TicketsNov. 22, 2005
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Cincinnati vs. East Tennessee St.
Date: Wednesday, November 23, 2005
Time: 6:00 p.m. EST
Site: Fifth Third Arena (13,176) Cincinnati, Ohio
Records: Cincinnati: 1-0 / East Tennessee State: 1-0
TV: None
Radio: www.Bearcast.uc.edu
Live Stats: www.UCBearcats.com
Tickets: $5/$3, 513-556-CATS
Series: Cincinnati leads, 2-0
Last Meeting: Dec. 19, 1999 at UC; UC 76, ETSU 54
SETTING THE SCENE: The University of Cincinnati women's basketball team will be out for its first 2-0 start in four years when the Bearcats host East Tennessee State on Wednesday, Nov. 23 at 6 p.m. ET in Fifth Third Arena. UC opened the season last Saturday with a dominating, 74-39, win over St. Francis (Pa.) as six players scored seven points or more. The Lady Bucs are also 1-0 after a surprising, 78-53 win at Mississippi State on Sunday. The teams have met just twice before, with UC winning both.
STORYLINES:
The Bearcats will be seeking their first 2-0 start since the 2001-02 season.
UC is three wins shy of the 500th in program history.
Senior guard Micah Harvey is out indefinitely after injuring her knee last week.
The Bearcats won the two previous meetings with ETSU, both in Cincinnati.
The Lady Bucs opened the year with a 78-53 win at Mississippi State and were led by senior guard B.J. Banjo's 21 points, 9 rebounds and 5 assists.
Four starters are back for ETSU from a team that went 13-17 and reached the Southern Conference Tournament semifinals.
The Bearcats have allowed just two three-pointers in their last five games and the Lady Bucs made 12 in their opener.
NOTING THE ST. FRANCIS (PA.) GAME:
UC improved to 14-21 in season openers and 22-13 in home openers.
Freshmen, led by Shelly Bellman's 15 points and Michelle Jones' 10, scored 40 of UC's 74 points and grabbed 23 of 49 rebounds.
Anne Stephens topped the 600-point mark for her career and Karen Twehues surpassed 400.
UC's 35-point margin of victory was the largest since an 81-43 win over Evansville on Dec. 3, 2003.
The Bearcats held their opponent without a three-point field goal for the third time in the last five games.
LAST TIME VS. EAST TENNESSEE STATE: Laura Wilder notched game-highs of 18 points and eight rebounds to lead five Bearcats in double-figures in a 76-54 win in Fifth Third Arena on Dec. 17, 1999. Madinah Slaise added 11 points and seven rebounds, while Erica Babb led ETSU with 17 points and eight boards. The Bearcats forced 21 turnovers and outscored the Lady Bucs, 18 to 8, at the foul line. UC took a 15-point lead into halftime and ETSU got no closer than 11 in the second half.
HOLDING DOWN THE ARC: In their past five games, dating back to last year, the Bearcats have allowed just two three-pointers. St. Francis missed all six of its attempts in the opener. The five opponents are a combined 2-of-43 behind the arc. UC has made 19 triples in the five games in 66 attempts.
HIGHLY TOUTED: The Bearcat roster features five freshmen -- Shelly Bellman, Michelle Jones, Angel Morgan, Kahla Roudebush and Jill Stephens -- who make up what was ranked as the 10th best recruiting class in 2005 by the All-Star Girls Report. All five were listed among the top 125 players in the class and all were nominated for the McDonald's All-American game. In the opener Bellman, Stephens and Roudebush all started, with Bellman leading UC with 15 points and six rebounds, while Jones scored 10 points, Stephens posted six points and six boards and Morgan had seven points, five rebounds and four assists.
GETTING TO THE LINE: Last year UC averaged just 14.7 free throw attempts per game and shot just .662 from the line. The year got off to a much improved start as the Bearcats took 20 free throws and made 17 (.850).
EXPERIENCED CATS: The Bearcats entered last season with just 71 games of starting experience, with 49 of those coming from Anne Stephens and Micah Harvey. They entered this year boasting 154 returning starts spread among seven players. Harvey led with 44 and Stephens had 36 starts. The nine returners combined for 350 games of playing experience.
YET STILL YOUNG: Despite those 350 games played, the UC roster still boasts nine players who are freshmen or sophomores. The five true freshmen on the squad were named the 10th best recruiting class of 2005 by the All-Star Girls Report.
