TicketsJan. 3, 2006
CINCINNATI, Ohio - All along Laurie Pirtle has said, "if you want to be the best, you have to beat the best." On Tuesday night her Bearcats had a chance to do just that against No. 8 Rutgers, but they were outscored 36-18 in the second half of a 64-51 loss in the first ever BIG EAST game for UC.
"We went majorly away from our game plan," said Pirtle about the second half. "There was a tentativeness about us that made it hard for us to get results. You have to give credit to a very good team who is good defensively, but a big part of it was our fault and how we responded to that pressure."
The Bearcats (10-2, 0-1) were held to 25 percent shooting in the second half and at one point went seven minutes without a field goal. The Scarlet Knights (10-2, 2-0) used that time to turn a 39-34 deficit into a 46-41 lead with 8:35 left.
Anne Stephens broke the drought with two of her team-high 17 points to draw within three, but was sidelined with her fourth foul and RU scored the next eight points to take a commanding, 56-45, lead with six minutes left. Seven was as close as UC got after that.
The loss snapped a seven-game winning streak for the Bearcats and ended a 10-game home winning streak. UC fell to 6-42 all-time against ranked teams.
Michelle Campbell scored 14 of her game-high 21 points in the second half to lead Rutgers' comeback from a 33-28 halftime deficit. All-American Cappie Pondexter added 16 points with four assists.
Michelle Jones was the only other Bearcat in double-figures with 10 points on 5-of-6 shooting to go with a team-high six rebounds. Bellva May played her best game of the year with seven points, five rebounds and three assists. Leading scorer Treasure Humphries had seven points, four assists and two steals and was limited in the second half due to cramps and a nagging injury.
Rutgers shot 52 percent from the field for the game, the highest percentage allowed by the Bearcats this year. UC, which entered the game leading the BIG EAST in free throw percentage, was just 5-of-15 from the line.
The Bearcats will look for their first BIG EAST on Saturday, Jan. 7 as they take on Providence on the road at 1 p.m.
It was apparent from the beginning that the Bearcats wanted to go inside as Stephens made the first three baskets for UC as the score was tied at 8-8 after three and a half minutes.
The Knights looked to put away the underdogs, scoring the next seven points, three on a three-point play Pondexter, to pull ahead 15-8. But the Bearcats held their own, despite Rutgers making nine of its first 10 shots.
The margin was still seven with nine minutes to play when speedsters Humphries and May turned it on. First May found Stephens underneath for her fifth basket of the half. Then on back-to-back fast breaks, Humphries found May for open jumpers, the second one cutting the margin to 21-20.
After Campbell seemed to stem the tide with a three-point play, Humphries answered with the only three-pointer of the first half for either team. May then handed out her third assist of the half, finding Jones underneath for UC's first lead since 2-0. Stephens capped the 13-3 run with another open look underneath to give the Bearcats a 27-24 advantage with 2:24 left in the half.
Pondexter took it upon herself to right the Rutgers offense, scoring twice to cut the lead to 29-28. The half ended with a flourish by UC, as Jones scored a lay-up with five seconds left and Shelly Bellman stole the inbounds pass and laid it in at the horn for a 33-28 UC lead at the break.
The Bearcats shot 57 percent from the field in the first half against a defense that came in allowing opponents to shoot just 36.5 percent. Stephens was 6-of-8 for 12 points and Jones made all four of her shots to score eight with a team-high four rebounds. Humphries added seven points, two steals and two assists.
Pondexter was the only Knight in double-figures with 11 points. RU shot 54.2 percent from the floor, but committed 10 turnovers that led to 17 UC points.