By Harry Barsan

No. 18 Louisville lost an overtime heartbreaker to their rival the No. 20 Kentucky Wildcats. It was a neck-and-neck contest all throughout regulation up until overtime, where the Cats expanded their lead.

Hard fought to the end

Ja’Leah Williams opened the scoring with an early layup, but Kentucky went on a 10-2 run to take a six-point lead.

Louisville fought back to keep the first quarter close, as the biggest lead was Kentucky’ six-point lead.

Six different Cardinals scored in the quarter, and it ended with Louisville up 16-15.

The Cards opened the second quarter on a 6-0 run on three-straight lay-ups. Louisville kept their lead for the majority of the quarter.

Williams notched four assists this quarter alone, including one on a late three-pointer to Tajianna Roberts.

Her efforts propelled the Cardinals to a 30-27 advantage into half time.

After the half, the Cards pushed their lead back up to six. However, Kentucky fought back with an 8-0 run late in the third. Kentucky held the lead until Freshman Imari Berry erupted with three straight buckets from downtown in only 90 seconds to give Louisville to momentum yet again.

Louisville led going into the fourth quarter 46-42.

Berry responded to an early Kentucky layup with her fourth straight three to open the final quarter to expand the lead to five, but that didn’t stop Kentucky’s responsive offense.

Neither team led by more than three points for the rest of regulation. The rivals were throwing haymaker after haymaker, and it was anybody’s game every step of the way.

Eventually, two free throws put Kentucky up late, 56-58.

With the Cardinals down two with under half-a-minute to go, a clutch layup from Merissah Russell tied it. In the final seconds of the game, Williams blocked a potentially game-winning three from Georgia Amoore to send the game into overtime.

Unfortunately, whatever spark the Cardinals were running off of quickly died out. They went 0-of-6 on field goals, scoring their only points in OT on three free throws. The Wildcats stormed away with the game, with nine of their 13 points in overtime on free throws.

Louisville would lose in overtime, 61-71.

Areas of concern

Kentucky out-rebounded Louisville 40-28, largely thanks to Kentucky’s 6’3″ Amelia Hassett and her thirteen defensive rebounds. This proved costly as their 10 second-chance points proved to make all the difference in this tightly contested game.

Both teams also found themselves in deep turnover troubles. Louisville’s 19 turnovers was outdone by Kentucky’s 24, their highest of the season. Louisville has clearly demonstrated their ability to turnover opponents, but their continuous struggles with holding onto the ball themselves keeps opponents in games.

A problem with efficiency has also been huge for this Louisville team all year. While the three was working pretty well for the Cardinals, as they shot it at 35.3% clip, they only shot 35.9% from the field altogether.

Another glaring issue was the free throw. This was to be expected, as the Cardinals are a below average free throw shooting team. They only made 60% shooting from the line on 9-of-15 attempts.

In a game as close as this, every missed opportunity, whether it be from the field or from the charity stripe, makes a huge difference.

This game was very clearly within reach of either team, and the final score doesn’t quite do the Cardinals justice with how hard they fought. Despite the loss and despite the low sports. Louisville shined bright at times and will look to recoup after a difficult loss.

Louisville is now 2-2 on the year.

The Cardinals look eager to bounce back soon, as they look to host Morehead State on Thursday at home.

Photo Courtesy // Ethan Rand, UK Athletics