A 15-0 Louisville run midway through the second half allowed the Cardinals to break open a close game and defeat the Kentucky women?s basketball team 66-49 Sunday in Freedom Hall.
The Wildcats (4-3) committed 15 turnovers in the game and Louisville charted 19 points off UK?s miscues. UK shot 37.5 percent (21-of-56) from the floor, while the Cardinals (3-3) hit 44.4 percent (28-of-63), including a 71.4 percent (5-of-7) mark from the free-throw line.
Kentucky was led by junior forward/center Jennifer Humphrey?s 14 points and 13 rebounds. Humphrey notched a double-double for the sixth time in her career and her third this season. UK leading scorer Sara Potts, who was averaging 18.2 points coming into the game, struggled from the field, going 1-of-9 from the field, including 0-of-4 from beyond the arc. The senior was limited to just two points in the game.
Sophomore point guard Angela Phillips played a season-high 40 minutes while scoring nine points and dishing out a team-high four assists. Freshman Chante? Bowman recorded a career-high eight points in the game, seeing playing time at the power forward position. Elliott, who earned her first career start vs. the Cards, scored five points and pulled down four rebounds. Senior Keiko Tate did not make the trip due to an illness.
?A few key offensive rebounds didn?t go our way, a few calls didn?t go our way and then they went on a huge run and hit back-to-back threes,? UK Coach Mickie DeMoss said. ?That?s when the momentum shifted and before we knew it, the game was out of control.?
The Wildcats struggled to hold on to the ball early in the first half, committing six turnovers in the game?s first four minutes. Louisville jumped out to an early 9-2 lead but the Cats recovered. UK answered with a 9-1 run of its own over the next 4:21, powered by a resounding three-pointer from Phillips near the Louisville bench. UK took its first lead of the game, 11-10, with 10:57 to go in the first half.
Another three-pointer by Phillips extended the UK lead to eight (20-12) with 6:30 left and the Wildcats took a 26-22 advantage into halftime. UK looked to hold an edge in every category, out-shooting the Cards 42.9 percent to 29 percent. The Cats controlled the boards in the opening stanza 24-14 and held U of L?s leading scorer Jazz Covington to just one field goal.
?I thought we did some nice things in the first half,? DeMoss said. ?We were limiting Jazz Covington?s touches and rebounding well.?
It looked as if the second half would be more of the same as the Cats came out of the locker room with back-to-back baskets by Elliott. UK pushed the lead to 30-22 before Louisville went on a 6-0 run to pull within two, 30-28, with 16:40 remaining in the game. The teams traded leads for the next four minutes when Angel Bradley nailed a jumper with 10:53 to go, giving Louisville a 38-35 edge.
A basket by Humphrey gave UK the 35-34 advantage at the 11:42 mark, but thanks to a stifling zone defense by the Cards, the Cats failed to score over the next five minutes. A field goal by junior guard Nastassia Alcius ended the Cats? scoring drought but it was too late. U of L used a 15-0 run during that stretch to take a 49-35 lead and eventually led by as many as 23 points, 64-41, with 2:26 remaining.
?We were battling the whole game and before I knew it we were down 20 points,? DeMoss said. ?We have to have more people step up and score. We are young and are playing a lot of freshmen, but we have to play a little more poised.?
Louisville had four players score in double figures, led by Missy Taylor?s game-high 15 points and Covington?s 13. Bradley brought down a team-high 12 rebounds to lead the Cardinals on the glass.
Kentucky returns to action Friday when it hosts Charleston Southern. Tip off is set for 7 p.m. in Memorial Coliseum. For more information, including live stats and audio, log on to ukathletics.com.
