the second quarter. 
    • The Cards led the Cats, 42-25, at halftime.
      • The Cards shot 48.5 percent from the field in the first half, compared to the Cats’ 30.3 percent. Meanwhile, the Cards made nine of their 10 free throws in the first half. 
  • Benton opened up scoring in the second half with a jumper at 9:19.
    • Eleven free throws were made between the two teams over the next twominutes, as UofL began the serieson 4-0 run from the line, followed by UKon 3-0 run from the line, capped by UofL going 4-0 from the line again.
      • Louisville capped the series with a jumper at 6:19. 
    • Kentucky answered with a 10-2 run, chipping away at Louisville’s lead, 54-40, under three minutes in the third quarter. 
    • Neither team went on a run greater than four points down the stretch in that period. 
    • Louisville led Kentucky, 61-47, at the end of the third quarter. 
  • Scherr opened up scoring in the fourth quarter with a jumper at 9:41, tightening Louisville’s lead over Kentucky, 61-49.
    • Louisville responded with back-to-back scores in the paint, the start of an 8-2 run that ended with five minutes and 35 seconds remaining in the game.  
    • Benton and Ajae Petty teamed up to respond with an 8-1 run with four minutes and 13 seconds remaining, as the Cards led the Cats, 72-59, after that stretch. 
    • UofL ended UK’s scoring run with a jumper at 4:03, then wouldn’t score another field goal until 1:37, but did score on four made free throws during that time.
      • While holding UofL scoreless from the field in those two-plus minutes,UK had eight points on three field goals and a couple made free throws from Scherr. 
    • Louisville concluded the game going 6-of-6 from the line in the final one minute and 37 seconds, meanwhile Petty scored on a layup and Benton rallied a 3-pointer during that series. 
    • The Cardinals defeated the Wildcats, 86-72, in Rupp Arena. 
  • Kentucky had four more field goals than Louisville and four more 3-pointers than them.
    • UK shot 42.4 percent from the field on 28-of-66, while UofL shot 44.1 percent from the field on 26-of-59.  
    • However, the Cardinals made 33 of their 39 attempts at the line, while the Wildcats knocked down just 10 of their 21 shots at the line.  
  • UK led UofL in second-chance points, 22-19, and bench points, 25-22. 
  • The two teams tied with 38 points in the paint.  
  • Kentucky made 20 assists, the third time this season UK has dished out at least 20 assists.  
  • The Wildcats won the turnover battle for the eighth time in nine games this season, committing just 14 turnovers compared to the Cardinals 16 turnovers.
    • The two teams tied in points of turnovers, 14-14. 

Player Notes  

  • Robyn Benton and Maddie Scherr are the first pair of Kentucky players to score at least 18 points each against Louisville since Rhyne Howard and Taylor Murray on Dec. 9, 2018. 
  • At least three players scored in double digits for the eighth time this season.
    • Kentucky is 6-2 when at least three players score at least 10 points.  
  • Graduate guard Robyn Benton led the team in scoring with a season-high 20 points.
    • It marked the third 20-plus point game of her career. 
    • She has scored in double digits in all nine games this season.  
    • She has made a 3-pointer in four straight games this season, a streak that leads the team, after draining two 3-pointers against Louisville.  
    • She added five rebounds, a career-high tying five assists, a block and a steal. 
  • Junior guard Maddie Scherr had a career-high 18 points on 6-of-10 from the field, including 2-of-4 from the arc, and 4-of-4 from the line.
    • She dished out six assists, marking the fourth straight game she has recorded at least five assists. 
    • She added five rebounds and two blocks. 
  • Junior forward Ajae Petty produced 11 points on 5-of-6 from the field.
    • It marked the fifth straight game she has scored in double digits. 
    • She added six rebounds.  
  • Freshman guard Amiya Jenkins had a career-high nine points.
    • She went 4-of-7 from the field, including sinking one from long range to end the first quarter. 
    • She added a rebound.  
  • Sophomore guard Jada Walker had six assists.
    • She also scored a 3-pointer and made a steal. 
    • She has made a steal in 12 straight games, a steak that began last season and leads Kentucky.  

