Pitino Gave Woman $3,000 For Health Coverage After Sexual Encounter

 LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) - Rick Pitino's attorney says the coach
gave $3,000 to a woman accused of trying to extort him so that she
could buy health insurance.
      The Louisville basketball coach has told police that he had sex
with Karen Cunagin Sypher and she later told him she was going to
have an abortion and did not have medical insurance.
      Lawyer Steve Pence told The Associated Press on Wednesday that
Pitino believed the money was for insurance, not for an abortion.
Pence said Pitino asked Sypher how much the insurance would cost
and she told him $3,000.
      The woman was later charged with trying to extort $10 million
from the coach.
     
      (Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)