TicketsUC Awaits Word On Postseason Bid
3/8/2001
Cincinnati Is Red Hot Again
With just three seniors on the team, including two who have played in just half of team's total games, Cincinnati became one of the youngest teams in Conference USA to finish the year at the top of the league standings. UC, predicted to finished third, proved the C-USA coaches wrong by claiming the second spot in the American Division and the No. 5 seed in the league tournament.
The Bearcats entered the championship game with Tulane, which earned a first round bye, already having played three games in three days. But that did not stop them. UC took a 19-17 lead at the half and continued its advantage through the first nine minutes of the second half. The teams traded leads three times before Tulane converted a 3-point play and went on to post a 63-50 win.
Cincinnati has won eight of its last 10 games and continues to hold a 22-9 overall record, the second best record in program history and matching Tulane as the best in the league.
Bearcats Attract National Attention
After making a strong run in the Conference USA Tournament, Cincinnati has earned its spot back in national polls, marking the 11th week UC has received votes this season, he longest of any C-USA school. This week, the Bearcats earned one vote in the USA Today/ESPN poll, the 40th most. Campbell, Chattanooga, which has already earned a NCAA Tournament bid, Florida International, Louisville and Stephen A. Austin tied UC.
Earlier this year, the Bearcats were ranked as high as 28th in the USA Today/ESPN poll (Jan.1 & Jan. 22) and 34th in the Associated Press poll (Dec. 25). This is the fourth season Cincinnati has received votes in either poll and the third in the last four years. UC earned a Top 20 ranking in 1988-89 season and votes in both the 1997-98 and 1998-89 seasons. The following is the number of votes UC has received for the specific week: Bearcats In The Polls: Week of: AP Votes USA Today/ESPN Votes Record Dec. 18 11 (37th) 7 (38th) 7-1 Dec. 25 16 (34th) 29 (31st) 9-1 Jan. 1 5 (40th) 36 (28th) 10-2 Jan. 8 - 30 (30th) 12-2 Jan. 15 - 14 (32nd) 12-4 Jan. 22 4 (38th) 38 (28th) 14-4 Jan. 29 2 (40th) 2 (41st) 14-6 Feb. 5 - 1 (43rd) 15-7 Feb. 11 - 4 (40th) 17-7 Feb. 18 - 5 (37th) 19-7 Feb. 25 - - 19-8 Mar. 6 - 1 (40th) 22-9 2000-01 Season Highlights:
On Dec. 12, Cincinnati knocked off then No. 19 Xavier, 75-59, in the Shoemaker Center during the school's annual Hometown Shootout. It was UC's fifth straight win over the Musketeers. Freshman Valerie King paced the Bearcats with 26 points, five assists and a steal. Tammy Douglass added a career-high 16 points and 12 rebounds, while Laura Wilder chipped in 11 points.
The Bearcats opened the year beating both St. Bonaventure and Rider, before dropping up their first loss of the season to Wisconsin-Green Bay on the road. Following that loss, Cincinnati put together a string of eight-straight wins, highlighted by a 16-point upset over then-No. 19 Xavier. The streak ranks as the second-longest in Conference USA this year and the fourth-longest in Cincinnati program history, just four shy of the school record.
The 2000-01 Bearcats set a new school record for most 3-pointers made in a season when they converted six in the win over DePaul in the semifinals of the Conference USA Tournament. The team, which is averaging 5.5 treys per game, added eight against Tulane in the C-USA championship game, bringing the season total to 169 treys this year, surpassing the 159 treys made during the 1997-98 season.
UC had its share of success at home this year, wrapping up the year 14-2, the second-best home record in program history. During the season, the team put together a string of 11 wins at the Shoe, which was the second longest in program history and ranked 14th nationally. The streak started with a 97-75 ousting of St. Bonaventure in the home opener and ended with a 61-58 loss to UAB on Feb. 2. Before that streak UC had not won more than five in a row at home since putting together a six-game string between Dec. 14, 1996-Jan. 6, 1997.
Cincinnati's win over Saint Louis on Feb. 18 allowed the team to surpass last year's 18 wins. The Bearcats ended the regular season 19-8 and 9-7 in Conference USA, matching last year's league slate. It was UC's fifth straight winning record overall and fourth straight in Conference USA play.
Cincinnati went undefeated in the month of December for the first time since the 1988-89 season. UC, which is 55-63 under head coach Laurie Pirtle in December, notched an 8-0 mark.
UC continued its perfect mark in the Bearcat Invitational by winning its fifth straight title in December. The tournament featured competition from Eastern Kentucky, Radford and UNC Wilmington with the Bearcats beating both Radford and UNC Wilmington en route to the crown.
