CHATTANOOGA, TN -- Louisville forward Angel McCoughtry scored 28 of her 32 points in the opening half as she led the Cardinals to an 80-55 victory over the University of Delaware women’s basketball team on Friday evening in the first round of the Panera Bread Classic, hosted by Tennessee-Chattanooga.

Delaware will play Murray State in the consolation game Saturday at 5 p.m. Host UT-Chattanooga defeated Murray State 68-58 in the other first round game Friday.

McCoughtry, the preseason Big East Player of the Year and an All-America candidate, got her team off to a hot start, scoring four points as the Cardinals stormed to a 6-0 lead. The Hens fought back to within 12-11 on a lay-up by sophomore guard Corinthia Benison (at right) with 13:21 left in the first half, but Louisville – ranked 22nd in the nation just a week ago – took control from that point.

McCoughtry scorched the net for 16 points to ignite a 21-5 Cardinal run that broke the game open. Delaware was held without a field goal for 9:28 during the Louisville barrage. After Kyle DeHaven finally hit a scoop shot to end the drought at the 3:53 mark, the Cardinals answered with another 8-3 push that extended their lead to 41-21 at halftime.

McCoughtry headed a Louisville full-court press that forced 20 UD turnovers in the first half, as she made five steals before intermission and outscored the Blue Hens on her own, 28-21. But Delaware, which got off only 12 shots in the first half, showed great heart after the horn.

Led by feisty freshman guard Vanessa Kabongo, the Hens cut their turnovers in half and played toe-to-toe with the Cardinals. Kabongo netted 10 of her 11 points in the period and the Hens scored 34 points – their most in a half this year – on 13-for-26 shooting.

Benison poured in a career-high 15 points, eclipsing her previous best for the second consecutive game, while Kabongo added 11 and DeHaven netted nine – all in the first half.

The Hens fell to 1-4 on the season and lost their fourth straight game for the first time since February of 2004. They committed 30 turnovers for the second time in three outings but did shoot a season-high 47 percent from the field.

McCoughtry’s 32 points were the most allowed by the Hens since a 35-point outburst by Old Dominion’s Sharese Grant on March 12, 2005.

“We got beat by a very good Louisville team tonight,” said 12th-year UD head coach Tina Martin. “Hopefully we can come back tomorrow to play better basketball.”

Louisville (2-2) will face the winner of Friday night’s game between UT-Chattanooga and Murray State in the Panera Bread Challenge championship game at 7 p.m., while the Hens will meet the loser in the third-place game at 5 p.m. on Saturday.

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