TicketsFeb. 18, 2006
CINCINNATI, Ohio - Treasure Humphries scored 11 points in the final six minutes and Micah Harvey recorded her first double-double as the backcourt led Cincinnati over Louisville, 76-65, in front of a season-high crowd at Fifth Third Arena on Saturday.
The Bearcats snapped a four-game losing streak to the rival Cardinals in front of 712 fans. The win was the second straight for UC and improved its record to 16-8 overall and 6-7 in the BIG EAST. U of L fell to 16-8 also and is 7-6 in the league.
A number of former Bearcat players and coaches were in attendance and UC honored 2004 graduate and second-leading career scorer Valerie King at halftime.
"We just want to say how great the crowd was today," said head coach Laurie Pirtle. "We love the RallyCats being there and all painted up and having the former players made it an exciting game."
Louisville led, 30-29, at the half and the lead changed hands four times in the first 10 minutes of the second stanza. Jill Stephens made the first three-pointer of her career and then found sister Anne underneath for a score that gave UC a 52-46 advantage with 9:38 to play.
The Cards closed to within two a couple of minutes later, but Humphries capped a 6-0 run by blocking a shot, grabbing the rebound and beating everyone down the court to lay it in for a 60-52 lead.
U of L scored the next four points to close in, but Humphries drew fouls on consecutive possessions and hit all four free throws. After the Cards again got within four, this time with 3:14 to play, Harvey hit a big three-pointer and Humphries followed with a three-point play to push the lead to 10 with 2:18 to play, effectively putting the game away.
Harvey finished with a season-high 16 points and 10 assists and Humphries scored 13 points with six rebounds and three assists. Shelly Bellman added 15 points and six rebounds and Michelle Jones had a game-high 10 rebounds.
UC held a 41 to 32 edge on the boards and shot .517 from the field in the second half. The Bearcats were 17-of-21 from the free throw line and 7-of-17 from behind the arc.
The Cardinals were led by Jazz Covington with 19 points and eight rebounds and Missy Taylor scored 16. Freshman Angel McCoughtry recorded 12 points and nine rebounds. U of L was just 10-of-17 from the line.
"We had a game plan to help each other out defensively and really execute our stuff on offense," added Pirtle. "We did both of those things against a really good team."
The Bearcats have one final home game, hosting Notre Dame on Saturday, Feb. 25 at 2 p.m. First they travel to face Georgetown on Tuesday, Feb. 21 at 8 p.m.
The Bearcats jumped out to a 6-1 lead in less than three minutes as Harvey found Bellman and Humphries for two of her six first-half assists. Harvey then hit a three-pointer that sparked a 7-0 run to give UC a 15-5 lead with 14:31 to play.
The Cardinals then found their rhythm on offense, running off 20 of the next 25 points. McCoughtry got it going with a lay-in and a three-point play. Taylor went on to make a pair of triples, including one to cap the run for a 25-20 advantage with 5:42 left in the half.
The Bearcats responded by reclaiming the lead, scoring the next six points on baskets by Emy Ogide and Jill Stephens and free throws by Harvey. The teams traded the lead back and forth in the final two minutes with U of L going into the lockerroom with a 30-29 lead.
Harvey led UC with seven points to go with her six assists. Anne Stephens had a game-high six rebounds and Bellman, Humphries and Jill Stephens each had four. Ten different Bearcats scored in the half as UC shot .393 from the field and was just 3-of-12 from behind the arc.
Taylor had a game-high 10 points at the break and Covington had eight points and four rebounds. U of L shot .375 from the field.