TicketsUC Faces Loyola Marymount on Tuesday
Contact: Geoff Wiswell
12/21/2004
Freshman Emy Ogide had a career-best five rebounds last outing. |
GAME FACTS:
Date: Tue., Dec. 21, 2004
Time: 7:00 p.m. ET
Site: Fifth Third Arena (13,176)
Cincinnati, Ohio
Records: Cincinnati, 4-5
Loyola Marymount, 4-5
Radio: www.bearcast.uc.edu
TV: None
Live Stats: www.ucbearcats.com
Tickets: $5/$3, 800-556-CATS
Series: UC leads, 1-0
Last Meeting: Dec. 21, 2003 at UC
UC 59, LMU 48
SETTING THE SCENE: The University of Cincinnati women's basketball team wraps up its pre-holiday schedule when it hosts the Lions of Loyola Marymount on Tuesday, Dec. 21 at 7 p.m. in Fifth Third Arena. The Bearcats improved to 4-5 with a 73-41 dismantling of Alabama State on Saturday with four players scoring in double-figures. LMU is also 4-5 following a 56-33 home loss to Utah on Saturday.
CINCINNATI PROBABLE STARTERS PPG RPG APG FG%
G 13 Toni Slaughter, 6-0 So., Shelbyville, Ky. 10.9 6.4 1.9 .343
C 45 Anne Stephens, 6-4 Jr., Mineral Wells, W. Va. 12.1 6.1 0.6 .524
G 11 Leslie Knoch, 5-6 Jr., Whipple, Ohio 9.8 3.3 3.4 .468
G 12 Micah Harvey, 5-7 Jr, Sardinia, Ohio 3.2 1.1 2.7 .267
G 32 Karen Twehues, 6-0 So., Minusio, Switz. 10.7 3.2 1.2 .322
LOYOLA MARYMOUNT PROBABLE STARTERS PPG RPG APG FG%
F 32 Jackie Woods, 6-0 Sr., Ashland, Ore. 12.0 5.4 0.9 .435
F 34 Valerie Ogoke, 6-3 Fr., Inglewood, Calif. 5.9 4.6 0.3 .465
C 55 Jevay Grooms, 6-3 Jr., Granada Hills, Calif. 10.0 7.4 0.8 .619
G 12 Bianca Ziemann, 5-8 Jr., Huntington Beach, Calif. 10.6 3.4 1.3 .438
G 33 Mary Turner, 5-10 Sr., Rancho Cucamonga, Calif. 7.7 4.3 2.1 .307
STORYLINES:
? UC stands nine wins from reaching the 500-win mark in program history.
? Toni Slaughter has scored in double-figures the past five games, averaging 14.6 points and 6.0 rebounds in that span.
? Six different Bearcats have scored in double-figures this year and five players have led the team in scoring in at least one game.
? UC and Loyola Marymount met for the first time last year, with the Bearcats coming away with a 59-48 win.
? UC provided one of just six losses for LMU last year, as the Lions won 15-straight to reach the NCAA Tournament for the first time.
? Freshman Emy Ogide has averaged 3.3 rebounds over the last three games in just 11 minutes of playing time per game.
NOTING ALABAMA STATE:
? UC scored a season-high 73 points as four players scored in double-figures.
? Toni Slaughter scored in double-figures for the fifth-straight games, making four three-pointers.
? In her first start of the season, Micah Harvey recorded five points, eight assists, three rebounds and a career-best four steals.
? The Bearcats made 11 three-pointers, one short of the school record.
? UC recorded 20 assists on 22 field goals.
? Freshman Emy Ogide grabbed a career-high five rebounds and Bellva May set a new best with four assists.
YOUTH MOVEMENT: The Bearcats opened the season with a combined total of 71 games of starting experience. 49 of those games came from Anne Stephens (25) and Micah Harvey (24). For comparison, last year?s team brought 229 games of starting experience into the 2003-04 campaign. Nine of the players on the 2004-05 roster are in just their first or second year at UC.
