2008–09 Louisville Cardinals women's basketball team

{{Infobox college sports team season

|sport=Women's Basketball

|year=2008–09

|team=Louisville Cardinals

|image=Louisville Cardinals wordmark.svg

|image_size=250

|conference=Big East Conference (1979–2013)

|short_conf=Big East

|CoachRank=2{{cite web|url=https://www.espn.com/womens-college-basketball/rankings|title = 2020-21 Women's College Basketball Rankings for Final Rankings}}

|APRank=

|record=34–5

|conf_record=14–2

|head_coach=Jeff Walz

|asst_coach1=Stephanie Norman

|asst_coach2=Michelle Clark-Heard

|asst_coach3=Bethann Shapiro Ord

|stadium=Freedom Hall (18,865)

|champion=

|tourney=NCAA Division I women's tournament

|tourney_result= Runner up

}}

The 2008–09 Louisville Cardinals women's basketball team represented the University of Louisville in the 2008–09 NCAA Division I basketball season. The Cardinals were coached by Jeff Walz, and the Cardinals played their home games at Freedom Hall in Louisville, Kentucky. The Lady Cardinals are a member of the Big East Conference and advanced to the NCAA championship match.

Offseason

Regular season

=Roster=

style="background:red; color:#fff;" \| Number ! style="background:red; color:#fff;" \| Name ! style="background:red; color:#fff;" \| Height ! style="background:red; color:#fff;" \| Position ! style="background:red; color:#fff;" \| Class
class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
4	Gwen Rucker	6-1	Forward	Freshman
11	Becky Burke	5-11	Guard	Freshman
13	Candyce Bingham	6-1	Forward	Senior
14	Janae Howard	6-1	Forward	Freshman
24	Laura Terry	6-1	Forward	Sophomore
33	Monique Reid	6-1	Forward	Freshman
35	Angel McCoughtry	6-1	Forward	Senior
42	Chauntise Wright	6-3	Center	Senior
45	Keshia Hines	6-2	Forward-Center	Sophomore
50	Deseree Byrd	5-9	Guard	Sophomore

{{cite web |url=http://www.uoflsports.com/sports/w-baskbl/mtt/lou-w-baskbl-mtt.html |title=University of Louisville Official Athletic Site - Women's Basketball |access-date=2009-05-18 |archive-date=2011-02-21 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110221132136/http://www.uoflsports.com/sports/w-baskbl/mtt/lou-w-baskbl-mtt.html |url-status=dead }}

=Schedule=

style="background:red; color:#fff;" \| Date ! style="background:red; color:#fff;" \| Location ! style="background:red; color:#fff;" \| Opponent ! style="background:red; color:#fff;" \| Cards Points ! style="background:red; color:#fff;" \| Opp. Points ! style="background:red; color:#fff;" \| Record
class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
Nov. 15/08	Cookeville, Tennessee	Tennessee Tech	82	49	1–0
Nov. 17/08	KICC	Austin Peay	72	42	2–0
Nov. 22/08	Cintas Center	Xavier	65	55	3–0
Nov. 25/08	Huntsman Center (Salt Lake City)	Utah	59	48	4–0
Nov. 28/08	Lawlor Events Ctr. (Reno)	Alabama	73	56	5–0
Nov. 29/08	Lawlor Events Ctr. (Reno)	Nevada	82	85	5–1
Dec. 4/08	Murfreesboro, Tennessee	Middle Tennessee	67	44	6–1
Dec. 7/08	Freedom Hall	Ball State	82	51	7–1
Dec. 10/08	Freedom Hall	Hartford	70	42	8–1
Dec. 14/08	Freedom Hall	Kentucky	75	59	9–1
Dec. 21/08	Freedom Hall	Vermont	67	56	10–1
Dec. 28/08	Freedom Hall	Morehead State	66	38	11–1
Dec. 29/08	Freedom Hall	Central Michigan	95	72	12–1
Dec. 30/09	Freedom Hall	New Hampshire	82	40	13–1
Jan. 3/09	Freedom Hall	DePaul	78	60	14–1
Jan. 6/09	Freedom Hall	Seton Hall	76	47	15–1
Jan. 11/09	Freedom Hall	Rutgers	64	59	16–1
Jan. 14/09	USF Sun Dome (Tampa)	South Florida	76	60	17–1
Jan. 17/09	Washington, D.C.	Georgetown	74	58	18–1
Jan. 20/09	Freedom Hall	Cincinnati	66	50	19–1
Jan. 26/09	Gempel Pavilion	Connecticut	65	93	19–2
Jan. 31/09	Alumni Hall (Providence)	Providence	81	49	19–2

