TicketsHarvey's Career High Not Enough
Bearcats Falter Down the Stretch
Contact: Geoff Wiswell
2/13/2005
Toni Slaughter recorded her second career double-double. |
CHARLOTTE, N.C. ? Sakellie Daniels scored a game-high 28 points, including four free throws down the stretch, to help host Charlotte to a 72-63 victory over Cincinnati in women?s basketball action on Sunday afternoon at Halton Arena.
Micah Harvey led the Bearcats (7-17, 2-9 C-USA) with a career-high 20 points and added four assists in 40 minutes of action. Anne Stephens (10 points and 12 rebounds) and Toni Slaughter (16 points and 10 rebounds) each posted double-doubles for UC, which lost its third straight.
Both teams shot 44 percent, but UC committed 21 turnovers and was outscored at the foul line, 22-4. The Bearcats held a 39 to 28 edge on the boards and scored 21 second-chance points.
?We had a lack of execution on offense and we were very stagnant on the press-breaker,? said head coach Laurie Pirtle. ?(Micah), really stepped up. She was great today. She played her heart out the entire game.?
A sluggish start saw the Bearcats turn the ball over seven times in the first four minutes. But cold shooting from Charlotte (20-5, 8-3 C-USA) allowed UC to keep it close. After the 49ers scored the first three points, the Bearcats scored the next eight for a five-point lead at the 12:34 mark.
Charlotte answered with an 8-0 run of its own to pull ahead, 16-13, with 8:23 left. Neither team had more than a three-point lead for the rest of the half, with UC holding a 29-27 lead at the break.
Harvey led the Bearcats with nine points in the first half, while Stephens grabbed seven boards. Edwina Williams, making her second career start, set a career-high with two assists in the first stanza, finishing with three.
Charlotte got 12 first-half points from Daniels, who scored the first nine points of the game for the 49ers.
After four ties in the first half, there were seven more in the second. Pam Brown scored the first nine points of the second half to lead Charlotte to a two-point lead.
Crystal Ashley scored all eight of her points on consecutive UC possessions to keep the Bearcats ahead by one. Daniels scored the next six points, however, for a five-point 49er lead.
UC held its final lead at 58-56 with 4:18 to go, before Charlotte scored the next nine points to take the lead for good. A lay-up and trey by Harvey pulled UC to 65-63 with 1:36 left, but the 49ers scored on their next possession and made 5-of-6 free throws in the final minute to claim the win.
The Bearcats return home next weekend for two key match-ups in their battle for a C-USA Tournament spot. They play Southern Miss on Friday, Feb. 18 at 7 p.m. and close the home season against Tulane on Sunday, Feb. 20 at 2 p.m.