Saturday, November 16
Lexington, KY
6 p.m.
University of Louisville
at
#20/#19 Kentucky
Photo by: Rachel Klotz | Louisville Athletics
No. 18 Cardinals Set for Battle of the Bluegrass Against No. 20/19 Kentucky
November 15, 2024 | Women's Basketball
This the ninth time under Walz that both teams are ranked in the Top 20
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The No. 18 Louisville women's basketball team (2-1) is heading back on the road this weekend as it heads down to Lexington for the annual Battle of the Bluegrass against No. 20/19 Kentucky (3-0). The Cardinals and Wildcats will square off from Memorial Coliseum on Saturday at 6 p.m. ET and it will be streamed on the SEC Network+. Fans can watch the game on the ESPN App if you have a cable subscription that has SEC Network. The game will also be broadcast on the radio in the Louisville area on 970-AM WGTK.
This will be the ninth time since the 2007 season that the Cardinals and Wildcats will meet with both programs ranked in the Top-20 of the polls. In all eight of the previous ranked vs. ranked matchups, the Cardinals have been the highest ranked team between the two. The Wildcats will be the second Top-20 the Cardinals will face this season after opening the season against No. 5 UCLA in Paris.
Louisville has won its last two games heading into the matchup with the Wildcats, a home win over Southern Indiana and a road win over UT Martin. The two most recent opponents for the Cardinals were picked to finish first and second in the Ohio Valley Conference this season.
In the road win over UT Martin, Louisville had a strong performance in the paint. Nyla Harris led the team in scoring with 16 points on 6-for-8 shooting. Olivia Cochran scored 14 points on 4-for-5 shooting and added seven rebounds and three steals. The Cardinals as a team scored 52 points in the paint in the win.
A couple of freshmen also played well in the win over the Skyhawks as Tajianna Roberts scored 13 points and Imari Berry tallied 10 points and a team-best nine rebounds. Roberts has scored in double figures in each of the first three games this season and scored 11 of her points in the third quarter on 5-for-5 shooting in the frame. Berry has led the team in rebounding in each of the last two games after she had a team-best eight against Southern Indiana. She leads the team with 6.7 rebounds per game through the first three contests.
Date: Saturday, November 16
Time: 6 p.m. ET
Site: Lexington, Ky. | Memorial Coliseum (8,500)
TV: SEC Network+
Radio: 970-AM WGTK (Nick Curran, play-by-play; Cortnee Walton, analyst)
Series History: Louisville trails 24-34 (17-11 home, 6-20 away, 1-3 neutral)
Series History w/Walz: Louisville leads 10-6 (6-2 home, 4-4 away)
Last Meeting: W, 73-61 (Dec. 10, 2023 at KFC Yum! Center)
ABOUT THE WILDCATS
Kentucky comes into Saturday's matchup with a 3-0 after early season wins over Wofford, Northern Kentucky and USC Upstate. In their first three wins, the Wildcats have yet to allow more than 43 points in a game. Kentucky is under the helm of Kenny Brooks in his first season in Lexington after coming over from Virginia Tech. The Wildcats only have two players back from the 2023 squad that went 12-20 overall and 4-12 in SEC play. Brooks brought over three players from Virginia Tech in Georgia Amoore, Clara Strack and Gabby Brooks. Amoore is a graduate student and has faced the Cardinals four times in her collegiate career. Brooks also brought in Teonni Key, who began her career at North Carolina. Saturday's matchup will take place in Memorial Coliseum and it is the first time since the 2017-18 season that both teams will square off in Memorial.
Series History - This will be the 59th meeting in the Battle of the Bluegrass and Louisville trails the all-time series 24-34. This will be the 17th matchup between the two teams since Jeff Walz took over at Louisville and the Cardinals have a 10-6 advantage over that time. Louisville has won the last seven games against the Wildcats dating back to the 2015-16 season (The teams did not meet in the 2020-21 season). The seven-game winning streak for the Cardinals is the longest in the series history for Louisville.
Last Meeting (Dec. 10, 2023) - The No. 18 Louisville women's basketball team secured a 73-61 win over rival Kentucky Sunday afternoon at the KFC Yum! Center, their seventh straight victory in the series. The first half saw five lead changes and six ties as the Cards were up by one going into the second half. In the third period, Kentucky had a mid-quarter lead of three but the Cards responded immediately with a late 14-2 run that put them up by nine points. In comparison to their 37% (10-for-27) shooting in the first twenty minutes, Louisville shot 53% (17-for-32) in the second half. They held the lead for the entirety of the fourth quarter, as the Wildcats were unable to regain momentum.
