TicketsJan. 7, 2006
PROVIDENCE, R.I. - Cincinnati came up short in its bid for its first BIG EAST win, being outscored 11-6 in the final 4:22 of a 58-57 loss at Providence on Saturday. The Bearcats suffered consecutive losses for the first time this season and fell to 10-3 overall and 0-2 in their new league.
For the second time in two league games UC held a lead at halftime, this time a 28-22 advantage. The Bearcats bumped the lead to 36-24 with 15:46 left as Anne Stephens scored six of her game-high 20 points in the 8-2 run.
The Friars scored the next six points to close to 36-31 with 13:35 remaining. UC's led became eight on a Karen Twehues three-pointer at the 9:27 mark, but UC would manage just two field goals over the next seven minutes.
PC followed Twehues' score with another 6-0 run to cut the lead to two. Both offenses struggled as UC was able to maintain the lead until an 8-0 PC run gave the Friars a 55-51 advantage with 2:32 left. Six of the eight points in the run came from the free throw line.
Stephens came back with two more scores and Treasure Humphries added two of her six free throws to regain the lead, 57-56, with 1:16 left.
The Bearcats got the ball back with the lead and a minute left, but turned the ball over, allowing Gayle Nwafili to hit the winning shot with 12 seconds left. UC committed another turnover with under 10 seconds left, but still got the ball back with a chance to win. Humphries' three-pointer with three seconds left was off the mark.
The win ended a 39-game BIG EAST losing streak for the Friars, who recorded their fifth-straight win to climb to 6-7 overall and 1-1 in the league.
"I don't think we came top play our A game," said head coach Laurie Pirtle. "For whatever reason you don't finish things when you don't quite show up."
UC stays in the road to face No. 7 Connecticut on Thursday, Jan. 12 at 7 p.m. at the Hartford Civic Center.
The Bearcats shot just .357 in the second half and were outrebounded in the game, 45 to 39, their biggest rebounding deficit of the season. PC grabbed 15 offensive boards to post 11 second-chance points and scored 23 points off of 17 UC turnovers.
Stephens added three blocks to go with her 20 points on 10-of-14 shooting. Humphries scored 13 points with five rebounds and Michelle Jones, making the first start of her career, recorded 12 points and seven rebounds.
Shelly Bellman grabbed 10 rebounds for UC and Micah Harvey handed out nine assists. The Bearcats had a season-low six points off the bench.
PC was led by Chelsea Marandola with 19 points and nine rebounds, while Nwafili had 17 points and Shantee Darrian came down with 11 rebounds.
The Bearcats came out strong to open the game, looking for their third-straight road win. Jones, Bellman and Humphries all contributed in a 9-0 run to take a 9-2 lead.
The teams went three minutes without scoring before the Friars scored seven-straight points to pull to 13-12 with 8:05 left. Stephens ended a two points-in-eight minutes drought for UC and preserved the lead.
Marandola scored to give PC a 16-15 lead with 5:23 remaining in the half before Humphries led the Bearcats on a 10-2 run to claim a 25-18 lead at the 2:13 mark. Humphries had four points, an assists and a steal in the run.
A jumper by Shauna Snyder pulled PC to 28-22 at the break.
The Bearcats allowed the Friars to shoot just 25 percent from the field in the first half, including a 1-of-11 performance from behind the arc. PC committed 11 turnovers to UC's 10, but held a 10 to 4 edge in points off turnovers.
Stephens had 10 points on 5-of-7 shooting in the first half and Humphries had seven points. Marandola led PC with nine points and Snyder had eight.