TicketsJan. 14, 2006
Cincinnati vs. USF
Date: Sunday, January 15, 2006
Time: 2 p.m. EST
Site: Fifth Third Arena (13,176)
Cincinnati, Ohio
Records: Cincinnati: 10-4, 0-3 BIG EAST
USF: 11-5, 1-2 BIG EAST
TV: None
Radio: www.Bearcast.uc.edu
Live Stats: www.UCBearcats.com
Tickets: $5/$3, 513-556-CATS
Series: UC 10, USF 3
Last Meeting: Jan. 9, 2005 at USF
USF 74, UC 56
SETTING THE SCENE: Cincinnati returns home for consecutive games after playing four of its last five games on the road. UC will host USF on Saturday, Jan. 15 at 2 p.m. in Fifth Third Arena. All YMCA members are invited to attend the game at a discounted rate and Bearcat Kids Club members are invited to a postgame autograph session. The Bearcats are 10-4 and 0-3 in the BIG EAST following a 92-71 loss at No. 7 Connecticut on Thursday.
CINCINNATI PROBABLE STARTERS PPG RPG APG PCT.
F 52 Michelle Jones, 6-1 Fr., Cincinnati, Ohio 8.9 4.6 0.2 .517
C 45 Anne Stephens, 6-4 Sr., Mineral Wells, W. Va. 8.6 4.9 0.3 .596
G 12 Micah Harvey, 5-7 Sr., Sardinia, Ohio 5.7 1.9 4.8 .359
G 22 Shelly Bellman, 5-10 Fr., Ottawa, Ohio 9.4 6.4 2.9 .383
G 44 Treasure Humphries, 5-6 Jr., Canton, Ohio 14.9 3.3 3.1 .504
USF PROBABLE STARTERS PPG RPG APG PCT.
F 1 Ezria Parsons, 6-0 Sr., Bushnell, Fla. 8.6 8.1 3.5 .417
F 25 Jessica Dickson, 5-11 Jr., Ocala, Fla. 24.8 6.2 1.8 .478
C 32 Nalini Miller, 6-2 Jr., Capital Heights, Md. 11.0 6.8 0.8 .500
G 2 Rachael Sheats, 5-11 Jr., Marietta, Ga. 6.7 2.7 2.2 .426
G 3 Shantia Grace, 5-6 Fr., Sarasota, Fla. 8.9 2.9 5.3 .392
STORYLINES:
The Bearcats are looking for their first win in the BIG EAST Conference.
UC has dropped three-straight games for the first time since February of last year.
UC's five freshmen have scored 46 percent of the points for the team and grabbed 48 percent of the rebounds.
The Bearcats lead the BIG EAST with a +10.1 rebounding margin, posting a double-digit margin in eight games.
Anne Stephens is averaging 15.3 points and 6.0 rebounds over her last four games, shooting .707 from the field.
The Bearcat roster features five freshmen and four sophomores, while USF has six juniors and seniors among its 10 players.
USF is 11-5 this year and 1-2 in the BIG EAST after falling, 66-65, to Rutgers on Wednesday. The Bulls are 1-3 on the road and have lost three of their last four.
Junior Jessica Dickson leads the nation in scoring at 24.8 points per game and senior Ezria Parsons is grabbing 8.1 rebounds per game.
UC leads the all-time series with the Bulls, 10-3, but USF has won two of the last three.
NOTING THE CONNECTICUT GAME:
Micah Harvey surpassed the 500-point mark for her career and now has 505.
Karen Twehues hit four three-pointers to pull into a tie for fourth all-time at UC with 101. She also moved into fourth in career three-point percentage at .361
UC fell to 6-43 all-time against ranked teams.
The crowd of 12,735 was the largest to ever see a UC game, surpassing the 11,719 at the 1999 NCAA Tournament in Oregon.
The 92 points by UConn was the most allowed by the Bearcats since DePaul scored 105 on Feb. 24, 1995.
The 43 points scored by UC in the first half was the second-most scored in a half by the Bearcats this year and the most allowed by UConn in a first half.
UC made a season-high seven three-pointers and allowed a season-high eight.
OFFENSIVE EVENING: After averaging just 59 points in their previous four games, the Bearcats' offensive struggles did not seem to be on the verge of turning themselves around against No. 7 Connecticut, who entered allowing just 53.3 points per game on .334 shooting. UC turned it on, however, especially in the first half, to score 71 points on .400 shooting. The 43 first-half points by the Bearcats were the most allowed in a first half by the Huskies all year and the 71 points was the third-most scored on them this season. For UConn's part, it put up 92 points, the most allowed by UC since DePaul scored 105 on Feb. 24, 1995.
TURNING IT ON: Senior center Anne Stephens has been beyond red hot of late, averaging 13.3 points and 5.8 rebounds per game over the last six contests. Four of her five double-digit scoring games have been in this stretch and she has shot .667 from the field. At Oregon State on Dec. 29, she tied the school record for field goal percentage when she went 8-of-9 for 17 points.
