Louisville women's basketball rallies past Kentucky

Cardinals comeback from double-digit deficit

Louisville women’s basketball defeated Kentucky 67-66 at Rupp Arena Dec. 15, rallying from a 10-point second half deficit to top its in-state rival. The Cardinals limited Kentucky to 28 points in the second half in a game that ended on a shot from Rhyne Howard as time expired. 

Dana Evans scored a team-high 18 points for Louisville. Kylee Shook added 11 points while Bionca Dunham and Jazmine Jones each finished with 10 points.

Howard scored a game-high 26 points for Kentucky. She shot 9 of 23 from the field, taking a 3-pointer from the wing on the game's final possession that was defended by Duncan.

"Bionca did a great job defensively on Howard there, it wouldn't have surprised me if it would have gone in," Louisville head coach Jeff Walz said. 

Louisville disrupted Kentucky’s offense early as the Wildcats missed eight of their first nine shots, suffering a scoring drought that lasted four minutes. A jumper by Dana Evans capped a 6-0 run to give the Cardinals an 8-3 lead.

After Kentucky took a one-point lead with two minutes left in the opening period, the Cardinals closed out the first quarter on a 6-0 run. Evans made a pull-up jumper from the elbow along with a pair of free throws for a 21-16 advantage.

Howard heated up in the second quarter to help Kentucky retake the lead. She made three mid-range jumpers and Sabrina Haines made a step-back shot from the wing to cap a 6-0 run that gave Kentucky a 29-25 advantage with 5:07 left before halftime.

Bionca Dunham scored in the low post to end a three-and-a-half-minute Cardinal scoring drought.

The Wildcats outscored Louisville by 14 points in the second quarter, shooting 66.7 percent from the field. Louisville had six turnovers in the second quarter and struggled to slow down Howard, who finished with 20 points in the first half as Kentucky led by nine points.

A shot from behind the arc from Kylee Shook closed Louisville’s deficit to 47-41 with 6:15 left in the third quarter. Evans scored in transition to bring the Cardinals within four, but Kentucky answered.

Haines gave Kentucky a double-digit advantage with a 3-pointer with 3:14 left in the third quarter.

Yacine Diop brought Louisville back into the game scoring on consecutive possessions. She converted a three-point-play and then made a corner 3-pointer on a pass from Evans in transition to cut Louisville’s deficit to 55-53.

Shook returned the lead to Louisville with a 3-pointer from the wing. Dunham scored as time expired in the third quarter on an inbounds pass to cap a 13-0 run to give Louisville a 58-55 lead.

"We talked about it at halftime, we had to execute much better in the third quarter," Walz said. "We came out and did a great job of that."

Louisville was held scoreless through the first four minutes of the fourth quarter, but Kentucky didn’t fair much better as its only points came on two free throws from Jaida Roper. Diop ended the drought with a jumper with 6:04 left.

Jazmine Jones extended Louisville’s lead to 62-57 with a pull-up jumper, but Kentucky answered on its next possession with a corner 3-pointer from Keke McKinney.

Howard had an offensive rebound and put-back to tie the score at 62-62. Shook returned the lead to Louisville with a jumper off an inbounds pass from Diop with 2:37 left.

"It was a grind," Walz said. "It was some good defense, some crazy plays here and there."

After Howard had a game-tying jumper, Shook made a 3-pointer from the top of the key with 1:51 left. Haines was fouled on a shot from behind the arc on Kentucky’s next possession, making two free throws.

With Louisville leading by one, Dunham defended a drive by Howard nicely, forcing a turnover on an errant pass.