Love leads balanced Louisville women with 14 in No. 18 Wildcats' 73-61 win over Kentucky

LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- — Eylia Love scored 12 of her 14 points in the second half and No. 18 Louisville used a balanced attack to defeat Kentucky 73-61 on Sunday, winning the Battle for the Bluegrass for the seventh straight time.

Sydney Taylor and Nyla Harris scored 13 points apiece for the Cardinals (9-1). Kiki Jefferson had 11 points and Olivia Cochran had 10.

Maddie Scherr had 22 points to lead the Wildcats (4-7) and Ajae Petty had 16 with 10 rebounds.

The game was close until the Cardinals used an 8-0 run to take a 44-39 lead late in the third quarter. Petty had a three-point play in the closing seconds that pulled the Wildcats within 50-44.

Louisville had a 9-2 run to open the fourth quarter to get the lead to double figures. Love started it with a 3-pointer and ended it with a layup, making it 59-46 with 6:44 to play.

Kentucky crawled back with Scherr and Cassidy Rowe hitting 3s, cutting it to 62-56 at 1:55. Another three-point play by Petty with just under a minute remaining made it 66-61. Then Louisville scored the last seven points.

Louisville led 28-27 at halftime despite shooting just 37%. The Cardinals had a 21-12 rebounding advantage, which was 45-23 by the end of the game.

Louisville is home against Morehead State on Wednesday. Furman visits Kentucky on Sunday.

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