No. 7/8 Louisville Outlasts Marquette, 66-61

March 2, 2009

Listen to Postgames Remarks from Head Coach Terri Mitchell

Listen to Postgame Remarks from Krystl Ellis and Angel Robinson

2009 BIG EAST Tournament Bracket

MILWAUKEE -- On "Senior Night" at the Al McGuire Center, an inspired Marquette women's basketball team took No. 7/8 Louisville down to the wire, but it was the Cardinals who ultimately prevailed, 66-61, in Monday's regular season finale.

BIG EAST Conference Player of the Year candidate Angel McCoughtry paced the Cardinals with 25 points and 13 rebounds en route to her 53rd career double-double. McCoughtry scored 19 of her points in the second half.

Equally impressive was Marquette's Angel Robinson, who also netted 19 of her game-high 26 points in the final stanza, helping keep the Golden Eagles within striking distance. Robinson scored 11 of the team's first 13 points in the second half and eight of the Golden Eagles' last 10 points down the stretch.

Robinson got things going early by knocking down a 3-pointer from the left corner to give Marquette a nine-point lead, its largest lead of the game, near the 12-minute mark of the first half.

Janae Howard then scored nine straight points to get the Cardinals within two at 17-15 and Deseree' Byrd hit Louisville's third 3-pointer in a span of three minutes to give the visitors the lead, 20-19.

Trailing 35-32 at the break, Marquette eventually reclaimed the lead midway through the second half. The Golden Eagles were down by eight points, 47-39, before going on a 9-0 run that was capped off by a long-range 3-pointer by Krystal Ellis that made it 48-47 in favor of the Golden Eagles.

While unable to pull away from Marquette, Louisville may have sealed the victory thanks to a profitable night from the free throw line where the Cardinals made 17-of-22 foul shots. Louisville also claimed a 43-38 rebounding advantage and the Cardinals' bench out-scored Marquette's 20-0 led by 13 points from Howard.

Jessica Pachko added 14 points for the Golden Eagles on 6-of-8 shooting from the field, Ellis pitched in 11 and Jasmine Collins posted a team-high seven rebounds in just nine minutes of action.

Ellis and teammates Erin Monfre and Marissa Thrower were honored during a postgame ceremony as it was the final regular-season contest at the Al McGuire Center for the three Marquette seniors.

With the loss, the Golden Eagles will enter postseason play with an overall record of 16-14. They were 7-9 in the BIG EAST. Louisville finishes the regular season at 27-3, 14-2.

Marquette has earned the No. 9 seed in the BIG EAST Conference Tournament which begins Friday, March 6 at the XL Center in Hartford, Conn. The Golden Eagles will play No. 16 seed Cincinnati at 2 p.m. The winner will face No. 8 seed USF in the second round on Saturday, March 7 at 2 p.m.