FOLLOW LOUISVILLE WOMEN'S BASKETBALL ON SOCIAL MEDIA
For the latest on Louisville women's basketball, visit GoCards.com, or follow the team's Instagram account at @LouisvilleWBB, X account at @LouisvilleWBB or on Facebook at facebook.com/louisvillewbb.
This will be the ninth time since the 2007 season that the Cardinals and Wildcats will meet with both programs ranked in the Top-20 of the polls. In all eight of the previous ranked vs. ranked matchups, the Cardinals have been the highest ranked team between the two. The Wildcats will be the second Top-20 the Cardinals will face this season after opening the season against No. 5 UCLA in Paris.
Louisville has won its last two games heading into the matchup with the Wildcats, a home win over Southern Indiana and a road win over UT Martin. The two most recent opponents for the Cardinals were picked to finish first and second in the Ohio Valley Conference this season.
In the road win over UT Martin, Louisville had a strong performance in the paint. Nyla Harris led the team in scoring with 16 points on 6-for-8 shooting. Olivia Cochran scored 14 points on 4-for-5 shooting and added seven rebounds and three steals. The Cardinals as a team scored 52 points in the paint in the win.
A couple of freshmen also played well in the win over the Skyhawks as Tajianna Roberts scored 13 points and Imari Berry tallied 10 points and a team-best nine rebounds. Roberts has scored in double figures in each of the first three games this season and scored 11 of her points in the third quarter on 5-for-5 shooting in the frame. Berry has led the team in rebounding in each of the last two games after she had a team-best eight against Southern Indiana. She leads the team with 6.7 rebounds per game through the first three contests.
Date: Saturday, November 16
Time: 6 p.m. ET
Site: Lexington, Ky. | Memorial Coliseum (8,500)
TV: SEC Network+
Radio: 970-AM WGTK (Nick Curran, play-by-play; Cortnee Walton, analyst)
Series History: Louisville trails 24-34 (17-11 home, 6-20 away, 1-3 neutral)
Series History w/Walz: Louisville leads 10-6 (6-2 home, 4-4 away)
Last Meeting: W, 73-61 (Dec. 10, 2023 at KFC Yum! Center)
ABOUT THE WILDCATS
Kentucky comes into Saturday's matchup with a 3-0 after early season wins over Wofford, Northern Kentucky and USC Upstate. In their first three wins, the Wildcats have yet to allow more than 43 points in a game. Kentucky is under the helm of Kenny Brooks in his first season in Lexington after coming over from Virginia Tech. The Wildcats only have two players back from the 2023 squad that went 12-20 overall and 4-12 in SEC play. Brooks brought over three players from Virginia Tech in Georgia Amoore, Clara Strack and Gabby Brooks. Amoore is a graduate student and has faced the Cardinals four times in her collegiate career. Brooks also brought in Teonni Key, who began her career at North Carolina. Saturday's matchup will take place in Memorial Coliseum and it is the first time since the 2017-18 season that both teams will square off in Memorial.
Series History - This will be the 59th meeting in the Battle of the Bluegrass and Louisville trails the all-time series 24-34. This will be the 17th matchup between the two teams since Jeff Walz took over at Louisville and the Cardinals have a 10-6 advantage over that time. Louisville has won the last seven games against the Wildcats dating back to the 2015-16 season (The teams did not meet in the 2020-21 season). The seven-game winning streak for the Cardinals is the longest in the series history for Louisville.
Last Meeting (Dec. 10, 2023) - The No. 18 Louisville women's basketball team secured a 73-61 win over rival Kentucky Sunday afternoon at the KFC Yum! Center, their seventh straight victory in the series. The first half saw five lead changes and six ties as the Cards were up by one going into the second half. In the third period, Kentucky had a mid-quarter lead of three but the Cards responded immediately with a late 14-2 run that put them up by nine points. In comparison to their 37% (10-for-27) shooting in the first twenty minutes, Louisville shot 53% (17-for-32) in the second half. They held the lead for the entirety of the fourth quarter, as the Wildcats were unable to regain momentum.
FOLLOW LOUISVILLE WOMEN'S BASKETBALL ON SOCIAL MEDIA
For the latest on Louisville women's basketball, visit GoCards.com, or follow the team's Instagram account at @LouisvilleWBB, X account at @LouisvilleWBB or on Facebook at facebook.com/louisvillewbb.
Players Mentioned
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