Cardinals host Rutgers Sunday in a Nationally Televised Game
January 19, 2007 | Women's Basketball
Jan. 19, 2007
Louisville, Ky. - By WILL GRAVES AP Sports Writer January 18, 2007
Tom Collen has spent the last two months trying to convince anyone who would listen that Louisville is for real.
But despite getting off to the best start in school history and cracking the Top 25 for the first time, Collen knows the 15th-ranked Cardinals (17-2, 3-2 Big East) remain a mystery to the nation and to themselves.
"I don't think we know what all the qualities of a top 15 team are yet," he said. "I think we're still searching."
The Cardinals could get an answer Sunday, when they host longtime Big East power Rutgers (10-5, 5-1) with a chance to prove their program no longer toils in the shadows of the men's basketball team and football team.
It's been a slow steady climb for Louisville the past four years, as Collen methodically built a team that would have the requisite toughness and grit to compete in one of the nation's top conferences.
Louisville reeled off 15 straight wins to start the year, but has been hit with what Collen called "growing pains." The Cardinals have split their last four games while playing without injured guard Helen Johnson, arguably the team's best defender. In her absence, the Cardinals have allowed other teams to dictate the tempo.
"You hit a point where you realize that you have a big target on your back and everybody is going to come after you," Collen said. "If you don't continue to work hard and keep improving then you're not going to hold your ground."
While the Cardinals spent the first two months of the season trying to build a reputation, defending Big East regular season champion Rutgers found itself struggling with injuries, inexperience and defense that hardly lived up to coach C. Vivian Stringer's exacting standards.
A year after going undefeated in conference play and advancing to the final 16, the Scarlet Knights lost four of their first six games thanks to a brutal schedule and what Stringer called "pretend" defense.
"They weren't embracing our style, our Rutgers style," Stringer said. "It was like, 'Somebody wake up."'
It didn't help that the Scarlet Knights played the first month of the season without point guard Matee Ajavon, who had a stress fracture in her left leg. Ajavon's injury forced Stringer to experiment with unproven players like freshmen guards Epiphany Price and Brittany Ray and prevented her from installing the pressure defense that helped Rutgers become one of the nation's elite programs.
"It was a trial by fire," Stringer said.
During early losses to Georgia, Pepperdine, Duke and DePaul, Stringer held her tongue for fear of hurting her team's fragile confidence. But when Ajavon finally returned to health, Stringer sat her players down and told them allowing 60-plus points per game was no longer acceptable as the Scarlet Knights slipped from 11th in the preseason poll to out of the Top 25 entirely.
"We had to get them to buy into the team thing," Stringer said. "We had to get them to play defense, rebound and pass and do the things that people don't see but help us win."
The Scarlet Knights have responded by winning eight of nine games. They're allowing just 43.8 points per game during their current five-game winning streak and have risen from 15th in the Big East in scoring defense three weeks ago to fifth.
"Now they see what we do," she said.
Still, Stringer knows the Scarlet Knights will have their hands full with Louisville forward Angel McCoughtry, who leads the Big East in scoring (21.9 ppg) and rebounding (11.4 ppg) and may be one of the most athletic players in the country.
"I see her dunking, stepping out to the 3-point line, I'm like 'Why didn't I see her (in high school)?"' Stringer said with a laugh. "She's really on fire."
McCoughtry's emergence has allowed the Cardinals to take some of the pressure off senior center Jazz Covington, who no longer has to carry the load when things get tough.
"I think Angel is the most rapidly improving player in the country," Collen said. "She's the type of kid that if she plays 35 minutes, she's going to get a double-double every game."
McCoughtry has embraced her role, but knows there's still plenty of work to be done. She chose Louisville over more traditional powers because she "wanted to make history." A win over the Scarlet Knights would go a long way toward proving the Cardinals are in the Top 25 to stay.
"I think people are still wondering, people are still doubting us," McCoughtry said. "We can't focus on those things. We know the sky's the limit."
