No. 20 Kentucky women’s basketball (7-0) picked up its first ranked win of the 2025-26 season with a 72-62 win over in-state rival No. 21 Louisville (4-2).
The first half had 16 lead changes and was tied five times, but Kentucky held its lead for the entirety of the second half.
This was allowed by a dominant third quarter in which Kentucky outscored Louisville by 14 points.
Louisville’s Tajianna Roberts had 19 points at half on 9-11 shooting, in the second half she was limited to three points and shot 1-7 (14.3%). She totaled 22 points which tied the most allowed by Kentucky this season.
Four Wildcats finished with double digit scoring. Tonie Morgan led with 19 points, followed by Clara Strack and Teonni Key with 17 each and 10 from Jordan Obi.
Strack also had 10 rebounds to record her sixth double-double of the season.
Strack spotted up for a 3-pointer on the first possession of the game. Key followed with a layup to give Kentucky an early 5-0 lead.
Louisville started the game with a full-court press, after UK struggled with the full-court press in its game against Marshall.
Louisville’s first basket came after 3:08 had elapsed.
Kentucky pulled out to an 11-2 lead early, but UL scored on back-to-back possessions to pull back into the game and cut its deficit to 11-7.
The first quarter went back-and-forth with eight lead changes in the quarter. The last came on a Strack Layup that gave UK a 19-18 lead.
Louisville nabbed five steals in the first quarter, but scored just five points off turnovers.
Kentucky shot 8-14 (57%) from the field in the first quarter while the Cardinals shot 7-16 (44%).
Louisville’s Roberts scored 11 points in the first quarter, shooting 5/6 from the field.
Strack led the Cats first quarter scoring effort with seven points. Key, Morgan and Obi each had four of their own.
Roberts made shots on three straight possessions to begin the second quarter, allowing Louisville to regain the lead.
After a red-hot start to the quarter, Louisville entered the media timeout in the midst of a 2:16 scoring drought.
Kentucky mounted a 8-0 run over a 1:46 span to take a 29-27 lead.
The second quarter had eight lead changes as well. Key converted an and-one opportunity to give the Wildcats a 37-35 lead heading into half time.
Roberts entered halftime with 19 of the Cardinals 35 points, shooting 9-11 from the field. Kentucky will need to find a way to contain her or hope she can’t hit as efficiently in the second half.
Morgan was the Wildcats leading scorer in the half with 10 points, Strack and Key were right behind her with nine each.
The Wildcats held an 18-11 edge on the glass in the first half.
Kentucky also shot slightly more efficiently in the half at 16-29 (55.2%) from the field, to Louisville’s 14-29 (48.3%).
The Wildcats mounted a 7-2 run in the first two minutes of the second half to pull ahead 44-37.
Louisville called a timeout after going scoreless for 3:05 and allowing Kentucky to pull out to a 51-39 lead halfway through the third quarter.
The Cardinals scoreless streak reached 6:16 as the Wildcats mounted a 13-0 run to take a 57-39 lead.
Kentucky outscored Louisville 20-6 in the third quarter to take a 16 point lead into the final quarter. The Cats shot 9-19 (47.4%) in the quarter and held Louisville to 3-20 (15%) shooting.
Kentucky outrebounded the Cardinals 18-9 in the third quarter.
Louisville got the third quarter struggles figured out before the start of the fourth, The Cardinals put together an 8-0 run in the first three minutes of the fourth quarter to pull back within eight points.
Kentucky held a 10 point lead with 4:00 remaining in the game.
The Cats made four of their last five shots to hold on to its late lead an pull out a big win on the road.
Louisville outscored Kentucky in the fourth quarter 21-15, but the Wildcats never gave up their lead.
This was the 61st meeting between the two teams, Kentucky improved to 36-25 with this win.
This win makes two in a row for the Wildcats and brings Head Coach Kenny Brooks’ win streak against Louisville to five straight games.
The Wildcats will travel to Coliseo Guillermo Angulo Carolina in San Juan, Puerto Rico for their next game. Kentucky will take on No. 9 Maryland as part of the Discover Puerto Rico Tournament on Wednesday, Nov. 26 with tip off scheduled for 5:30 p.m.
