Danielle Lerner

The Courier-Journal

McCoughtry won her first gold medal at 2012 London Games

Former Cards star now teammates with former UConn rivals

Team USA rolls through exhibition schedule with 4-0 record

The last time Angel McCoughtry played basketball in a Louisville Cardinals uniform was both a defeat and a triumph.

The defeat came in the 2009 national championship game at the hands of unbeaten Connecticut. Despite McCoughtry's team-high 23 points, Louisville fell 76-54.

The triumph came in the moments afterward, when McCoughtry reflected on Louisville's best season yet, a season in which she led the Cards to their first NCAA Final Four, and then first title game, as the program's all-time leading scorer.

At the time, Louisville coach Jeff Walz called the national championship "the big stage." McCoughtry said she thought the same — until she arrived in London for the opening ceremonies of the 2012 Olympic Games.

"I didn’t realize this is the biggest sporting event of all time," McCoughtry said. "There was so much going on."

Standing alongside her were Tina Charles and Maya Moore, two of the former UConn players responsible for the national championship defeat three years prior. In 2012, all three experienced triumph together when the United States won the women's basketball gold medal.

McCoughtry, Charles and Moore will once again be teammates on Team USA at the 2016 Rio Olympics, looking to claim the U.S.'s sixth consecutive gold medal. The team is led by Connecticut coach Geno Auriemma. But McCoughtry said that championship game is water under the bridge.

"Nobody ever thinks about that," McCoughtry said. "My first year with Team USA, Geno showed off the ring a little. He joked about it back then, but now it's been too long. He’s won so many championships after that, he doesn’t need to think about that one."

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While she never won a championship with the Cards, McCoughtry forever cemented her place in school history. In addition to earning the label of all-time leading scorer, she also owns program records in career rebounds, career free throws attempted, career field goals made and highest career steal average.

After capping off her Louisville career, McCoughtry was the No. 1 pick in the 2009 WNBA Draft. Charles was the top pick in 2010, as was Moore in 2011. Having battled Charles and Moore in college and in the WNBA, McCoughtry said the national team is a nice change of pace.

"It was tough to play against them, but now that I can be on their team there’s no pressure," she said. "I can just play basketball."

The United States went 4-0 in its exhibition schedule leading up to the Olympics, with McCoughtry scoring 38 total points. The physically tough forward described her role as, "Coming off bench and giving team life and energy."

The last few weeks were a whirlwind of pre-Olympics activity for McCoughtry and the national team. Aside from beating France, Canada and Australia (likely the United States' top competition) in exhibitions, Team USA has been on a national media circuit that included a stop on "Good Morning America." While on set for the show, the team even met comedian Kevin Hart.

“Oh, you mean Kevin Short?" McCoughtry cracked. "He was funny as usual. He made fun of us for being so tall, but he was really happy to see us. He posted us on his Instagram so it was really cool.”

Team USA kicks off its Olympic Games schedule Aug. 7 against Senegal. The team will also face Spain, Serbia, Canada and China in the group stage on its way to defending its gold medal. Of the 12 American players, nine are Olympic veterans. McCoughtry said she thinks her experience in the 2012 Games will be beneficial.

"I feel way more confident," she said. "Before, I didn’t know what to expect but I still played well. So this time hopefully it goes even better."

Last time, McCoughtry came back with a gold medal. And if she manages to do it again in Rio, well, it doesn't get much better than that.