CRAWFORD | Kentucky's third-quarter knockout punch powers 72-62 win over Louisville

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — One bad quarter. That’s all it takes.

A bad test score can tank your GPA. A lousy sales month can wipe out the quarter. And one miserable 10-minute stretch on a Saturday afternoon can flip a rivalry game from fight to flight.

No. 21 Louisville played four quarters against No. 20 Kentucky. Three were serviceable. The third was a disaster. And in that wreckage, a 72-62 loss took shape, not as a fluke, but as a flashing red warning light.

It was 37-35 at halftime. Anyone’s game. Home crowd. Stars playing well. Then came the third quarter, where Kentucky outscored Louisville 20-6, and outworked them by even more.

Jeff Walz didn’t need a stat sheet. He could feel the fight leave the gym.

“Our lack of fight is a concern,” he said. "

Kentucky, meanwhile, was just ramping up.

“We make an effort to talk about third quarter blitz,” Kentucky coach Kenny Brooks said. “Just really get focused and come out, because it can really swing the momentum of the game. And we came out, we were hot, and then all of a sudden we were up, I think it was 12 or 14 points.”

Tonie Morgan didn’t need the extra motivation. She played like she owned the place. Nineteen points, seven assists, and a pace Louisville couldn’t keep up with. The former Georgia Tech point guard said of the third quarter, “We wanted to put them away early. Don’t let them think they’re still in it with is.”

Walz, of course, recruited Morgan, too. In that sense, you could suggest the game was won over PowerPoint presentations in the summer. Either way, she was the crucial piece for Kentucky.

Meanwhile, Louisville missed open shots. The ones they hit Wednesday against Morehead State. The ones Walz has been begging them to make.

“When you're open, you’ve got to knock it down,” he said. “We haven’t really done it all year, except in stretches.”

A couple of players did make shots. Louisville got 19 first-half points from Tajianna Roberts, but she finished with just 22. Laura Ziegler added 18 points and 11 rebounds for the Cards.

But the third-quarter stretch was bad for everybody. Walz had a theory why.

“We’re a good basketball team,” he said. “We’re not a great basketball team. But I think some of us think we’re a great team, so we don’t put the work in.”

There’s a line between talent and toughness. Between making shots and making statements.

Kentucky coach Kenny Brooks in the first half of Kentucky's 72-62 win over Louisville on Saturday, Nov. 22, 2025.
ERIC CRAWFORD

Saturday, Kentucky crossed it. Louisville did not.

But the Wildcats didn more than hit shots. They hunted rebounds. They moved the ball. They imposed pace and got the looks they wanted. Their two stars — Clara Strack and Morgan — played like they had something to prove and nothing to lose.

Strack finished with 17 points, 10 rebounds and a couple of blocks that shifted momentum. Morgan was everywhere, probing the defense, slipping through cracks, finding teammates and getting her own when needed. The two combined to shoot 15-for-28.

They didn’t need many threes (just four). They didn’t force turnovers in bunches (just six). What they did was win the margins. They grabbed 13 offensive rebounds. Outscored Louisville 40-24 in the paint. They kept their composure when Louisville rallied in the fourth and finished the job without flinching.

It wasn’t a perfect performance, but it was a gritty, physical, winning one. And in a rivalry game on the road, that’s more than enough.