Kentucky Falls at No. 18 Louisville on Sunday
Maddie Scherr scored 22 points but the Kentucky women’s basketball team fell at No. 18 Louisville 73-61 on Sunday afternoon.
Scherr, who missed UK’s last two games, made 8 of 15 from the floor, including 4 of 7 from beyond the arc. The senior from Florence, Kentucky, added five rebounds and two assists.
Kentucky (4-7) got another double-double from Ajae Petty, who scored 16 points and grabbed 10 rebounds.
Emma King scored five points and dished out a career-high six assists in the game. Freshman Janae Walker had a career-high six points for the Cats.
Kentucky scored first on a Brooklynn Miles runner. The game would be tied three times early before Louisville ran off six in a row to lead 12-6. But Scherr had the answer, scoring five in a row to cut it to 12-11 with 4:05 left in the first.
The Cards would get back-to-back threes from Sydney Taylor before Scherr scored again to cut it to 18-13. Scherr added a three late in the period but the Cards led 18-16 after one quarter.
Kentucky started the second quarter on a 7-2 run, with five points from Saniya Tyler, to lead 23-20. Louisville answered with the next five points to re-take the lead, 25-23, with 5:20 left in the first half. A layup from Petty would tie the game at 25 apiece on the next possession.
The Cards took a lead on a free throw before Petty scored again to give UK a 27-26 lead. The Cards would get the final basket of the half and took a 28-27 lead into the break.
Louisville (9-1) took a 32-29 lead early in the third quarter before King hit a right corner three to tie the score. After the Cards took a 34-32 lead, Scherr hit a three from the left side to give UK a 35-34 lead with 7:15 to play in the third.
The Cards would get a pair of free throws to lead 36-35 before Cassidy Rowe found Walker behind the defense for an easy layup, giving UK a 37-36 advantage. Walker scored again on UK’s next possession and the Cats led 39-36. The Cards scored the next eight points and U of L would lead 50-44 after three periods.
Louisville built a 12-point lead early in the fourth quarter before the Cats chipped away with back-to-back threes from Scherr and Rowe. The Cats would get within five, 66-61, with under a minute to go but could get no closer.
Kentucky returns to action next Sunday, hosting Furman at Rupp Arena. Tipoff is set for 1 p.m. ET and the game can be seen on SEC Network Plus.
