Published: March 10, 2008 11:41 pm         

Louisville upsets WVU women 67-60

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — Angel McCoughtry scored 24 points and No. 23 Louisville advanced to its first Big East tournament final by holding off No. 16 West Virginia 67-60 on Monday night,

The Cardinals (24-8), who moved back into the Top 25 Monday for the first time since the second week of the season, will play top-ranked Connecticut on Tuesday. The Huskies advanced earlier Monday with a 74-47 rout of Pittsburgh.

It was Louisville’s 10th win in its last 11 games, and followed Sunday’s 57-56 upset of No. 7 Rutgers.

Brandie Radde had 10 points for the Cardinals, who led by as many as 21 in the first half, and held off a late West Virginia charge.

LaQuita Owens had 23 for the Mountaineers (24-7), 15 in the second half, and Chakhia Cole added 15. Owens’ 3-pointer with 2:23 left cut the lead to 62-57, but McCoughtry hit a shot with 1:15 left that stretched it back to eight, and the Cardinals held on.

Louisville’s trapping press bothered the Mountaineers. It allowed the Cardinals to jump to a 10-3 lead, and forced West Virginia coach Mike Carey to use a timeout just three minutes into the game.

Radde hit consecutive 3-pointers out of the break, and it was 20-3 before Cole ended the Mountaineers’ drought with a driving layup.

The Mountaineers hit just three of their first 13 shots, including 1-of-6 from behind the arc.

West Virginia’s Olayinka Sanni picked up her second foul just nine minutes into the half, and with the Mountaineers’ center out of the lineup, Louisville went inside to Chauntise Wright, who had eight first-half points.

McCoughtry was fouled twice in the final minute of the half while attempting 3-pointers, and hit all six free throws to give the Cardinals a 41-21 advantage.

The Mountaineers had a 13-3 run after intermission, and cut the lead to 10 with just over 12 minutes left. It was eight when Sanni hit a layup with just under five minutes to go, and six when she hit another one with 3:26 left.

Sanni, who had 20 points in the Mountaineers’ second-round win over South Florida, had 12 in this one, all but two after intermission.

West Virginia, the No. 3 seed, had routed South Florida by 22 in Sunday’s quaterfinals. The Mountaineers were 12-3 in January and February, but had dropped two of their last three coming into the tournament, and had fallen two spots in this week’s Top 25 poll.

West Virginia came into the game 4-1 all-time against the Cardinals, but Louisville won last year’s meeting in Big East tournament 68-56.