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Kentucky-Louisville WBB Part of ESPN’s Jimmy V Classic

By Annual rivalry game will be Dec. 12 at 1 p.m. ET on ESPN, 08/04/21, 4:00PM CDT

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After taking last season off, the women's basketball rivalry between Louisville and Kentucky will resume in 2021 as part of ESPN's Jimmy V Classic, the network announced Wednesday.

The game will be played on Sunday, Dec. 12, at 1 p.m. in the KFC Yum! Center. Louisville returns all but one starter from a team that reached the Elite Eight in 2020. Kentucky returns nine of the top 10 scorers from last season's NCAA Tournament team, including All-American Rhyne Howard.

The Jimmy V Classic, named for legendary college men’s basketball coach and former ESPN commentator Jim Valvano, annually raises money and awareness for the V Foundation for Cancer Research, which was founded by Valvano in 1993 to fund game-changing cancer research and scientists to eradicate the disease. The men’s classic began in 1995, while the women’s event debuted in 2002. Both events are part of ESPN’s V Week initiative, which utilizes platforms to provide important messaging to sports fans about the importance of cancer research. To date, ESPN has helped raise more than $134 million dollars for the V Foundation.

The rivalry game did not take place last season after schedule changes due to COVID-19 prevented the teams from finding an available date. The annual battle was then put on pause to be picked back up this season.

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