"I saw some heads drop," Collen said. "I thought we might not have it in us to come back. You don't make up 16 points in a short period of time with X's and O's.
" Senior Jazz Covington provided the leadership and some big baskets, and sophomore Angel McCoughtry provided the heroics as Louisville rallied for a 53-50 victory at Freedom Hall. "We just had to cheerlead them through it," Collen said. "We were fortunate that we had a couple of kids that just flat stepped up and made shots.
"...
Angel is the show, but Jazz is the rock." McCoughtry sparked two 11-0 runs in the final 12:36 after the Cardinals fell behind 38-22. She hit a 22-foot three-pointer with 2:30 left to give the Cardinals a 50-47 lead, and her free throw sealed the victory with 2.
3 seconds left. "It doesn't matter if we win by 50 points or by one, we just want the W," McCoughtry said. "That was Rutgers we're talking about.
" The 6-foot-1 McCoughtry hit just 6 of 17 from the field and 5 of 11 free throws but led U of L with 20 points and 16 rebounds. Covington, who put the Cards up for good with a layup at 0:33.4, added 13 points and six rebounds.
Louisville (18-2, 4-2 Big East Conference) hit only 19 of 53 (35.8 percent) from the field, including 8 of 22 three-point tries, and a dismal 7 of 21 from the free-throw line. But the Cards forced 17 turnovers and outrebounded Rutgers 43-41.
"We have been used to having to dig ourselves out of the holes and having to fight back," Covington said. "This is a huge win. It was a battle for us, but we need more of those.
We bounced back." Collen called the victory over the Scarlet Knights (10-6, 5-2) one of the biggest this season because of the program's history. Rutgers long has been a national power under coach C.
Vivian Stringer and had reeled off five consecutive wins. "The national folks have been watching Vivian Stringer's program for 25 or 30 years, and they know they'll be there in the end," he said. "Media and coaches around the nation know how good they are.
This is a big 'get-your-attention' win." After leading 22-19 with 1:47 left in the first half, the Cards didn't score until the 12:26 mark of the second half as the Scarlet Knights took a 38-22 advantage. "I thought we might be ready to pack it in," Collen said.
But Covington had other ideas. During a timeout she tried to light a fire under her teammates, and it seemed to work. "I thought, 'Here we go again,' " McCoughtry said.
"But Jazz, thank you. I was looking down on myself, but she kept saying one play at a time, and she was right." Patrika Barlow and McCoughtry sparked an 11-0 run with three-point baskets to pull U of L within 38-33.
U of L then used another 11-0 run, with McCoughtry scoring five points, to forge ahead 50-47. Rutgers tied the score at 50, but Covington scored with 33.4 seconds left.
The Scarlet Knights missed two shots before U of L's Toni Slaughter grabbed a loose-ball rebound and was fouled. Slaughter missed both free throws with 5.7 seconds left, but McCoughtry was there for the rebound.
She hit 1 of 2 free throws with 2.3 seconds left, and Covington picked up the rebound on the second one as time ran out. "This says a lot to the rest of the conference," Covington said.
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