BALANCED ATTACK: UC has gotten contributions from a number of different sources offensively and on the boards. Four Bearcats are scoring, or nearly scoring, in double-figures ? Anne Stephens (12.1 ppg), Toni Slaughter (10.9), Karen Twehues (10.7) and Leslie Knoch (9.8). Five different players have led UC in scoring in the first nine games. Also, three players ? Slaughter, Stephens and Ashley Brown ? are recording over six rebounds per game, while three more Bearcats are grabbing at least three.
TAKING ADVANTAGE: Fully healthy for the first time in her career, redshirt junior Leslie Knoch has become a leader for the Bearcats on and off the court. She is one of four team captains and has started all nine games this year, the first starts of her career. She has scored in double-figures five times this season, with a career high 20 points in the comeback win over Ball State. She ranks 11th in C-USA in assists (3.4/g), and sixth in three-point percentage (.421) and three-pointers made (1.78/g).
COMING AROUND: Sophomore captain Toni Slaughter has turned on the offense in the last five games, averaging 14.6 points in that span. She had failed to score in double-figures in the first four games after averaging 11.8 points in her last eight starts last year. Slaughter also leads the team in rebounding at 6.4 per game. She led the team with 15 points against No. 15 Michigan State and tied her career-high with 20 points at Evansville.
TALE OF TWO HALVES: The Bearcats are holding opponents to 26.0 points in the first half, while scoring 30.8. In the second half, however, UC has allowed an average of 35.4 points while scoring just 29.2. Three of the last four opponents and four on the year have posted 40 or more points after halftime and UC has reached 30 points in just three second stanzas. The Bearcats were ahead or tied at halftime in their first six games, despite a 3-3 record.
BEARCAT BOMBERS: After making just seven-of-30 (.233) from behind the arc against Indiana State and Dayton, the Bearcats rebounded by making seven-of-13 vs. Michigan State and came one shy of the school-record by making 11-of-27 vs. Alabama State. For the season UC has made 56-of-152 (.368) treys to its opponents' 31-of-97 (.320). Last season, the Bearcats ranked 19th in the country with a .366 team three-point percentage, which was a school record, as was the 177 made treys. This year they are 50th nationally in three-point percentage and 56th in three-point field goals.
GETTING TO THE LINE: After taking just 39 free throw attempts (9.8 per game) in their first four games, the Bearcats have gotten more aggressive. They have taken 114 in the last five games for a 22.8 average per game. Last season UC set a school-record by making .746 of its attempts, but got to the line 88 fewer times than its opponents.
APPROACHING MILESTONE: Now in its 34th season of play, UC has won 491 games. The Bearcats are vying with four other schools to become the first women's team in Conference USA to reach 500 all-time victories. Southern Miss is the current leader with 496, while Houston has 494. East Carolina (488), and Louisville (486) are right behind UC.
A DAY FOR THANKS: The day before Thanksgiving left much to be thankful for in Bearcat basketball at Fifth Third Arena. In the afternoon, the UC women came back from a 14-point deficit with fewer than nine minutes left to top Ball State, 62-58. Leslie Knoch's career-high 20 points led the comeback effort. Later that night, the men trailed Northern Iowa by 18 with 10 minutes left, but UC evened the score and eventually won, 76-70, in double overtime. The greatest comeback in Fifth Third Arena history was led by Jihad Muhammad's 23 points, nine coming in the final 2:50 of regulation.
UNQUESTIONED LEADER: Head Coach Laurie Pirtle is UC's all-time leader in coaching wins and on Feb. 21, 2002, she earned her 250th win leading the Bearcats. She joined DePaul's Doug Bruno as the only C-USA coaches with at least 250 wins at their current school. On Feb. 20, 2004 against East Carolina she became the 54th active coach to win 350 games in a career.
STRENGTH OF SCHEDULE: The Bearcats will play 14 games this year against teams that reached the postseason in 2004. As a result, UC's schedule is ranked as the 38th toughest in the nation by the WBCA/Summerville RPI. UC's 2004-05 opponents had a combined 438-326 record for a .573 winning percentage last year. Included in the strong home schedule are match-ups with Michigan State and Arkansas, as well as the annual Crosstown Shootout against Xavier.