Every team wants to improve from years in the past and the 2000-01 team is no exception. The Bearcats have already surpassed last year's 18 wins and topped last season's home record (12-5) with their 14-2 mark. But that's not all. This year's team is shooting 42.1 percent from the field, up from the 39.9 percent last year and holding a +4.9 rebounding margin compared to the +1.0 margin notched just a season ago. UC is outscoring opponents by 7.4 points, up from the +2.1 scoring margin recorded in 1999-00. Most of those marks can be attributed to the fact that seven of the 12 Bearcats are shooting 40 percent or better from the field, six are averaging at least five points and five are pulling down an average of 3.5 rebounds per game.
2000-01 Player Highlights:
Cincinnati freshman guard Valerie King was named the Conference USA Tournament Most Valuable Player, marking the first time the MVP was from the runner-up squad. The 5-10 guard averaged 20.8 points per game en route to becoming the first UC women's basketball player to earn MVP honors in the C-USA Tournament. Joining her on the All-Tournament team was sophomore point guard K.B. Sharp, who averaged 11.8 points and 6.8 assists per game. It was the first time two Cincinnati players were named all-tournament in the same year.
In the Conference USA first round game against South Florida, sophomore point guard K.B. Sharp tied the Conference USA Tournament record with 10 assists, matching the career high she set against the Bulls earlier this year on Jan. 7. Sharp, who for the first time in five games did not play the whole 40 minutes, was just two assist shy of breaking the school record. She added a game-high 15 points for her first career double-double and had three 3-pointers, a steal and just one turnover.
By halftime of last Saturday's win over UAB in the C-USA Tournament quarterfinals, sophomore point guard K.B. Sharp claimed the top spot on Cincinnati's single season assist chart, dishing out 166 this year to break an 11-year-old record held by Michele Koenig who had 153 during the 1989-90 season. The Columbus, Ohio native was just the first Bearcat in eight years to be ranked on the single season assist list with the most recent being Suzanne Spencer who dished out 142 assists during the 1992-93 season. Sharp is averaging 5.4 apg and has an assist-to-turnover ratio of 2.2:1.
Freshman Valerie King proved she was one of the top freshmen in Conference USA after earning a spot on the league's all-freshman team. The 5-10 guard is the fifth UC player in six years to be named to the league's all-freshman team. She is the conference's leading freshman scorer and best freshman free throw shooter, while ranking among the league's Top 10 for points scored and 3-pointers made. King was the only freshman named the C-USA Player of the Week twice this year and became just the third freshman in UC program history to lead the team in scoring.
One of UC's most exciting games this year was against Marquette on Feb. 11. Down 61-60 with 2.9 seconds on the clock, Merelenea Dozier received a pass from K.B. Sharp and nailed a 3-pointer to lift UC to a 63-61 win. Dozier has been one of UC's top 3-point threats this year, nailing 39 this year to rank her ninth on UC's single season 3-point list.
Freshman Valerie King was a two-time recipient of the Conference USA Player of the Week honor, making her the only league freshman to earn the honor twice this year. She first earned the title on Dec. 18 after leading the Bearcats to three straight wins over then-No. 19 Xavier, Radford and UNC Wilmington. King earned the honor again after leading UC to its first set of back-to-back wins over Charlotte and Saint Louis on the road the weekend of Feb. 16 by averaging 20.5 points per game.
Laura Wilder helped the Bearcats win their first road game of the year, a 64-52 decision over American on Dec. 8. Wilder recorded her first double-double of the season with 11 points and a career-high 22 boards. Her rebounding effort was the fourth highest single game total by a Bearcat, the second highest in Conference USA history and the fourth highest in the nation this year.
Valerie King garnered most valuable player honors at the 2000 Bearcat Invitational after averaging 12 points per game in the tournament. Her efforts helped Cincinnati claim its fifth-straight Bearcat Invitational title. King was the only freshman named to the all-tournament team and the first freshman to be selected as the MVP in the history of the event.
Head coach Laurie Pirtle reached two milestones during the season, picking up her 275th overall career win when the Bearcats downed visiting Butler, 73-44, on Dec. 28 and her 200th UC win vs. Charlotte, 73-50, on Feb. 16. At the beginning of the season, Pirtle ranked as the second most winningest active coach in C-USA.
Facing one the league's best defensive teams, freshman Valerie King tied a school record and set a career-high with six 3-pointers against Tulane on Jan. 28 and matched that effort against the Green Wave in the championship game of the Conference USA Tournament to tie the tourney single game record. King has made 60 3-pointers this year, ranking her fifth on the Bearcats' single season 3-point list.