McCoughtry, Bingham and Reid Earn BIG EAST Honors
March 05, 2009 | Women's Basketball
March 5, 2009
Louisville, Ky. - Louisville senior Angel McCoughtry has won BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Year honors after leading the league in several statistical categories this season. McCoughtry and fellow senior Candyce Bingham earned first team All-BIG EAST honors. Freshman Monique Reid earned BIG EAST All-Freshman honors. Louisville finished with two players on the first team while Connecticut finished with three.
McCoughtry is the first Louisville player to garner BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Year honors, yet this is the second major award for the senior forward as she was named BIG EAST Player of the Year in 2006-07. For the third straight year, McCoughtry leads the league in points per game (26.6), rebounds (10.0) and steals (78) becoming the first player in conference history to achieve the feat. She is also first in defensive rebounds (124). McCoughtry has helped keep Louisville in the Top 15 of the national polls all season, including top 10 rankings since the first week of conference play. The senior forward shot 74.8 percent from the free throw line and has been sent to the charity stripe 135 times in conference play. McCoughtry's has quickness and an innate ability to be in the right place to grab a rebound or make a steal. She leads the nation in steals with 4.7 steals per game.
Bingham earns first team All-BIG EAST honors for the first time. She was a preseason All-BIG EAST selection. Bingham is second on the team in scoring and rebounding with 12.4 points and 6.9 rebounds per game. She scored a career-high 26 points against No. 15 Pittsburgh on senior day. She has eight double-doubles on the season and has scored 1,000 points in her collegiate career. She finished BIG EAST play averaging 12.8 points and 7.3 rebounds per game. Reid ranks fifth on the team in scoring with 6.3 points per game. She ranks fourth on the team in rebounding with 4.2 rebounds per game. She has started in 13 games this season.
The Cardinals finished second in the BIG EAST standings, marking their highest finish in the league since joining three years ago. The Cardinals registered their most BIG EAST wins with 14 and tied the school record for most wins in a season with an overall record of 27-3.
