FINAL: Kentucky WBB falls to No. 18 Louisville 73-61 in rivalry showdown

Early on, it was clear the emotions were going to be high in Sunday’s game between Kentucky and No. 18 Louisville. Fans of the two rival schools barked at each other, both sides were ready for a battle, and that’s what it was through the first quarter. After 10 minutes of play, the Lady ‘Cats only trailed Louisville by two with the score at 18-16.

Then, heading into the break, Kentucky trailed Louisville 28-27, but the ‘Cats had the momentum as they went into the locker room. A big reason for that was actually freshman forward Janae Walker, who drew two massive charges to swing the tide in the Wildcats’ favor. In just her three first-half minutes, Walker had already made a huge impact on the game. She would finish the game with six points on 3-4 shooting in eight minutes as well.

However, as Kentucky saw in their loss to Minnesota, this is a game of four quarters, not just two. With Maddie Scherr (concussion protocol) and Cassidy Rowe (nose) making their returns to the rotation, depth wasn’t as much of an issue against Louisville. But Kentucky still had to play well all game to make it out of the KFC Yum! Center with a win.

Unfortunately, it didn’t play out that way. In the end, Kentucky women’s basketball couldn’t pull it out, losing to the Cardinals 73-61. Kentucky is now 4-7 on the season while Louisville advances to 9-1.

Final. pic.twitter.com/6DRFPkr9kq

— Kentucky Women’s Basketball (@KentuckyWBB) December 10, 2023

With Scherr’s return to the hardwood, you knew she was going to bring everything she had. In the first half, the Bluegrass native would lead all scorers with 10 points on 4-6 (67%) shooting. To finish the game, Scherr posted 22 points on 8-14 (57%) shooting. A solid outing from the senior in her first game back from concussion protocol.

Again, Kyra Elzy heavily relied on 6-foot-3 forward Ajae Petty to be the anchor when Kentucky started to slip away. The senior out of Baltimore finished with 18 points and 10 rebounds. A solid out — and her sixth double-double of the season — but not her best. If Kentucky was going to win this game, they needed to see her put up a signature stat line.

Perhaps the positive stat for Kentucky was their smothering defense. Kentucky held Louisville to just 45% from the field and 32% from three. On top of that, Kentucky forced 18 turnovers against the ‘Cards. Coming into the game, Louisville was (and still is) one of the best teams in the nation at forcing turnovers. Unfortunately, that came to no avail as Kentucky would match Louisville’s turnover total in the loss.