Minnesota overcomes 12-point deficit to stop Louisville

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -- Emily Fox scored 23 points and Minnesota overcame a 12-point, second-half deficit to beat Louisville (No. 21 ESPN/USA Today, No. 22 AP) 74-69 on Sunday in the final game of the Subway Classic.

Fox's 3-pointer with 3 minutes left tied the game for the first time since the early stages of the second half, and her three free throws clinched it for the Gophers (4-0).

"We're just seeing the beginning of what Emily Fox can do," Gophers coach Pam Borton said. "She really steps up and hits big shots, and that's what the Emily Foxes of the world are supposed to do."

Fox was forced to sit out for most of the second half after committing her fourth foul less than two minutes in.

"It was really hard, obviously," Fox said, "but everybody stepped up when I was on the bench. It's tough to sit there knowing you can't do anything, but I waited and I was able to get in at the end."

After being put in for good, Fox hit a pair of key 3-pointers less than three minutes apart.

Ashley Ellis-Milan's free throw with 2 minutes remaining gave the Gophers the lead, and Brittany McCoy's layup pushed the advantage to three with 1:21 left. Louisville scored just once in the final 3:45 of the game.

The Cardinals (1-2) finished the game with more rebounds, a better shooting percentage and even more field goals than the Gophers, but still couldn't come away with the victory.

Angel McCoughtry, Louisville's All-America forward, had 39 points and 12 rebounds. She was two points shy of her career high, set against Eastern Illinois last December.

"We know Angel is going to get her points," Borton said. "We can't get down on ourselves when she's hitting big shots. If you look at everybody's stats, we didn't let anyone else on the team go off."

If limiting the scoring to McCoughtry was the plan for the Gophers, they executed their plan well. Forward Candyce Bingham contributed 11 points, but no other Cardinals player had more than four.

"Until we can find a second or third player that can step up consistently and score for us and be an offensive threat, it's going to be a struggle," Louisville head coach Jeff Walz said.

In contrast, the Gophers had five different players with 9 or more points. Ellis-Milan had 15 points and Korinne Campbell tied a career high with 14.

"I think we're a very difficult team to defend," Borton said. "If you shut one person down, two other people are going to step up."

In addition to the balanced scoring attack, the Gophers committed nine fewer turnovers and shot 17 more free throws than Louisville.

"They're just hardworking, blue collar kids," Walz said of the Gophers. "I told our kids, if we don't come to work for forty minutes, it's going to be a long day. Unfortunately, I thought we played well for about 36 of those."