ATTACKING THE BOARDS: The Bearcats have dominated the rebounding category this year, averaging a +10.1 margin, best in the BIG EAST. UC has won the rebounding battle in every game except two and posted a double-digit margin in eight games. The top four rebounders on the team are freshmen Shelly Bellmen (6.4/g), Michelle Jones (4.6/g) and Jill Stephens (4.3/g) and and senior Anne Stephens (4.9/g). UC has 203 offensive rebounds and has allowed just 141. This has resulted in the Bearcats averaging 13.4 second chance points per game and allowing just 8.7.
OFFENSIVE BEARCATS: UC has scored over 70 points in nine of 13 games this year, surpassing the three times that it happened all last season. The 68.8 scoring average is a vast improvement on the 57.1 points per game scored last season. UC is shooting .441 from the field and .695 from the line compared to .382 and .662 last year.
FULL SPEED AHEAD: Junior Treasure Humphries led UC in steals as a freshman and was fourth on the team in scoring. Last year she tore her ACL in the preseason and despite coming back after just four months, was not herself the rest of the year. This year she is off and flying, leading the team in scoring (14.9/g), assists (3.1/g) and steals (2.9/g) and ranking fifth in rebounding (3.3/g). Humphries has scored in double-figures in 11 games this year and averaged 20.1 over the five games prior to Rutgers. She is 14-of-31 from behind the arc to raise her career percentage to .372, second in UC history.
START OF SOMETHING NEW: The Jan. 3 game vs. Rutgers marked the beginning of UC's first season in the BIG EAST. The BIG EAST is the fourth conference which the Bearcats have been a member of following the Metro (1981-82 to 1990-91), the Great Midwest (1991-92 to 1994-95) and Conference USA (1995-96 to 2004-05). UC is 128-160 all-time in conference games. The Bearcats are now 8-15 in their history in conference openers and 1-3 in their inaugural games in a new conference.
Conference Inaugural Game Result
Metro Jan. 2, 1984 at Louisville UofL 76, UC 70 OT
Great Midwest Jan. 18, 1992 at Saint Louis UC 73, SLU 44
Conference USA Jan. 5, 1996 at Marquette MU 52, UC 50
BIG EAST Jan. 3, 2006 at UC Rutgers 64, UC 51
UNQUESTIONED LEADER: Head Coach Laurie Pirtle, in her 20th year, 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.
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. The class has lived up to its billing as the five have accounted for 46 percent of UC's points 48 percent of its rebounds.
Bellman has started each game and leads the Bearcats in rebounding (6.4/g) and is second in points and steals and third in assists. She has scored in double-figures in seven games.
Jones is third on the team in points (8.9/g) and rebounds (4.6/g), and has broken into the starting lineup. She was named BIG EAST Freshman of the Week after averaging 14.0 points and 8.0 rebounds in wins over UTA and Indiana.
Morgan has started three games and is sixth on the team in rebounding (2.5/g) and fourth in assists (1.3/g).
Roudebush has started six games and poured in a season-high 16 points with four rebounds at Xavier and had eight points at Connecticut.
Stephens has started 12 games and is fourth on the team in rebounding (4.3/g) and fifth in scoring (7.6/g). Against Detroit she posted her first double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds.
GETTING TO THE LINE: Last year UC averaged just 14.7 free throw attempts per game and shot just .662 from the line. This year the Bearcats are much improved as they are averaging 21.1 attempts per game and making .695 of them. Treasure Humphries at .743 ranks seventh in the league in free throw percentage and is one of eight Bearcats shooting .700 or better.
BEARCATS HONORED BY BIG EAST: On Dec. 19, Michelle Jones and Treasure Humphries became the first Bearcat women honored by the BIG EAST. Jones was named Freshman of the Week for her role in wins over Texas-Arlington and Indiana, while Humphries was named to the Weekly Honor Roll. Jones averaged 14 points and eight rebounds for the week, setting a career-high with 17 points and seven rebounds vs. UTA and adding 11 points and nine rebounds vs. Indiana. Humphries averaged 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 and in the win over the Hoosiers she posted 21 points, four assists and three steals. Humphries was also named to the honor roll following her 22-point performance at Oregon State.
THE ART OF THE STEAL: As a freshman, Treasure Humphries led the Bearcats with 44 steals. After playing with an injured knee most of last season, she is back to her old tricks in 2005-06. She is currently averaging 2.9 steals per game, best in the BIG EAST and 25th in the nation. Humphries has made at least four thefts in four games, including seven against Fordham, which is tied for the second-most ever by a Bearcat.
