TicketsJan. 15, 2006
CINCINNATI, Ohio - It took scoring the most points in a game in two and a half years, but Cincinnati earned its first win in the BIG EAST Conference by outlasting South Florida, 89-87, in Fifth Third Arena on Sunday afternoon.
The win snapped a three-game losing streak for the Bearcats and improved their record to 11-4 on the year and 1-3 in their new league. The Bulls dropped their third-straight to fall to 11-6, 1-3.
The margin was four with 37 seconds left when the Bearcats missed four-straight free throws and Nalini Miller scored underneath to make the score 87-85 with 13 seconds left. Shelly Bellman made her only free throw attempts of the game to make the margin four with 11 seconds left.
Bellva May seemed to put the game away by making a steal with 4.4 seconds left, but in the scramble for the ball officials ruled she called a timeout the Bearcats did not have resulting in a technical foul. Jessica Dickson made both free throws to close to 89-87 and took the last shot to win, but her three-point attempt bounced off the rim with a second left.
The 89 points scored by UC was the most allowed by USF this year and the most scored by UC since 105 against Charleston Southern on Nov. 25, 2003. The 87 points by USF was the most given up by UC in a win since the 1998-99 season.
"It seemed like the game would never end," said head coach Laurie Pirtle. "We made tentative mistakes against their press and weren't attacking. We really needed this win."
The freshman class of the Bearcats led the way, as Jill Stephens scored a career-high 22 points with nine rebounds, two blocks and two steals. Michelle Jones added 18 points and six rebounds, Kahla Roudebush scored 10 points and Bellman recorded eight points, six rebounds and five assists. Seniors May and Micah Harvey added 10 points and seven assists, respectively.
USF junior Dickson, who leads the nation in scoring, netted 30 points, but was held to 9-of-29 shooting from the field and committed seven turnovers. Miller dominated the inside with 21 points and 12 rebounds and Shantia Grace recorded 11 points and 12 assists.
The Bearcats were outrebounded for just the third time this year and allowed 18 second-chance points, but UC's bench outscored USF's, 47-3, and the Bulls were held to 4-of-20 shooting from three-point range.
The Bulls led, 40-39, at the half and pushed the lead to five on a Dickson jumper with 18:47 left. Jones then scored from the outside and Stephens hit back-to-back jumpers to regain the lead for UC.
USF was back on top, 50-47, with 15:41 left when the Bearcats' pressure defense held the Bulls scoreless for four minutes. In that time UC scored 16-straight points, all by freshmen, to take a 63-50 lead at the 11:57 mark.
A Dickson three-pointer helped the Bulls close to seven points, but UC used a 12-4 run to take their largest lead, 77-62, with 7:13 left.
USF then turned up their full-court pressure and held UC to one more field goal over the rest of the game. Miller scored five points in a 12-3 run that pulled the Bulls to 80-74 at the 2:52 mark.
May hit four-straight free throws to seemingly put the game away with a 10-point lead and 2:30 to play, but Dickson made her second three-pointer of the game and Rachael Sheats scored a fast break lay-up to bring the margin back to five with 1:08 on the clock.
The first half featured six ties and seven lead changes as each team held six-point leads at one point. With the score tied at 6-6 after five minutes, the Bulls made the first run of the half, scoring 12 of the next 18 points. Miller scored five of her 12 first-half points in the run and Dickson added four. Stephens scored all six of UC's points as USF took an 18-12 lead with 12:10 to play.
The Bearcats countered with a 14-3 run with six different players scoring during the stretch to put UC up, 26-21, at the 7:06 mark.
Four free throws brought USF back within one point, but UC answered with a pair of free throws and a Karen Twehues three-pointer to extend the margin to six with 5:16 left in the half.
The USF then showed its explosive nature, scoring 11 points in a minute to take a 34-31 lead with 3:34 left in the half. Dickson scored back-to-back baskets and Grace capped the run with her second three-pointer of the half.
May found Jones underneath on consecutive possessions to regain the lead, but Dickson made a pair of free throws with 19 seconds left to give the Bulls a 40-39 lead at the half.
Stephens led the Bearcats with 12 points on 5-of-9 shooting and Jones had seven points and four rebounds. UC shot 48.3 percent from the field to 38.9 percent for USF, but committed 14 turnovers that led to 15 points for the Bulls.
Dickson led USF with 14 points, but shot just 4-of-11 from the floor. Miller had 12 points and six rebounds and Shantia Grace handed out six assists.