TicketsFeb. 15, 2006
CINCINNATI, Ohio - Cincinnati shot just 26 percent from the field but used a 49 to 34 rebounding edge to topple West Virginia, 56-46, in a key BIG EAST victory at Fifth Third Arena on Wednesday.
The Bearcats broke a tie in the standings with the Mountaineers to improve to 5-7 in the league and 15-8 overall. The victory clinched a winning season for UC. WVU fell to 12-11 on the year and 4-8 in the BIG EAST.
UC used 28 offensive rebounds to score 21 second chance points in the game. The Bearcats also scored 23 points off of 24 WVU turnovers.
"We've really worked on our offensive rebounds," said head coach Laurie Pirtle. "The last few teams we've played have been the better rebounding teams in the league, so we have had to improve. Of course when you shoot 26 percent you get a lot of chances for offensive rebounds."
Micah Harvey led UC with 11 points and Shelly Bellman grabbed a career-high 14 rebounds. Michelle Jones added 10 points, six rebounds and a career-high three steals and Treasure Humphries had nine points and four steals.
LaQuita Owens scored a game-high 15 points for WVU and added five rebounds and five assists. Leading scorer Olayinka Sanni was held to six points and three rebounds.
After four-straight turnovers to start the game, the offenses of both teams never really got untracked. The Bearcats scored just twice in the first seven minutes, but found themselves down just 6-4. They then scored the next six points while holding the Mountaineers without a score for over six minutes.
Karen Twehues made three-pointers on consecutive possessions to extend the UC lead to 16-10 with 9:12 left.
Jones hit a pair of free throws with 6:27 on the clock to push the advantage to 20-13 before WVU scored eight-straight points, six by Owens. Ashley Powell's free throws capped the run for a 21-20 Mountaineer lead with 3:20 remaining.
Those were the last points of the half for WVU as UC recovered from a three and a half minute scoring drought to post the final 10 points of the half. Harvey scored the first seven points of the run, including a three-pointer and end-to-end drive for a lay-in.
Jones, who had two of UC's 11 first half offensive rebounds, hit a pair of free throws and had a put-back with three seconds left for a 30-21 lead at the break.
Harvey had a game-high nine points at the break and Twehues added eight. Jones had seven points and four rebounds and Bellman grabbed seven boards. UC held a 24 to 17 edge in rebounding and scored 11 second-chance points to none for WVU. The Bearcats also held a 12 to 5 lead in points off turnovers.
WVU, which outshot UC .333 to .314 from the field, was led by seven points by Owens and six by Chakhia Cole. Cole recorded a team-high four rebounds and Owens had three assists.
After Sanni scored to open the second half, the Bearcats ran off nine of the next 11 points to take control. Humphries capped the run with a three-pointer after being held scoreless in the first half for the second-straight game.
Owens scored four points in a 5-0 run that pulled WVU within eight at 44-36 with 10:07 left, but the Bearcats used an 8-2 run, with four of the points coming at the foul line, to push the margin to 54-40 with 2:41 left.
UC's last six points, spread out over the final seven minutes of the game, all came at the line. The Bearcats were 16-of-24 from the line for the game and WVU was just 8-of-12.