TicketsSecond-Half Struggles Lead to Loss
Contact: Geoff Wiswell
11/28/2004
Anne Stephens recorded her third career double-double. |
CINCINNATI, Ohio ? The Bearcats shot just 24.1 percent from the floor in the second half as Cincinnati fell to Indiana State, 76-62, in women?s basketball action at Fifth Third Arena on Sunday afternoon.
UC, which dropped to 2-2 with the loss, scored just one basket in the first eight minutes of the second half and saw a 42-36 advantage turn into a 51-44 deficit. Stephanie Lisch scored five of her nine points in the 15-2 run.
A Micah Harvey three-pointer cut the deficit to 52-49 with 11:12 left, but Cincinnati-native Ashley Clark answered with a traditional three-point play to push the lead back to six points.
Toni Slaughter made a jumper with 6:25 remaining to close to 62-58, but the Sycamores (2-1) scored the next three baskets to take their first 10-point lead of the game. UC got within six with 3:44 left on four-straight Anne Stephens free throws, but the Bearcats would not score again as ISU netted the final eight points.
Stephens finished with game?highs of 20 points and 12 rebounds for her third career double-double. Bellva May added a career-high 16 points and five steals while Ashley Brown posted seven points and nine rebounds.
Clark led ISU with 20 points and eight rebounds and Melanie Boeglin recorded 13 points, eight rebounds, five assists and five steals.
ISU shot .452 for the game, including .483 in the second half, and scored 22 points off 16 UC turnovers.
?It was a tale of two halves,? said head coach Laurie Pirtle. ?Our defense was off in the second half because our offense was struggling. That isn?t UC basketball, the defense has to dictate the flow of the game. We just didn?t come out in the second half with energy we needed.?
ISU started the game hot, using an 11-0 run to take a 16-7 lead six minutes in. Kristen Weddle scored the final five points in the run.
With the Sycamores leading 22-14 with 10:50 left, UC took control, led by May. Stephens and Brown seven points in a 9-1 run to even the game at 23-23. After Lisa Verhoff?s three-point play gave ISU the lead back at 5:58, the Bearcats scored 11 of the next 13 points. May made three-straight baskets to start the run and capped it with a three-pointer to give the Bearcats a 38-30 lead with 2:29 left in the half.
May had 13 points at the half and Stephens 12 with eight rebounds.
The Bearcats continue a six-game homestand by hosting regional rival Dayton on Wednesday, Dec. 1 at 7 p.m.