Associated Press
RALEIGH, N.C. -- Angel McCoughtry and Louisville are one step from the Final Four.
McCoughtry had 22 points and 12 rebounds Saturday to help the Cardinals beat Baylor 56-39 in the NCAA tournament's round of 16, sending them to the first regional championship game in school history.
Candyce Bingham added 15 points and 15 rebounds for the Cardinals (32-4), the No. 3 seed in the Raleigh Regional. That included a pair of critical 3-pointers during Louisville's decisive 12-0 spurt in the final eight minutes minutes that finally blunted a gritty performance by the second-seeded Bears (29-6).
Louisville, which closed the game on an 18-2 run, advanced to Monday night's regional final to face Maryland.
It was a reversal of last year's frustrating performance in this exact same position for Louisville. In that game, the Cardinals -- in the round of 16 first the first time -- blew an 18-point first-half lead against top-seeded North Carolina and lost 78-74.
This time, with both teams fighting for every basket, the Cardinals came through with the clinching plays that had gotten away from them against the Tar Heels.
Melissa Jones scored 13 points to lead the Bears, who had to fight their way through their first two games and never found their shooting range against the Cardinals. Baylor shot just 25 percent, including 2 for 23 from 3-point range.
The Bears managed just one field goal over the last 8 1/2 minutes.
It was one of the few times Baylor hadn't been able to overcome a tough situation. The Bears withstood the loss of leading scorer Danielle Wilson to a knee injury in late February, then had to play the NCAA opener without coach Kim Mulkey, who was hospitalized following surgery to remove a kidney stone two days earlier.
The Bears survived an overtime scare from No. 15 seed Texas-San Antonio in the first round, then needed a last-second basket from Griffin to beat South Dakota State 60-58 in the second round.
McCoughtry, who came in averaging 23 points per game, shot just 10-for-28 but had five assists and played all 40 minutes. Louisville shot 37 percent for the game, but helped itself with 15 points off turnovers and had 16 second-chance points.
"They were just able to dig deep and find what they could do to beat us," Jones said.
Mulkey said her team just "wore out" in the final minutes.
"They gave me everything they had," Mulkey said.
"I have never coached a team at Baylor that has had to endure more than they have," she said. "I can't shed tears because all I can do is share hugs with them because that's about the gutsiest team I've ever been a part of."
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