Bearcats Sweep BIG EAST Rookie of the Week Awards

Dec. 19, 2005

CINCINNATI, Ohio -- The UC basketball teams swept this week's BIG EAST Rookie of the Week Awards, as Devan Downey earned his second straight honor and Michelle Jones became the first Bearcat woman honored.

Downey averaged 20.0 points, 7.0 assists and 3.5 steals in a pair of Bearcat victories last week. He scored a career-high 24 points and matched another personal best with four steals in UC's 86-58 win over Ohio on Wednesday. The 5-10 point guard from Chester, S.C. tallied 16 points and set personal bests with nine assists and seven rebounds in Saturday's 105-62 victory over Tennessee Tech.

Downey is UC's second-leading scorer, averaging 14.6 points, and leads the team in assists (3.4) and steals (2.8).

Cincinnati plays three games in the Las Vegas Holiday Classic this week. UC hosts Arkansas-Monticello on Monday at 7 p.m., then faces Dayton and LSU, respectively, on Dec. 22 and 23 in Las Vegas. Both games from Las Vegas will start at 10:30 p.m. EST.

Michelle Jones

Jones, a Cincinnati native and Mt. Notre Dame graduate, helped the Bearcats run their record to 7-1 with wins over Texas-Arlington (73-61) and Indiana (73-59), averaging 14 points and eight rebounds as UC's top player off the bench. She set a career high with 17 points and seven rebounds against Texas-Arlington, making 7-of-10 shots from the field. The 6-1 forward followed that with 11 points and a career-best nine rebounds in the Indiana win. For the week, she made 10-of-16 (.625) field goals and was 8-of-12 (.667) from the foul line.

Additionally, junior guard Treasure Humphries was named to the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll after averaging 22.0 points, 5.0 assists, 2.5 rebounds and 2.0 steals in the two games. Against UTA she set a career high with 23 points and handed out six assists with five rebounds. In the win over the Hoosiers she posted 21 points, four assists and three steals. For the week Humphries made 14-of-23 field goals (.609) and 16-of-17 free throws (.917). She also added two blocks as UC ran its home winning streak to nine games.

The Bearcats host their final non-conference home game of the season on Tuesday, Dec. 20, when the Toledo Rockets come to town for a 7 p.m. tip off in Fifth Third Arena.