For the first time in nearly a decade, Kentucky women’s basketball has a winning streak against archrival Louisville.
Kenny Brooks’ No. 18 Wildcats (7-0) rode a dominant third quarter to a 72-62 victory over Jeff Walz‘s No. 19 Cardinals (4-2) on Saturday at the KFC Yum! Center.
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UK jumped to an 11-2 lead but was clinging to a 37-35 advantage at halftime because it had no answer for UofL sophomore Tajianna Roberts, who led all scorers with 19 points on 9-for-11 shooting during the opening 20 minutes.
The Cats threw a haymaker when play resumed: a 20-6 third quarter, during which Roberts was held scoreless and the Cards made only 3 of their 20 attempts from the field.
Walz’s team trailed by as many as 18 points (57-39 with 1:16 to play in the third) but cut the deficit to single digits four times during the fourth quarter. The closest it could get was eight on a day when it went -14 on the boards (41-27) and -16 in paint scoring (40-24).
Kentucky had four players finish in double digits: Tonie Morgan (19), Teonni Key (17), Clara Strack (17) and Jordan Obi (10). Morgan dished out a game-high seven assists against only one turnover, while Strack grabbed 10 rebounds for her sixth double-double of the season.
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Before Saturday, the Cats hadn’t beaten Louisville in consecutive seasons since 2014-15 and 2015-16.
Roberts finished with a game-high 22 points — one shy of matching her career high-water mark — on 10-for-18 shooting in nearly 39 minutes of run. Laura Ziegler followed with 18, behind a game-high four 3s, and led all players with 11 rebounds in 36 minutes.
This story will be updated.
Reach Louisville men’s basketball reporter Brooks Holton at bholton@gannett.com and follow him on X at @brooksHolton.
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: UK’s Kenny Brooks wins second straight against UofL’s Jeff Walz
