TicketsUC Opens Tourney Play Against Charlotte
Contact: Geoff Wiswell
3/2/2005
Micah Harvey scored a career-high 20 points the last time UC played Charlotte. |
GAME FACTS:
Date: Thu., March 3, 2005
Time: 6:00 p.m. ET
Site: Halton Arena (9,105)
Charlotte, N.C.
Records: Cincinnati, 9-18 (4-10 C-USA)
Charlotte, 21-7 (9-5 C-USA)
Radio: www.bearcast.uc.edu
TV: None
Live Stats: www.charlotte49ers.com
Tickets: $8/$5, (704) 687-4949
Series: UC leads, 11-5
Last Meeting: Feb. 13, 2005 at CHAR
CHAR 72, UC 63
SETTING THE SCENE: Cincinnati opens play in the 2005 Pepsi Conference USA Women's Basketball Tournament on Thursday, March 3 at 6 p.m. ET when it takes on host Charlotte. The Bearcats enter the tournament as the No. 11 seed, their lowest ever, with a record of 9-18. The 49ers are the No. 6 seed in the tourney and are 21-7 on the year. The two teams met just two weeks ago in Charlotte, with UC getting double-doubles from Toni Slaughter and Anne Stephens, but coming up short, 72-63. This and all tournament games can be heard live at www. bearcast.uc.edu.
CINCINNATI PROBABLE STARTERS PPG RPG APG FG%
F 13 Toni Slaughter, 6-0 So., Shelbyville, Ky. 9.7 6.6 1.7 .339
F 14 Emy Ogide, 6-2 Fr., Rockmart, Ga. 1.7 1.8 0.1 .500
G 12 Micah Harvey, 5-7 Jr., Sardinia, Ohio 6.3 1.8 4.6 .308
G 32 Karen Twehues, 6-0 So., Minusio, Switz. 9.8 2.6 1.1 .365
G 44 Treasure Humphries, 5-6 So., Canton, Ohio 6.1 2.4 1.0 .365
CHARLOTTE PROBABLE STARTERS PPG RPG APG FG%
F 3 Tameka Smith, 6-1 Fr., Dallas, Texas 7.6 5.8 1.0 .441
F 34 Andrea Davidson, 5-11 Jr., Gainesboro, Tenn. 7.3 3.9 2.7 .317
C 40 Pam Brown, 6-0 Jr., Coppell, Texas 13.3 5.8 0.9 .490
G 12 Sakellie Daniels, 5-7 Jr., Raeford, N.C. 14.3 7.4 4.9 .367
G 30 Monica League, 5-5 Sr., Nashville, Tenn. 7.5 2.3 3.4 .327
STORYLINES:
? UC has qualified for all 10 C-USA Tournaments, though this year?s 11 seed is the lowest ever for a Bearcat team.
? The Bearcats are 5-1 in their tournament history in first round games, winning their last five after a first round exit in 1996 at the hands of the 49ers.
? UC has allowed just one 3-pointer in the last three games and made 16.
? The Bearcats are 11-5 against the 49ers, but are 3-4 in Halton Arena and have lost three of their last four there.
? In two games against Charlotte in her career, Anne Stephens has averaged 15.5 points and 10.5 rebounds and made 12-of-17 (.706) shots from the floor.
? Micah Harvey, Toni Slaughter and Anne Stephens are the only Bearcats to start a C-USA Tournament game, as all three were in the starting lineup for both of last year?s contests.
? UC stands four wins from reaching the 500-win mark in program history.
LAST TIME VS. CHARLOTTE: Sakellie Daniels scored a game-high 28 points, including four free throws down the stretch, to help host Charlotte to a 72-63 victory on Feb. 13. Micah Harvey led the Bearcats with a career-high 20 points. Both teams shot 44 percent, but UC committed 21 turnovers and was outscored at the foul line, 22-4. The game featured 11 ties, seven in the second half. 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. UC pulled to 65-63 with 1:36 left, but the 49ers made 5-of-6 free throws in the final minute to claim the win.
TOURNEY TRADITION: The Bearcats boast one of the strongest traditions of excellence in the Conference USA Tournament. They have appeared in four of the last six championship games, winning the title in 2002. The 15 wins in the nine years of the tournament is second only to Tulane?s 16. This year?s No. 11 seed is the lowest seeding for a Bearcat team in the 10-year history of the tourney.
SHOOTING AND DEFENDING THE THREE: In the last three games the Bearcats have allowed just one three-pointer in 28 attempts (.036), lowering their three-point percentage defense on the year from .348 to .319. In the past four games, UC itself is shooting 23-of-59 (.390) from behind the arc. Micah Harvey is 8-of-18 (.444), Treasure Humphries is 4-of-6 (.667) and Karen Twehues is 8-of-19 (.421) in that span.
