TicketsStephens Carries UC to Important Win
Contact: Geoff Wiswell
2/18/2005
Anne Stephens made 7-of-9 shots from the field. |
CINCINNATI, Ohio -- Anne Stephens made 7-of-9 shots to score 20 points and lead Cincinnati to a key Conference USA win over Tulane, 55-41, Friday night at Fifth Third Arena. The win gets UC closer to clinching a berth in the C-USA tourney, improving to 3-9 in the league and 8-17 overall.
Tulane (10-15, 2-10), which entered the game tied with the Bearcats, was held to 34 percent shooting for the game and missed all 12 of its three-point attempts.
UC shot .469 for the game, as Karen Twehues added 16 points and three steals and Toni Slaughter grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds.
?We have to win to get in,? said head coach Laurie Pirtle. ?The kids really responded to their defensive changes. We were efficient on offense when we didn?t turn the ball over.?
D?Aundra Henry led Tulane with 16 points and Lakethia Hampton scored 15. Both had a team-high six rebounds.
The Bearcats moved into a tie for 11th place with Southern Miss, who they host on Sunday at 2 p.m. ET in the home finale for UC.
UC took control early, running out to a 12-4 lead after 6:27 on the strength of a 10-0 run, with four different Bearcats scoring.
Hampton scored consecutive baskets that pulled the Green Wave to 12-10 with 11:42 to go. Both offenses struggled over the next seven minutes, as UC held a 19-16 advantage with four minutes to go.
The Bearcats then closed the half with a 10-0 run, as Twehues drained a pair of three-pointers to help UC to a 29-16 lead at the break.
Twehues led all scorers with 10 points in the first half, while Stephens added eight and two blocks. Hampton led Tulane with eight points.
UC shot .462 in the first half, while holding Tulane to .348 shooting and recording a 16-11 edge on the boards.
Stephens carried UC to open the second half, scoring 11 of the Bearcats? first 13 points of the stanza. She scored five-straight points to give UC a 42-24 advantage with 12:05 left in the game.
Tulane fought back, scoring the next eight points, including three-point plays by Hampton and Henry, to close to 42-32 at the 11:16 mark.
UC would not let Tulane within 10, however. With lead 46-36, Twehues made three-straight jumpers to put the game out of reach, 52-36, with 3:44 to go.