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Monday, Dec. 15, 2008

McCoughtry's 31 power Cards past Cats

UofL hopes rout of Cats brings back record crowd

LOUISVILLE — It was "Pack the House" day at Freedom Hall and No. 12 Louisville fell a tad short of that goal, but the Cardinals made sure they put on a show for those who did show, beating Kentucky 75-59 on Sunday afternoon.

"The pressure was on our kids to make it an entertaining game and they did that," said Louisville Coach Jeff Walz, who hopes the record crowd of 16,337 fans will be back for more this season.

The attendance figure was the largest paying crowd in state history, Cardinals history and in Big East history. Louisville had 19,000-plus versus Connecticut last season, but many of them were giveaway tickets.

Coach Matthew Mitchell said if he hadn't been on the Kentucky bench, he would have paid the price of admission just to see Louisville star Angel McCoughtry play.

"She is so dynamic," he said. "If she's not the best, there are only one or two better than her, and when she's on her game, she's the best player in the country."

McCoughtry led the Cardinals with 31 points, nine rebounds and six steals in 36 minutes. It was her 12th career 30-plus point game.

"We impressed people tonight, and I know for a fact they're thinking in their heads, 'We've got to come back for another game,' " McCoughtry said.

The win was the Cardinals' fifth straight over their in-state rival. Battling depth problems and injuries, the Cats have lost four of their last five.

In the first half, Kentucky went more than eight minutes without scoring and nearly nine minutes without a field goal. While the Cats struggled to find the basket, Louisville had no problems.

They scored 11 straight as part of a 22-5 run that gave them a 17-point lead. McCoughtry had eight of her 13 first-half points in that Cardinals spree.

"She makes her team so much better in so many ways," Mitchell said of Louisville's star forward. "You see a lot of good players as you coach, but you don't see many who can impact the game in so many ways."

Kentucky cut the Cards' lead to 10 points, 41-31, on a Carly Morrow three-pointer, but that was as close as UK would get the rest of the way.

"It feels good to come out and beat them and shut them up again," said Louisville senior forward Candyce Bingham, who had 14 points, 12 rebounds and four steals. "It feels real good."

Freshman guard Monique Reid had 12 points and five rebounds and Deseree Byrd added 10 points and nine assists for the Cardinals, who won their fourth straight.

UK outshot and outrebounded Louisville, but it wasn't enough.

The Cats couldn't overcome a season-high 26 turnovers, which Louisville turned into 23 points.

"We didn't have the result we wanted in this game, but we fought today, and that's progress for our team right now," Mitchell said.

Lydia Watkins, who hadn't played or practiced since Dec. 4, scored a team-high 15 points on a perfect 6-for-6 shooting. The junior also had six rebounds and two steals.

"I tried to fight through it and help my team as much as I can," Watkins said of her shin injury. "We're kind of struggling right now with (a lack of) people."

Kentucky's starters each played 24 minutes or more. The Cats remained without senior guard Carly Ormerod, who is battling a recurring foot injury.

Four of UK's starters played upward of 34 minutes. It began to show in the end as Louisville pulled away and grabbed a 21-point lead with 3:49 remaining.

Eleia Roddy had her seventh career double-double with 13 points and a career-high 15 rebounds.

Victoria Dunlap added 12 points and eight rebounds. Morrow finished with a career-high 14 points.

UK scores, schedule

Date Opponent Time/result

Nov. 5 x-KY. STATE W, 99-28

Nov. 9 x-BELLARMINE W, 72-69

Nov. 15 MICHIGAN L, 70-60

Nov. 17 CINCINNATI W, 58-55

Nov. 23 GEORGE WASHINGTON W, 67-48

Nov. 28 a-Yale W, 87-82

Nov. 29 a-Long Island W, 46-43

Dec. 2 at Xavier L, 67-40

Dec. 4 at Western Kentucky L, 66-57

Dec. 6 FURMAN W, 74-35

Dec. 12 EAST TENNESSEE ST. L, 59-50

Dec. 14 at Louisville L, 75-59

Dec. 19 ALABAMA A&M 7 p.m.

Dec. 21 at Cal-Santa Barbara 2 p.m.

Dec. 20 IUPUI 7 p.m.

Jan. 1 NORTH CAROLINA A&T 7 p.m.

Jan. 3 at Miami (Ohio) 2 p.m.

Jan. 8 at Tennessee 7 p.m.

Jan. 11 ARKANSAS 2 p.m.

Jan. 15 at Alabama 7 p.m.

Jan. 18 MISSISSIPPI ST. 4 p.m.

Jan. 25 LOUISIANA ST. 1 p.m.

Jan. 29 at Florida 7 p.m.

Feb. 1 at Mississippi 3 p.m.

Feb. 5 SOUTH CAROLINA 7 p.m.

Feb. 8 VANDERBILT 1 p.m.

Feb. 12 at Auburn 7 p.m.

Feb. 19 TENNESSEE 7 p.m.

Feb. 22 at Louisiana St. 3 p.m.

Feb. 26 GEORGIA 7 p.m.

March 1 at South Carolina 3 p.m.

x-exhibition; a-Long Island Turkey Classic at Brooklyn, N.Y.