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Despite playing in front of a record crowd of 22,163 inside the KFC Yum Center, the Louisville women's basketball team once again failed to get over the hump against arch-nemesis Connecticut.
The top-ranked Huskies won their 31st game in a fashion similar to their previous 30, dominating the Cardinals to the tune of a 68-48 final. The victory gave Connecticut, which has won every game this season by double digits, the outright American Athletic regular season championship, as well as the No. 1 seed in this week's conference tournament. The defeat dropped U of L to 0-12 all-time against Connecticut under head coach Jeff Walz.
Louisville started quickly, scoring the game's first seven points and building a lead they would hold throughout the game's first two segments. UConn then answered with a 12-0 run to take a 32-21 advantage they would not relinquish.
It was another frustrating night against UConn for Cardinal star Shoni Schimmel, who was playing her final regular season game at the Yum Center. After hitting her first two shots, Schimmel missed nine straight and finished the evening with just nine points. Tia Gibbs scored a team-high 16 points for U of L.
All-American Breanna Stewart led UConn with 22 points and 14 rebounds, while three other Huskies -- Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis (13 points, 10 rebounds), Bria Hartley (14 points) and Moriah Jefferson (11 points) -- also hit double figures.
Louisville will begin its AAC tournament run on Saturday at 8 p.m. against the winner of Friday night's game between the league's No. 7 and No. 10 seeds. The game will be carried live on ESPN3.com.
