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April 1, 2008

Atlanta, Ga. - The Louisville women's basketball program capped off its stellar season with a pair of postseason awards head coach Jeff Walz was named recipient of the Maggie Dixon Rookie Coach of the Year Award and junior forward Angel McCoughtry was named the WBCA National Player of the Month.

Walz was honored as the recipient of the Maggie Dixon Division I Rookie Coach of the Year award. This distinguished award honors a WBCA Division I head coach who has lead their team to a successful season during their first year at the helm.

"I am very honored to be the second recipient of the Maggie Dixon Coach of the Year Award," said Walz. "She is an inspiration to not only first year coaches, but to all coaches in our profession. This award would not have been possible without the belief in the administration here at the University of Louisville. Tom Jurich and Julie Hermann had the confidence to give me this opportunity and I am indebted to them. They also enabled me to hire a great staff to work with. This has been one of the most enjoyable seasons I have had in my coaching career. These student-athletes have accepted and embraced change. Their passion and dedication was evident as we made our run the last two months of the season. It is truly an honor to be recognized by my peers and receive this award."

One of 30 first-year coaches in the nation, Walz recorded more wins (26) this season than any other coaching rookie. He was one of just two rookie coaches to lead their team to the NCAA tournament and one of five to advance to postseason play.

"This season we had an outstanding group of fresh faces at the helm on many Division I programs, but Jeff's achievements have truly set him apart," said WBCA CEO Beth Bass. "He has lifted the Louisville program to new heights, and we look forward to seeing his career continue on the ascent."

Walz helped the Cardinals (26-10, 10-6 BIG EAST) earn a No. 4 seed in the NCAA Championship, their highest ever. Louisville advanced to the NCAA Regional Semifinals (the Sweet 16) for the first time in school history, before losing to No. 1 seed North Carolina 78-74. Louisville, the No. 7 seed in the BIG EAST Championship, also posted an impressive run to the title game of the conference tournament winning three games in three days before losing to top-seeded Connecticut 65-59. Overall, each of the Cardinals' 10 losses this year came against teams who participated in postseason play. Nine of the losses were against teams that participated in the NCAA Championship. Entering the NCAAs, the Cardinals held an RPI of 12.

He took the reins of the Louisville squad after serving as an associate head coach at the University of Maryland for five seasons. At Maryland, he helped build a squad that appeared in the last four NCAA Tournaments and won the National Championship in 2006. Walz also coached at the University of Minnesota for one season. He served as an assistant to Paul Sanderford at Nebraska from 1997-2001 and at Western Kentucky from 1995-97.

Walz will be honored at the RUSSELL ATHLETIC/WBCA National Coach of the Year Luncheon presented by AstraZeneca on April 7, 2008, at noon (ET) in the Marriott Waterside's Grand Ballroom. The luncheon is part of the WBCA National Convention, held in conjunction with the NCAA® Women's Final Four® in Tampa, Fla.

The Maggie Dixon Rookie Coach of the Year award is in honor of the late Maggie Dixon, former Army head coach, whose success during her inaugural year at the Army helm was remarkable. The Black Knights won the Patriot League title in 2006 and Dixon was named the Patriot League Coach of the Year after leading Army to the NCAA Tournament for the first time at the NCAA Division I level. Coach Dixon passed away on April 6, 2006, just a few weeks following the team's appearance in the NCAA Tournament. The inaugural award was given last year to Krista Kilburn-Stevesky of Hofstra University.

McCoughtry was named WBCA National Player of the Month as she averaged 23.1 points per game along with 8.9 rebounds, 3.4 steals and 2.0 assists through the first eight games of March. She tallied 20 points and seven rebounds in the Cardinals' win over No. 4 Rutgers in the BIG EAST Championship, marking the first time Louisville had ever defeated a Top 5 squad, and the team advanced to the tournament championship game.

A member of last year's WBCA All-America Team, McCoughtry was named an All-BIG EAST First Team selection for the second time in 2008. She currently ranks fourth in the nation in scoring and second nationally in steals, leading the BIG EAST with 23.8 points and 4.1 steals per game this season. A preseason "Wade Watch" candidate, she was recently named a finalist for The State Farm Wade Trophy.

McCoughtry, a native of Baltimore, Md., currently holds the single-season scoring (858 points) and steals (148) record at Louisville, setting both marks as a sophomore last year and surpassing them as a junior this year. She also broke the single-game scoring mark last season when she netted 41 points against Eastern Illinois. Last summer she won a gold medal representing USA Basketball at the Pan Am Games in Brazil. Overall she has totaled 1,878 points in her first three years with the Cardinals and ranks second in Louisville history, just 21 points behind Nell Knox ('93) who totaled 1,899 points.