University of Louisville
Rutgers
Louisville Outlasts Rutgers in Double-Overtime, 87-82
March 08, 2009 | Women's Basketball
March 8, 2009
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) - Rutgers coach C. Vivian Stringer says it is easy in the game of basketball to tell who believes in whom.
It was clear Sunday that Louisville believes in Angel McCoughtry.
The senior, who led the conference in scoring, rebounding and steals this season, had 35 points, including seven in the second overtime, and the seventh-ranked Cardinals held off Rutgers 87-82 on Sunday in the Big East quarterfinals.
McCoughtry's 3-pointer, steal and two free throws with a minute remaining in the second OT gave Louisville an 83-77 lead. Brittany Ray hit a 3 to cut the deficit to 83-80, but the Cardinals held on for the win.
"People like to say we're a one-person team," Louisville coach Jeff Walz said. "What's good for us is people have a hard time stopping that one."
Candyce Bingham added 15 points and 15 rebounds for the Cardinals (28-3), who also got some help from an unlikely source. Freshman Becky Burke was 6-for-6 from 3-point range and had 18 points.
McCoughtry said she's been waking up Burke at 6 a.m. to work on her shooting.
"I texted her and was like, 'Becky, let's get in the gym, you are the shooter on the team and you've got to knock some shots down,'" McCoughtry said.
Epiphanny Prince led Rutgers (19-12) with 25 points, but fouled out late in the first OT. She hit two foul shots that tied the game at 73, but was called for a charge with 23 seconds left that finished her night.
"It was very tough to be sitting on the bench, because I know that I was on the bench for doing something silly and not being smart," she said. "I was just disappointed in myself."
Kia Vaughn had 17 points and Ray added 16, including a driving layup that sent the game to overtime.
Louisville trailed by nine points early, but used a 21-4 run to turn a 32-27 first-half deficit into a 48-36 second-half lead. That prompted Stringer to substitute for all five players on the court.
"I couldn't believe what I was seeing," Stringer said. "You come to expect a certain level of play and then it's like, 'I'm out there, so we're going to do our thing, but winning doesn't mean that much to me.'"
The Cardinals led by 14 in the second half before the Scarlet Knights began to press and put together a 13-4 run to get back in the game.
Louisville went to McCoughtry, who scored 12 of the team's final 14 in regulation. But she missed a free throw that would have given her team a 3-point lead with 8 seconds remaining.
Ray's driving layup tied the game at 66.
Rutgers jumped out to a 10-1 lead, as Louisville turned the ball over on three of its first four possessions and missed its first four shots.
Walz received a technical foul before the Cardinals had their first field goal, a driving layup that turned into a three-point play for Bingham with just over 16 minutes left in the first half.
Consecutive 3-pointers from McCoughtry and Burke cut the lead to 15-13, and two free throws by Bingham gave Louisville its first lead at 19-17 midway through the half.
The Cardinals scored the final nine points before intermission to lead 36-32.
The Scarlet Knights had won five of their last six games, but are 2-4 against the Cardinals, who have won three straight in the series, including a 64-59 win on Jan. 11.
Rutgers is 1-9 against ranked teams this season.
Louisville, which has won seven straight and nine of 10, will play Pitt (No. 19 ESPN/USA Today, No. 14 AP) in Monday's semifinals.