UK ATHLETICS COMMUNICATIONS AND PUBLIC RELATIONS 
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL POSTGAME QUOTES 

Kentucky Head Coach Kyra Elzy 

On slow start during Virginia Tech game and Louisville game …  
“Obviously we don’t want to start slow. That’s not what we’re trying to do and that’s not our intentions. You know, credit to Louisville, I thought they came in and played really hard. You know it just took us a minute to get settled into the physical game. I thought after we did adjust, in the second half, but that’s too long. It took us too long to get settled in.” 
  
On winning or being tied in every category besides free throws … 

“We have toughness and fight but at the end of the day you have to have discipline. You know, we made a run, but we put them on the free throw line too many times. So, 39 free throws, they make 33, ball game. That’s it just being more disciplined defensively.” 

  
On film determining it would be a physical game… 

“Any time you play in a Power Five conference (game) it’s going to be a physical game and that’s just part of it. That’s what we liked, the competition. I thought we adjusted to it down the stretch. We justhave to put four quarters together more and be more consistent.” 

  
On what the game plan was to hold Louisville to one of 15 from the three-point line …  

“Well, you know, we just talked about locating shooters, obviously all three of their guards average in double figure scoring, you know, trying to play personnel defense, making sure we closed out on shooters, that we did a good job there. I thought we made a run, had some good defensive stops when we needed it. But at the end of the day, like I said, we fouled way too much. So, we have to go back, evaluate how we’re calling it in practice what we’re calling in practice, and we’ll learn from this game and continue to get better.”  

  
On what it was like playing against her former AAU coach …  

“I love coach (Jeff) Walz. I don’t love coach Walz when we’re playing. I’m a competitor we’re trying to win. You know, it’s great to see him before the game. Obviously, he’s had a lot of success. And Itell him, we gave him his great start with the Kentucky Hustle. So, he learned from a great group of young ladies. But at the end of the day, we’re competitors. It’s a rivalry game we’re trying to win, we came here to win obviously very disappointed that we didn’t. And all you can do from here is learn, grow, get ready for the next game.”   

  
On where she thinks her team is and what does she like about what she’s got …   

“What do I like about this team? We have fight, we have heart, I love our versatility, (we’re) able to play different lineups. I thought our freshmen came in really gave us a punch off the bench with Mimi (Amiya) Jenkins and Kennedy Cambridge, Ajae Petty what she’s able to do when we can keep her out of foul trouble. For us to be able to pound the ball inside and her finish consistently. We have thepieces we have exactly what we need. Now it’s just a matter of putting it together.”   

Kentucky Student-Athletes 

#22, Maddie Scherr, G, Jr. 

On difficulty in losing in this rivalry … 

“It just sucks period. I mean honestly you don’t ever want to lose any game, but especially losing to Louisville it just sucks. I think it would all be bad.” 

On Louisville defensive pressure in first quarter … 

“We scouted them and they’re going to play pressure and physical defense and I don’t think we matched their physicality and that showed in the first half. We talked about how we just need to play tougher. They played more gritty than us tonight and I think that really showed. It was hard to come back from in the second half .” 

On slow start to the past few games … 

“I don’t think there’s a connection, I think we just need to be locked in from the start of the game. It could be some jitters, it could be playing hard in Rupp for the first time for some people which is just different. These are fixable things and we can look at that as a positive. We definitely don’t want to be a second half team or anything and we’re definitely going to learn from that and moving forward when we get in these big games we’ll eventually be able to put those parts together.” 

#1, Robyn Benton, G, Gr.  

On putting the pressure on later in the game … 

“I mean once we realized we were down we needed turn up the heat somehow just to make some type of run to get back into the game. As far as starting like that, that wasn’t necessarily the game plan. But you know, we were down so we had to turn up the heat.” 

On the adjustments made in the second half to improve their scoring … 

“Basically, just turn up our defense more so we can get more transition points and that’s where we’re very good. Basically, Coach (Niya) Butts she drew up some plays for us to get some good opportunities at the basket.” 

On where they would rather play this rivalry game every two years … 

“Rupp. Without a question.” 

On how eager they are to get back on the practice court … 

“Very eager, you know I hate losing. The team, we’re disappointed. We came here to win today and we have got to improve some things, like rebounding. I know there was a couple of times the ball went over my head and I should have gotten the rebound. We’re going to improve, take a look back at the film, try to improve and get better for the next game.”