TicketsDec. 29, 2005
CORVALLIS, Ore. - Treasure Humphries hit a game-tying three-pointer with 1:13 left and then scored the first five points of overtime as Cincinnati downed Oregon State, 63-58, on Thursday night in Gill Coliseum. It was the seventh-straight win for the Bearcats, who improved to 10-1 on the year.
The Beavers (6-4) took a 51-48 lead with 1:31 left, but Humphries answered on the next possession with her second three-pointer of the game to even the score. She then opened the extra period with a jumper from the foul line and another triple to stake the Bearcats to a 56-51 lead and OSU never got closer than three the rest of the extra period.
Humphries finished with 22 points on 8-of-15 shooting to go with five steals. She made 3-of-5 three-pointer and has now made 7-of-9 in the past two games. Anne Stephens recorded her sixth career double-double and first of the season with 17 points on 8-of-9 shooting and 11 rebounds. Micah Harvey handed out eight assists and Shelly Bellman added six points and six rebounds.
Kim Butler led the Beavers (6-4) with 21 points and 10 rebounds and Tiffany Ducker added 11 points and nine rebounds. OSU made just 2-of-17 three-pointers, with the second make coming as the final horn sounded.
The Bearcats shot 44.6 percent from the field against a defense which had been holding teams to 35.1 percent shooting. UC was a season-worst 10-of-17 (.588) from the free throw line, but OSU was just 10-of-16 (.625). The Beavers were held to 33.8 percent shooting and made just 30.3 percent the second half.
"The kids really hung together in a tough environment tonight," said head coach Laurie Pirtle. "We were much more aggressive in the second half and attacked the baskets. A bunch of different kids stepped up for us tonight. They really went to war."
This was the final non-conference contest for the Bearcats, as they open play in their inaugural BIG EAST season on Tuesday, Jan. 3 at 7 p.m. when they host No. 9 Rutgers in Fifth Third Arena.
The 10 wins for UC surpasses last year's season total and the victory at OSU marked the first time the Bearcats have won consecutive road games since wins at Xavier and Dayton during the 2003-04 season.
The Bearcats opened the game with a score as Anne Stephens made a layup just nine seconds in. They would not score again, however, for four minutes as OSU claimed an 8-2 lead. Stephens single-handedly kept UC in the game, scoring its first four field goals. The final one brought the margin to 11-10 with 12 minutes left in the half.
OSU had its largest lead of the half at 21-14 with 7:40 on the clock when the Bearcats embarked on an 11-3 run to take their first lead since 2-0. For the second-straight game, Emy Ogide came through with big points while other frontcourt players were in foul trouble. She scored all five of her points in the run, including the go-ahead score with 2:56 left before halftime.
It was UC's final score of the half as the Bearcats scored the next four points to take a 28-25 halftime lead.
Anita Rivera hit a three-pointer to open the second half and give OSU a 31-25 lead. The Bearcats responded with an 8-2 run to tie the game, 33-33, with 16:14 to play. Humphries scored six of the eight points in the run.
It was even at 35-35 when the Beavers ran off 10 of the next 12 points to take their largest lead at 45-37. Mandy Close had five points in the run, including a layup to close the run with 10:07 remaining in the game.
The UC defense then stiffened, holding OSU without a score for six minutes. The offense was able to score just four points in the span to cut the margin to four with 3:38 on a jumper by Humphries.
The lead was six points with 3:07 left when Bellman hit a jumper and Anne Stephens followed with a three-point play to close to within one point with two minutes left.