University of Louisville
Kentucky
Cardinals fall in the Battle of the Bluegrass 101-67
December 20, 2009 | Women's Basketball
Dec. 20, 2009
Lexington, Ky. - The University of Louisville women's basketball fell on the road to the University of Kentucky 101-67 on Sunday afternoon in Memorial Coliseum. The Cardinals fall to 6-.5 on the season while UK improves to 10-0. Becky Burke led the Cardinals in scoring with 21 points while Monique Reid who recorded her fourth double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds. Ashley Rainey also recorded her third double-double of the year with 10 points and 10 rebounds.
Kentucky had four players score in double figures, led by Victoria Dunlap with 27 points, nine rebounds and eight steals. Also scoring double figures were Amber Smith with 19, A'dia Mathies with 15 and Carly Morrow with 12.
Louisville started out the first half very sloppy, while Kentucky jumped out to a 6-0 lead in the first four minutes of the game. The Cardinals finally got on the board with a mid-range jumper from Nikki Burton, after being held scoreless.
The Wildcats used a 13-2 run during the middle of the half, to expand their lead to 25-8 at the 9:00 mark. Louisville could not get any momentum the rest of the half, which led to Kentucky's biggest lead of 47-23 at the 2:16 mark off a run-out layup from Morrow off a steal.
Fouls and turnovers plagued the Cardinals throughout the first half. Louisville had four players with three or more fouls in the half alone, including three starters. The team finished with 22 fouls at half, the most of any half this season. Not only was it fouls, but also turnovers, committing 24 in the half. Kentucky took a 49-26 lead into the locker room.
Louisville finished the half shooting 31.0 percent from the floor, while Kentucky shot 34.2 percent. The Cardinals held a slight rebounding advantage over the Wildcats 28-22, but the fouls on Louisville allowed Kentucky to shoot 31 free throws making 21 of them.
In the second half, the Wildcats continued to use their pressure defense to upset the rhythm of the Cardinals, continuing to extend their lead up 26 by the 16:42 mark. Then, Louisville used a 6-0 run to get the lead back down to 20 with a layup by Keshia Hines, but the Wildcats used their inside game and Louisville's foul trouble began to build.
Throughout the second half, Louisville could not be as aggressive on the defensive side of the ball due to foul trouble, which led to many easy baskets for Kentucky. The Cardinals had two players foul out in the second half while four players played with four fouls.
Midway through the second half, Louisville gave up three turnovers in a one minute stretch leading to three layups from Kentucky, which ultimately sealed the Cardinals fate and they came unnerved as the Wildcats took advantage extending their lead to 31 off a layup from Mathies. The biggest lead of the game for Kentucky came at the 3:19 mark leading 95-57 off another layup from Mathies.
The Cardinals ended up turning the ball over a season and school-record 38 times, leading to 39 points off those turnovers. Louisville also committed 35 fouls which led to 52 Kentucky free throw attempts a season-high given up by the Cardinals.
Louisville ended the game shooting 39.7 percent from the floor, while Kentucky shot 39.7 percent also. Louisville outrebounded Kentucky 48-42, but the Cardinals allowed season-high 21 steals by the Wildcats.
The Cardinals will be back in action on Dec. 22 at New Hampshire.
