University of Louisville
Cincinnati
No. 10 Louisville Defeats Cincinnati, 67-52
February 14, 2009 | Women's Basketball
Feb. 14, 2009
CINCINNATI, Ohio (AP) - With No. 10 Louisville up by only two points and the second half ready to begin, Angel McCoughtry decided to take the game into her capable hands.She called her teammates together to deliver a message - no more fooling around - and then set the tone with one big play after another Saturday night, scoring 33 points in a 67-52 victory over Cincinnati that extended the Cardinals' best start in their history.
"I just wanted to take over a little bit," she said.
She did more than just a little bit. The Cardinals (23-3, 10-2 Big East) followed the lead of their all-time leading scorer, who had her fifth 30-point game of the season. The senior guard scored 25 in the second half, having her way against a defense that was determined to stop her.
"Angel got hot," Cincinnati coach J. Kelley Hall said. "We tried to make her shoot from farther out, and she said, 'I'm not having any of this.' She just shot over us. That's what great players do. She was everything they needed her to be."
Kahla Roudebush scored 22 points for Cincinnati (13-11, 3-8), which has lost seven straight, including a pair of games against the Cardinals.
When they played at Louisville on Jan. 20, the Bearcats unraveled against the Cardinals' defensive pressure, turning the ball over 17 times while falling behind 40-16 in the first half. Louisville was never threatened during that 66-50 win.
Handling the trapping defense was the Bearcats' focal point, and they did it a little better in the rematch. They even managed to take the lead - Roudebush had a fast-break layup and a banked-in 3-pointer that barely beat the shot clock and put the Bearcats ahead 16-12.
To that point, McCoughtry had struggled with her shot, going 1-for-5 from the field. After a timeout, she made a 3-pointer and a jumper that got Louisville's offense rolling. Then, she picked up her second foul and went to the bench. The Cardinals led only 27-25 at halftime, giving Cincinnati a sense it could pull off its second Top 25 upset of the season.
"It was kind of frustrating," said McCoughtry, who played 12 minutes in the first half. "I felt I should be out there helping the team. But they did all right without me. It's good to get tested and see how we handle it."
McCoughtry called her teammates together as they warmed up for the start of the second half and said a few words to the players, huddled with arms around each other.
"Basically, I said we had a bad first half and needed to pick up our energy," McCoughtry said.
She opened the half by hitting a 17-foot jumper, showing she was willing to take over the game. A few minutes later, she did just that.
McCoughtry got a rebound, went back up for a basket and completed a three-point play. On Louisville's next possession, she pulled up as if to shoot a jumper, then passed underneath to Candyce Bingham for an easy basket that made it 38-30. McCoughtry's 3-pointer pushed it to 49-38 with 8:38 to go.
"She did an outstanding job," Louisville coach Jeff Walz said. "Angel is really good with the basketball. She causes people problems when she's in the flow of things."
Every time the Bearcats would seem to get a spark, McCoughtry would extinguish it with another shot or assist. She had a steal and layup, then a rebound and a putback that built the lead to 60-47 with 5:19 to go - too much for the Bearcats to overcome.
Bingham had the best hustle play of the game, chasing a loose ball and bouncing it off Roudebush as she fell into the Bearcats' bench, saving a possession.
