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Led by sophomore forward Angel McCoughtry, the Big East player of the year, the Louisville Cardinals women’s basketball team won their first NCAA tournament game since 1998.

The sixth seeded Cards took down the 11th seeded Brigham Young University by a score of 80-54 after exiting the NCAA tournament in the first round of the previous two years.

The Cardinals used the same formula as they did in the regular season to break their tournament drought.

Sophomore forward Angel McCoughtry scored 24 points on eight of 15 shooting and grabbed nine rebounds. Senior forward and All Big East honorable mention Jazz Covington added 14 points and seven rebounds.

The two were major reasons the Cardinals grabbed their highest seed in school history and their third straight at-large bid.

Louisville also won the most regular season games in school history with 26 wins. McCoughtry was only the second player in 25 years to lead the Big East in both scoring and rebounding with 21.1 points per game and 10.6 rebounds per game.

“[Angel] McCoughtry exploded on the scene this year. I think to advance you have to have players that you are willing to get the ball to down in the stretch,” said Louisville head coach Tom Collen.

Covington is one of three seniors on the Cardinal roster. Every game could be the last in red and black for Covington, Helen Johnson and Katie Olson.

Johnson, a guard from Milwaukee, scored six points and added three rebounds in 17 minutes off the bench. Olson, a guard from Wheat Ridge, Col., contributed two assists to the defeat of the Cougars.

“Jazz has been really steady for us. This is it for her, this is her last hoorah, so I expect great effort out of her,” said Collen.

Louisville dominated the game with a swarming defense that forced 18 turnovers, 14 of which came in the first half.

In fact, BYU turned the ball over eight times in the first eight minutes of the game and allowed the Cardinals to race out to an 18-6 lead.

The Cardinal defense held the Cougars to 38 percent shooting from the field and 15 percent shooting from the three-point line.

BYU shot themselves in the foot, shooting 59 percent from the free throw line, while the Cardinals hit 83 percent of their free throws.

Louisville led by as many at 27 points in a game that was full of runs. The Cardinals opened the game with an 18-6 run and closed the first half with a 19-5 run.

In the second half the Cougars went on an eight point run to cut the deficit to 19 points, but couldn’t hold the Cardinals.

The game was played in the Los Angeles and aired on ESPN 2.

“I think LA will be a great place to go and a great place to visit and I think it will be exciting for our players. I wish we were a little bit closer to home so we could get our fans to drive,” said Collen after learning about his placement in the bracket.

The Cardinals weren’t afraid to travel after the game that they drew last year. As a nine seed in the 2006 tournament they had to play Vanderbilt University on their home floor.

Collen talked about how difficult that was and how happy he was to get over the “8/9 seed hump” and be in a position where the experts expect the team to win the game. He knows that the road won’t be easy for his Cardinals though.

“When you get in the NCAA and you win a game and you start advancing, everyone you are going to play is going to be tough,” said Collen.