{{cite web|url=http://www.uoflsports.com/sports/w-baskbl/stats/2008-2009/teamstat.html |title=University of Louisville Athletics |publisher=Uoflsports.com |date=2022-11-03 |accessdate=2022-12-27}}

Big East tournament

The Cardinals qualified for the finals of the Big East Women's Basketball Tournament. The Cardinals fell to Connecticut 75–36. The game was played at the XL Center in Hartford.

Player stats

style="background:red; color:#fff;" \| Player ! style="background:red; color:#fff;" \| Games Played ! style="background:red; color:#fff;" \| Minutes ! style="background:red; color:#fff;" \| Field Goals ! style="background:red; color:#fff;" \| Three Pointers ! style="background:red; color:#fff;" \| Free Throws ! style="background:red; color:#fff;" \| Rebounds ! style="background:red; color:#fff;" \| Assists ! style="background:red; color:#fff;" \| Blocks ! style="background:red; color:#fff;" \| Steals ! style="background:red; color:#fff;" \| Points
class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
Angel McCoughtry	39	1252	329	43	200	362	73	42	164	901
Candyce Bingham	39	1196	170	10	138	284	66	13	63	488
Desiree Byrd	38	1221	105	21	58	105	191	2	35	289
Keshia Hines	39	820	104	0	40	188	25	25	54	248
Monique Reid	36	616	83	5	42	137	9	5	15	213
Becky Burke	38	770	58	37	38	67	30	1	24	191
Brandie Reed	21	398	29	19	2	39	18	1	7	79
Janae Howard	33	262	38	20	12	47	7	8	9	108
Gwen Rucker	32	354	23	2	32	68	4	14	10	80
Laura Terry	21	167	19	2	9	20	6	1	6	49
Mary Jackson	38	416	23	2	39	94	13	1	10	87
Tiera Stephen	37	378	9	2	14	30	51	5	28	34

{{cite web|url=http://www.uoflsports.com/sports/w-baskbl/stats/2008-2009/teamcume.html#TEAM.TEM |title=University of Louisville Athletics |publisher=Uoflsports.com |date=2022-11-03 |accessdate=2022-12-27}}

Postseason

=NCAA basketball tournament=

Raleigh Regional
Louisville 62, Liberty 42
Louisville 62, Louisiana State 52
Louisville 56, Baylor 39
Louisville 77, Maryland 60
Final Four
Louisville 61, Oklahoma 59
Connecticut 76, Louisville 54

{{cite web |url=http://www.ncaamarchmadness2009.com/womens/ |title = Women's 2009 Final Four Official Site |access-date=2009-05-18 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090417023842/http://www.ncaamarchmadness2009.com/womens/ |archive-date=2009-04-17 |url-status=dead }}

Awards and honors

Team players drafted into the WNBA

class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
style="background:red; color:#fff;" \| Round ! style="background:red; color:#fff;" \| Pick ! style="background:red; color:#fff;" \| Player ! style="background:red; color:#fff;" \| NBA Club
1	1	Angel McCoughtry	Atlanta Dream
3	39	Candyce Bingham	San Antonio Silver Stars

class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"

style="background:red; color:#fff;" | Round

! style="background:red; color:#fff;" | Pick

! style="background:red; color:#fff;" | Player

! style="background:red; color:#fff;" | NBA Club

Angel McCoughtry

Atlanta Dream

Candyce Bingham

San Antonio Silver Stars

{{cite web|url=http://www.wnba.com/draft2009/draft_board.html |title=WNBA.com: 2009 WNBA Draft Board |accessdate=2009-08-04 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090825071441/http://www.wnba.com/draft2009/draft_board.html |archivedate=2009-08-25 }}