MISSING PIECES: With the loss of three starters from last year's squad the Bearcats have a lot to make up for. UC returned just 50.5 percent of its scoring and rebounding. Anne Stephens is the leading returner in both categories, as she averaged 7.3 points and 5.3 rebounds per game last year. She is carrying the load this year so far, leading the team in scoring (12.1 ppg) and ranking third in rebounds (6.1 rpg). New starters Leslie Knoch and Ashley Brown have picked up the slack, ranking fourth and fifth in scoring while leading the team in assists (3.4 apg) and rebounding (6.4 rpg), respectively.
DEFENSIVE LOCKDOWN: The 31 points scored by Detroit in UC's 60-31 win on Nov. 21 was the 11th-fewest ever allowed by the Bearcats. It was the lowest total by a UC opponent since Robert Morris scored 29 on Nov. 20, 2001. It was also the fewest points ever scored by Detroit. The seven blocked shots by the Bearcats equalled the second-best single-game total in school annals.
CLOSE CALLS: UC was 3-8 last year in games decided by six points or fewer, but won on two of the last three occasions. The season opener at Toledo, where UC lost a 12-point halftime lead and was defeated by five, and the 62-58 comeback win over Ball State continued the trend of close games. The Bearcats lost 16 games last year by an average of just 8.6 points.
HOME SWEET HOME: Since Fifth Third Arena became the home of UC basketball in 1989, the Bearcats have gone 146-76 (.658) on their home court. Over the past seven years they have been nearly unbeatable at home, posting a 99-22 mark (.818). UC went 15-1 at home in 2001-02, the best-ever mark. The Bearcats put together a school-record 21-game home win streak from Jan. 1, 2002 until a loss to Tulane on Feb. 2, 2003.
POWER CONFERENCE: Last year Conference USA produced an all-time high of 17 postseason basketball teams (6 NCAA Men, 4 NCAA Women, 2 NIT, 5 WNIT). Only the Big East with 19 (6 NCAA Men, 8 NCAA women, 4 NIT and 1 WNIT) and the Big 12 with 18 (4 NCAA Men, 7 NCAA Women, 5 NIT and 2 WNIT) produced more postseason basketball teams last March.
POSTSEASON TRADITION: The Bearcats have reached postseason tourney play seven straight times, with this era accounting for all but two of the postseason appearances in school history. Four of the seven have been to the WNIT, including last year. The seven-season streak is the longest active streak in Conference USA.
CONFERENCE USA SUCCESS: The Bearcats are one of seven teams to have a conference record over .500 throughout the history of Conference USA. UC is 77-57 (.575) in the nine-year history of the league, posting winning league marks in the five years before last year. The Bearcats were 12-4 in the 1998-99 season to claim the regular season championship.
ROAD WEARY: The Bearcats have won 57 of their last 89 games, with 22 of those 32 losses occurring away from Cincinnati. UC has lost 14 of its last 18 road games. The Bearcats averaged 11.3 fewer points scored on the road last year than at home.
AMAZING ACCURACY: Twice last season the Bearcats tied UC and C-USA records by being perfect from the free throw line as a team. On Dec. 13 they made 11-of-11 at Indiana State and against Loyola Marymount on Dec. 21 UC had a 14-of-14 performance as a team. For the year the Bearcats led C-USA with a .746 percentage, the best in school history and second in C-USA annals. Seven of 11 players shot over .700. This year UC is shooting .670 from the line and has taken 30 fewer attempts than its opponents.
COMING OUT FIRING: Sophomore guard Karen Twehues had an immediate impact on the Bearcats once she joined the team last January. In her first two games she scored 27 points and made 6-of-13 three-pointers. She finished second on the team in three-pointers and three-point percentage. This year she has made 23-of-58 from behind the arc (.397).
UP NEXT: UC hits the road for the third time this year to face Middle Tennessee State on Wednesday, Dec. 29 at 7 p.m. ET. The Bearcats return home to host SEC foe Arkansas on Sunday, Jan. 2 at 2 p.m. in Fifth Third Arena.