TOP 10 CATS: Juniors Anne Stephens and Micah Harvey and sophomore Karen Twehues are seeing the results of their careers in the UC record books. Stephens now has 45 career blocks to rank ninth in school history. Harvey has handed out 320 assists in her career, which is seventh all-time by a Bearcat. Harvey's 135 assists last season was the eighth-best single-season total in UC history. Twehues has made 87 three-pointers in just 46 career games to move into fifth in UC annals.
HOT CAT: Anne Stephens has been carrying UC in recent weeks. Stephens has averaged 14.8 points and 6.9 rebounds in the last nine games and shot .568 (54-95) from the field. She scored a career-high 24 points in the win over Memphis, making 10-of-14 shots from the field, and recorded her fifth career double-double with 10 points and 12 rebounds at Charlotte.
HITTING THE BOARDS: UC has won the rebounding battle in six of the last nine games after being outrebounded in 10 of the first 18. In those nine games the Bearcats recorded four double-digit rebounding margins and posted all four of their league wins.
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 and DePaul's Doug Bruno are the only C-USA coaches with at least 275 wins at their current school. On Feb. 20, 2004 against East Carolina Pirtle became the 54th active coach to win 350 games in a career.
TALE OF TWO HALVES: The Bearcats have been outscored by opponents in the first half of games by just one point in 27 games, 751-752. In the second half, however, UC has been outscored by 108 points, a 4.0 point per game average. UC is 7-5 in games in which it leads at halftime.
LATE TURNAROUND: UC has won four of its last eight games after a nine-game losing streak, much like last season in which the Bearcats won four of their last six regular season games to help earn a WNIT berth. A look inside the numbers sees a dramatic improvement in rebounding and shooting is the most obvious explanation for the turnaround.
AT THE LINE AND BEHIND THE ARC: In its nine wins, UC has averaged 20.6 free throw attempts and allowed 2.3 made three-pointers. In the 18 losses those numbers are 11.6 and 4.1. The Bearcats are 3-17 when shooting fewer foul shots than their opponents and have attempted 87 fewer than opponents have made in the 18 defeats (209-296). UC has heldteams to .212 shooting behind the arc in the nine wins and allowing .372 in the other 18. The Bearcats have allowed one three-pointer in the last three games.
JOINING AN EXCLUSIVE CLUB: Karen Twehues has made 59 three-pointers this year, two short of eighth-place in UC's single-season records. Once there, she will break up the monopoly of Valerie King and Jolinda Lewis on the list as that pair owns the top eight seasons in school history.
SHUFFLING IT UP: In the past 16 games UC has used eight different starting lineups due to injuries and performance. Only one of those lineups has been used more than twice. Eleven of the 13 players on the Bearcat roster have started at least one game this year.
HELP OFF THE BENCH: In the last 14 games UC has averaged 57.2 points per game and nearly half, 26.4, have come from the bench. Anne Stephens has averaged a team-best 12.7 points per game in this span and Bellva May has had three double-digit scoring games, both as reserves.
STRENGTH OF SCHEDULE: UC has played the 38th-toughest schedule as ranked by the WBCA/Summerville RPI. The Bearcats' schedule, which featured 14 games against teams that reached the postseason in 2004, was ranked as the 38th toughest prior to the season also. UC's 2004-05 opponents had a combined 438-326 record for a .573 winning percentage last year and are 406-292 (.582) this year. Seventeen of UC?s 26 opponents boast winning records and seven have reached the 20-win mark.
APPROACHING MILESTONE: Now in its 34th season of play, UC has won 496 games. The Bearcats began the year vying to become the first womens team in Conference USA to reach 500 all-time victories. Houston and Southern Miss accomplished the feat in the last month. Louisville (499) and East Carolina (496) are just ahead of UC.
BALANCED ATTACK: UC has gotten contributions from a number of different sources offensively. Seven different players have led UC in scoring and nine different players have recorded a total of 67 double-digit scoring games. The Marquette game on Feb. 5 was the fifth this season in which four Bearcats reached double-figures.
HOME SWEET HOME: Since Fifth Third Arena became the home of UC basketball in 1989, the Bearcats have gone 150-82 (.647) on their home court. Over the past seven years they have a home record of 103-28 (.786). 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.
ART OF THE STEAL: Junior reserve Bellva May leads UC in steals with 38 and has had five games with at least three steals. Micah Harvey is second on the team with 37, surpassing her career best of 22.
ROAD WEARY: Of UC's last 45 losses, 29 have occurred away from Cincinnati. UC has lost 21 of its last 26 road games and 10 of the last 11. The Bearcats have averaged 10.1 fewer points scored on the road this year than at home.
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.
YOUTH MOVEMENT: The Bearcats opened the season with a combined total of 71 games of starting experience. Anne Stephens (25) and Micah Harvey (24) accounted for 49 of those. 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.