University of Louisville
St. John's
Women's Basketball Advances in BIG EAST Tournament
March 08, 2008 | Women's Basketball
March 8, 2008
Hartford, Conn. - Despite early foul trouble, the Louisville Cardinals (22-8) defeated St. John's (16-14) 63-47 in the first round of the BIG EAST Championship held at the XL Center in Hartford, Conn. It is the second consecutive season that the Cardinals have advanced to the quarterfinals. Louisville junior Angel McCoughtry led three Cardinals in double figures with 25 points. Candyce Bingham finished with 13 points and Chauntise Wright added 10.
Louisville jumped out to an early 14-6 lead but three of the Cards' five starters sitting on the bench the final 10 minutes of the first half. St. John's capitalized early with a 10-1 to take a 16-15 lead with just over seven minutes remaining. The Louisville bench did a good job keeping the game close and went into the locker room with a 23-21 lead at the break.
McCoughtry was called for her third foul just a minute and a half into the second half and took a seat on the bench. The game had eight ties with the final coming at 16:25 in the second half. With their leading scorer on the bench the Cardinals went inside to Wright and freshman Keshia Hines.
Louisville took a seven point lead when Hines connected on a layup at the 10:17 mark. When Hines was called for her fourth foul at the 8:54 mark, McCoughtry returned to the floor. A few minutes later, Louisville went on a 9-0 run to pull away from the Red Storm. McCoughtry scored 19 of her 25 points in the second half.
The Cardinals led 14-6 early, outscoring St. John's 12-2 in the paint. But Louisville's top three players, McCoughtry, Bingham and Chauntise Wright, all picked up two early fouls and had to go to the bench. St. John's capitalized, going on a 10-1 run to take a 16-15 lead.
The Cardinals finished the game shooting 50 percent from the field and 30 percent from behind the arc. St. John's finished the game shooting just 30.8 percent from the field and seven percent from behind the arc. Louisville outrebounded St. John's 39-28.
The Cardinals advance to the quarterfinals against the No. 2 seed Rutgers at 6:00 p.m. on Sunday. The game will be broadcast live on ESPNU.
