TicketsJan. 25, 2006
CINCINNATI, Ohio - On a night when Shelly Bellman scored 26 and Karen Twehues made six three-pointers, it would take something special to grab the spotlight. Junior Treasure Humphries did just that, recording a school-record 14 assists in Cincinnati's 87-68 win over Georgetown in BIG EAST action on Wednesday night at Fifth Third Arena.
The win improved UC to 13-5 on the year and 3-4 in the BIG EAST and GU fell to 8-10, 1-6.
Humphries, who added 10 points for her first career double-double, equaled her previous career-high with eight assists in the first half alone. She led UC's dismantling of the Georgetown zone defense, as UC made a season-high 10 triples on just 16 attempts. Twehues was 6-of-10 herself for 18 points, the second time she has made six in a game.
"We were going up against a team that plays almost exclusively zone and our kids really came through with the execution," said head coach Laurie Pirtle. "We were able to take them out of what they wanted to do."
Bellman, who netted 28 points two games ago, shot 10-of-13 from the floor to lead UC's .526 shooting percentage and had a team-high seven rebounds. Anne Stephens was the fourth Bearcat in double-figures with 12 points.
Kieraah Marlow recorded game-highs of 27 points and 10 rebounds for Georgetown, who also got 15 points from Kristin Heidloff. The Bearcats held a 35 to 25 edge on the boards and scored 16 second-chance points.
The UC defense dominated the opening of the second half, allowing just two Kristin Heidloff three-pointers in the first seven minutes as the Bearcats turned a 39-31 halftime edge to a 61-37 lead. Twehues made three of her three-pointers in the 22-6 run and Bellman added nine herself.
UC was then held without a field goal for six minutes, as the Hoyas used a 14-1 run to close to 66-53 with 6:19 left in the game. After a Humphries score, Marlow scored a three-point play to cut the lead to 12, but that was as close as GU got.
Humphries tied the record on the next possession, finding Stephens underneath, and then hit a jumper herself to push the lead back to 16 with four minutes left.
The record-breaker came as the Hoyas were pressing to get back in the game and Humphries hit Stephens all alone under the basket with 3:21 to play to extend the margin to 19, 77-58.
"I was just worried about what play we were running and what offense we were in," said Humphries, who is UC's leading scorer on the season. "It was all my teammates. It was their shooting. As long as we win and get it done on the court, it doesn't matter what my numbers are."
The previous mark of 13 was held by K.B. Sharp, UC's all-time assists leader, who set the record against Robert Morris on Nov. 20, 2001.
The Bearcats built their first half lead on the strength of Bellman and three-point shooting. The freshman had 15 first-half points and made 6-of-9 shots, including both three-pointers. She scored the first seven points for UC, countering six points by Marlow that helped GU to an 8-7 lead with 16:18 left.
Twehues then entered and made back-to-back triples and Bellman hit her first to give the Bearcats the lead for good, 16-8, at the 14:35 mark. After the Hoyas closed to one, sisters Jill and Anne Stephens scored consecutive baskets and a Bellman jumper capped the 6-0 run for a 22-15 advantage with 10:29 on the clock.
The lead was pushed to nine when Bellman made her second trey and Michelle Jones made the first three-point attempt of her career, forced into it as the shot clock was expiring. This made the score 31-22 with 5:03 left in the half.
GU scored only six Marlow free throws in the final four minutes and UC got a triple from Micah Harvey and a three-point play from Bellman to take a 39-31 lead into halftime.
UC shot 15-of-30 from the field in the half and made 6-of-9 three-pointers, while holding the Hoyas to .364 shooting. The Bearcats held an 18 to 10 rebounding edge, but GU made 12-of-14 free throws compared to 3-of-6 for UC.
Besides her team-high 15 points, Bellman also led the Bearcats with four rebounds and two steals.
Marlow had a game-high 16 points in the first half, 10 coming from the foul line.