Louisville’s Angel McCoughtry, bottom, is mobbed by teammates, including Mary Jackson, top, and Tiera Stephen, right, after Louisville’s 61-59 victory over Oklahoma on Sunday in St. Louis.

St. Louis ? Angel McCoughtry answered her coach’s harsh halftime criticism with a performance that lifted Louisville into its first national championship game.

McCoughtry scored 14 of her 18 points in the second half and added 11 rebounds, helping the Cardinals crawl out of an early hole to beat Oklahoma, 61-59, in the national semifinals Sunday night and end Courtney Paris’ stellar career.

“Nobody expected us to be here,” McCoughtry said. “We have not one high school All-American on our team, but these girls worked hard. I’m so proud of them.”

Down 12 points at halftime, Louisville got back into the game with a 15-1 run while the Sooners’ shooting went south — just 26.9 percent in the second half. Still, Oklahoma had a chance to win it in the final seconds with Nyeshia Stevenson’s good look on a three-point attempt, but it rattled out.

“In my head, it was going in,” Stevenson said. “I knew I was wide open. I was confident every second.”

As was McCoughtry, even after missing her first seven shots of the game, prompting coach Jeff Walz’s rebuke.

“I told Angel it was the worst I’ve seen her play,” he said. “She was an embarrassment.”

Appearing in their first trip to the Final Four, McCoughtry and her teammates got their nerves under control in the second half to take control of the game. Keshia Hines added 10 rebounds and nine points for the Cardinals (34-4), who’ll face unbeaten and top-ranked Connecticut — an 83-64 winner over Stanford — in the final Tuesday night.

Out too soon, four-time All-American Paris now must fulfill her promise to pay back the cost of her four-year scholarship if the Sooners failed to win the title. She left the court in tears after exchanging hugs with McCoughtry and huddling with her team for a final time.

“I do make good on the guarantee,” said Paris, whose father is former NFL offensive lineman Bubba Paris. “Not today, though. Obviously, I don’t have $64,000 waiting, but I do make good on it.”

Paris goes home without ever playing in a national championship game. In fact, this was her first trip to the Final Four.