BIG OFF THE BENCH: Sophomore Emy Ogide provided a spark to the UC offense at critical points in the games at Dayton and Oregon State. At Dayton on Dec. 22, she scored six-straight points for UC to thwart a second-half comeback attempt by the Flyers. At Oregon State she scored all five of her points in an 11-3 first-half run to erase a seven-point Beaver lead. Ogide has made 6-of-9 shots in the last two games and averaged 6.5 points and 3.0 rebounds.
HOME SWEET HOME: Since Fifth Third Arena became the home of UC basketball in 1989, the Bearcats have gone 158-83 (.656) on their home court. Over the past nine years they have a home record of 111-29 (.793). Their 10-game home winning streak ended by Rutgers is tied for the fourth-longest in school hisotry. 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.
AGAINST THE RANKED: The 92-71 loss to No. 7 Connecticut was UC's second of the season against a ranked opponent, following a 64-51 loss to No. 8 Rutgers. No. 11 DePaul and No. 12 Notre Dame still remain on the Bearcats' schedule. UC is 6-43 all-time against the ranked. The Bearcats' last win over a ranked opponent was a 75-59 victory over No. 19 Xavier on Dec. 12, 2000. UC's biggest win was 72-69 over No. 12 Tennessee on Nov. 26, 1984 and the highest ranked opponent played by the Bearcats was No. 2 Georgia on Dec. 14, 1985 (L, 98-47).
SPREADING THE WEALTH: Despite scoring over 70 points in nine games, the Bearcats have just one player averaging double-figure scoring. UC has done it with balance as six players are averaging at least 5.7 points per game. In five games this year, four Bearcats have scored in double-figures, and UC averages 23.6 points per game off the bench.
MAKING THEM COUNT: Three-pointers account for just 15 percent of UC's shots and 14 percent of its points, compared to 29 percent and 26 percent last season. When the Bearcats do take threes, they are making them count, however. Since the season-opener, in which UC made just 1-of-12 triples, the Bearcats are shooting .387 (43-111) from behind the arc. Treasure Humphries and Karen Twehues are a each 14-of-31 (.452) on three-pointers.
REACHING A MILESTONE: The Bearcats' win over Eastern Illinois on Dec. 3 was the 500th victory in school history. With an all-time record of 506-439 record, UC has the seventh-most wins among BIG EAST schools.
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.
ROAD WEARY: Of UC's last 49 losses, 32 have occurred away from Cincinnati. UC has lost 22 of its last 26 road games, but is 2-3 this year. The Bearcats are averaging 8.7 fewer points in their five road games this year than at home.
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. 7 Connecticut, No. 8 Rutgers, No. 10 DePaul and No. 19 Notre Dame -- 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.
NEW FACES: Cincinnati moves to the BIG EAST Conference this year. The Bearcats have a 60-74 record (.448) vs. current members of the BIG EAST. They have yet to play Georgetown, St. John's, Seton Hall or Villanova.
Connecticut 0 -1 .000 Last Meeting: UConn 92, UC 71; Jan. 12, 2006
DePaul 11 -18 .379 Last meeting: DPU 67, UC 55; Feb. 7, 2005
Louisville 25 -29 .463 Last meeting: UofL 61, UC 58; Feb. 25, 2005
Marquette 8 -17 .320 Last meeting: UC 79, MU 69; Feb. 5, 2005
Notre Dame 0 -1 .000 Last meeting: ND 67, UC 58; Feb. 13, 1982
Pittsburgh 2 -1 .667 Last meeting: UC 76, Pitt 60; Mar. 16, 2000
Providence 0 -1 .000 Last Meeting: PC 58, UC 57; Jan. 7, 2006
Rutgers 0 -1 .000 Last Meeting: RU 64, UC 51; Jan. 3, 2006
Syracuse 1 -1 .500 Last meeting: SU 70, UC 68; Jan. 8, 2002
USF 10 -3 .769 Last meeting: USF 74, UC 56; Jan. 9, 2005
West Virginia 3 -1 .750 Last meeting: UC 76, WVU 63; Jan. 19, 1983
TOTAL 60 -74 .448
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.
TOP 10 CATS: Seniors Anne Stephens and Micah Harvey and juniors Karen Twehues and Treasure Humphries are seeing the results of their careers in the UC record books. Stephens now has 57 career blocks to rank fifth in school history. Harvey has handed out 367 assists in her career, which is fourth all-time. Twehues has made 101 three-pointers with a .357 percentage to rank fourth in UC annals in both and Humphries is now shooting .372 from three in her career, second-best ever.
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.
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.
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.
COMPUTERS LIKE THE CATS: In the latest rankings published by Jerry Palm at CollegeRPI.com, the Bearcats are rated 27th in the nation with the 56th-toughest schedule. UC entered the Rutgers game ranked 23rd on the Collegiate Basketball News RPI Report and Jeff Sagarin's ranking have the Bearcats at 59th.
UP NEXT: The Bearcats stay home to host St. John's on Wednesday, Jan. 18 at 7 p.m.