TicketsUC Unable to Close Out No. 15 Michigan State
Contact: Geoff Wiswell
12/4/2004
Toni Slaughter scored a season-high 15 points for UC. |
CINCINNATI, Ohio ? Despite leading for much of the game, Cincinnati fell to No. 15 Michigan State, 77-61, in women?s basketball action on Saturday afternoon at Fifth Third Arena.
The Bearcats (3-3) led, 59-55, with 6:36 to go, but were outscored by the Spartans 22-2 down the stretch and did not get a field goal in the final 8:54.
Lindsay Bowen, who scored a game-high 28 points for MSU (6-1), netted 11 of those in the final 6:24 and 18 in the second half.
UC held a 33-32 advantage at the half and quickly pushed it to 37-32 on baskets by Toni Slaughter and Ashley Brown. Two-straight scores by Kelli Roehrig, however, narrowed the margin back to one.
The Spartans tied the game at 44-44 with 14:17 to go, but freshman Alicia Avery, playing the first game of her career, responded with her second score to reclaim the lead.
The Bearcats followed with four free throws to take a 50-44 lead, their largest of the second half, with 12:42 to go.
After a basket and a free throw by Bowen cut the lead back to one, Karen Twehues hit one of her three treys to go up 53-49. That would be UC?s last field goal, however, as it got the remainder of its points from the foul line.
MSU tied the game two more times, but free throws by Twehues and Leslie Knoch put UC back on top each time. The Spartans took the lead for good when Bowen hit an off-balance jumper to close to two and Shimek converted a three-point play off a UC turnover for a 60-59 advantage with 6:12 to go.
?We just didn?t defend in the second half,? said head coach Laurie Pirtle. ?We also did a poor job of rebounding all game. We know now that we can be good. It?s not about how young we are, it?s about putting together two good halves.?
The Bearcats, despite being 3-3, have led or been tied at halftime in every game this year.
After a first half in which UC shot 56 percent and MSU hit just 39 percent of its shots, the Spartans made 46 percent of their shots in the second half and held UC to 24 percent.
Twehues led the Bearcats with 16 points, making 3-of-7 three-pointers and 7-of-8 free throws. Slaughter had a season-high 15 points with six rebounds, while Brown grabbed a team-high nine rebounds. Avery, who played extended minutes due to a first half ankle injury to starting center Anne Stephens, carded four points and four blocked shots.
Shimek (18 points, 11 rebounds) and Roehrig (18 points, 12 rebounds) each had double-doubles for MSU, which grabbed 17 offensive rebounds. The Spartans got all but two of their points from the starting five and scored 24 points of 21 UC turnovers.
UC plays the final game of its six-game homestand when it hosts Xavier in the Skyline Chili Crosstown Shootout on Saturday, Dec. 11 at 2 p.m.
MSU jumped out to a 4-0 lead early, but seven-straight points by Slaughter gave UC a 10-7 lead five minutes in.
Five points by Bowen countered a Knoch trey to pull MSU to 13-12 before an 11-2 run by the Bearcats gave them a 10-point lead at 24-14. Stephens started and ended the run with her only four points of the game, while Brown scored five in between.
Bowen then scored the first five points in an 8-0 run to pull to 24-22 with 5:02 to go.
A Slaughter jumper put the Bearcats up 33-26, but MSU scored the last six points of the half to pull to 33-32.