NEW FACES: Cincinnati moves to the BIG EAST Conference this year. The Bearcats have a 60-71 record (.458) vs. current members of the BIG EAST. They have never played Connecticut, Georgetown, Providence, Rutgers, St. John's, Seton Hall or Villanova.
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 is one of six BIG EAST 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.
APPROACHING MILESTONE: The Bearcats are approaching the 500th win in school history with a 497-438 record. The 497 wins are the seventh-most among BIG EAST schools.
CHANGE HAS NOT BEEN GOOD: The Bearcats are hoping to avoid the letdown that has occurred the other three times they began play in a new conference. In 1983-84, UC went 16-12, but won just three of 10 Metro Conference games. 1991-92 saw the Bearcats repeat that 3-7 mark in their initial year in the Great Midwest Conference while going 11-17 overall. In Conference USA's inaugural season, 1995-96, UC went 4-10 in the new league and 8-19 overall.
STRONG SCHEDULE: The Bearcats will play 13 games this year against teams that reached the postseason in 2005. Included in the strong home schedule are match-ups with Elite 8 finisher Rutgers, 2001 national champion Notre Dame and regional rivals Louisville, Pittsburgh and West Virginia. Currently four 2005-06 opponents -- No. 5 Rutgers, No. 7 Connecticut, No. 15 Notre Dame and No. 18 DePaul -- are ranked in the top 25 and four others are getting votes in at least one of the polls. Cincinnati's 2005-06 opponents compiled a 426-361 record in 2004-05 for a .541 winning percentage.
SISTER ACT: Sisters Anne (Sr.) and Jill (Fr.) Stephens are one of 14 sets of siblings playing together in Division I in 2005-06. At 6-4 and 6-3 in height, they are tied with the Adiar twins (George Washington) and Paris twins (Oklahoma) for the tallest sibling duo in the nation. Anne was named Conference USA Sixth Player of the Year last year, while Jill was ranked as one of the top 50 players in her class.
COACHES FAVOR SCARLET KNIGHTS: In the annual preseason poll of the league's coaches, Rutgers was picked to win the BIG EAST in 2005-06, narrowly edging Connecticut. Rutgers guard Cappie Pondexter was named the preseason Player of the Year. The Bearcats were picked to finish 15th, just behind Syracuse and Pittsburgh. HOME SWEET HOME: Since Fifth Third Arena became the home of UC basketball in 1989, the Bearcats have gone 151-82 (.648) on their home court. Over the past nine years they have a home record of 104-28 (.788). 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.
TOP 10 CATS: Seniors Anne Stephens and Micah Harvey and junior Karen Twehues are seeing the results of their careers in the UC record books. Stephens now has 46 career blocks to rank ninth in school history. Harvey has handed out 324 assists in her career, which is seventh all-time. Harvey's 135 assists as a sophomore was the eighth-best single-season total in UC history. Twehues has made 87 three-pointers in just 48 career games to move into fifth in UC annals.
BEARCATS SIGN THREE: Building on last year's Top 10 recruiting class, UC has received National Letters of Intent from three top players in Ohio. All three are listed among the top 25 seniors in Ohio by Ohio Girls Basketball Report.
Carla Jacobs (5-8, G, Shaker Heights, Ohio) led Regina High School to its fifth state championship in six years last year after missing the previous season with a knee injury. The first team all-state selection is listed as the fourth-best point guard in the nation by All-Star Girls Report. Last year she averaged 18.5 points, 4.2 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 3.4 steals per game.
Stephanie Stevens (5-7, G, Pickerington, Ohio) has earned all-district honors three times and last season was named first team all-county and all-conference. She averaged 14.3 points, 4.0 rebounds and 4.9 assists per game and led Pickerington Central to a third sectional championship during her career.
Natasha Graboski (6-3, C, Upper Sandusky, Ohio) has twice been named all-district in Division II at Upper Sandusky High School. Last year she carded averages of 14.0 points, 6.0 rebounds and 3.5 blocks per game to earn first team all-league honors.
TRADITION OF SUCCESS: Last year broke a string of seven-straight postseason appearances for the Bearcats. This era accounted for all but two of the postseason appearances in school history. Four of the seven were to the WNIT, including 2004. Cincinnati has also enjoyed 20-win seasons in five of the last eight years and winning years in seven of the last nine.
UP NEXT: The Bearcats continue their season-opening homestand when they host Detroit on Saturday, Nov. 26 at 5 p.m.