TicketsFeb. 25, 2006
CINCINNATI, Ohio - Notre Dame tied the game at the buzzer and went on to a 75-66 overtime win over Cincinnati to spoil Senior Day for the Bearcats in front a season-high 1,072 people at Fifth Third Arena on Saturday.
The game featured 13 ties and 15 lead changes. Until the final minute of overtime, neither team held a lead of more than six points.
After trailing for much of the second half, the Bearcats (17-9, 7-8) scored six-straight points, four by Michelle Jones, to tie the score at 53-53 with 1:35 to go.
Courtney LaVere, who scored a game-high 17 points on 8-of-11 shooting, put UND (15-10, 7-8) back ahead with 1:14 to go, but UC got clutch free throws from Karen Twehues to even the score with 47 seconds left.
After a defensive stand by the Bearcats, they ran the clock down until Treasure Humphries picked up a loose ball and hit an eight-footer with 2.4 seconds left to put UC ahead for the first time since six minutes into the half.
After a timeout, the Irish threw the ball all the way down court, where Lindsay Schrader caught it at the foul line and found a streaking Tulyah Gaines on the right side. Gaines ended up with a four-footer that went in as the buzzer sounded.
In the overtime the Bearcats made just 4-of-11 shots, while UND made 4-of-5 and then 10-of-11 free throws. All-American Megan Duffy scored 10 of her 17 points in the overtime, including hitting all eight of her free throws.
"I think we were just shell-shocked going into the overtime," said head coach Laurie Pirtle. "We didn't come out with the same intensity in overtime that we had the rest of the game."
The loss snapped a three-game winning streak for UC. It was the final home game for seniors Micah Harvey, Bellva May and Anne Stephens. The Bearcats close the regular season on Tuesday, Feb. 28 at Marquette before heading to the 2006 BIG EAST Championships, which begin on March 4 in Hartford, Conn.
Humphries and Twehues led four Bearcats in double-figures with 14 points apiece. Jones had 11 points and nine rebounds and Shelly Bellman added 10 points and eight boards. Harvey had a game-high five assists.
UC shot just .329 from the floor and was 5-of-20 from behind the arc. The Bearcats committed a season-low 11 turnovers, but scored just 12 second chance points off of 20 offensive rebounds.
The Irish shot .491 from the floor and took just four three-pointers, making two. Gaines set career-highs of 14 points and 11 rebounds for her first double-double and Schrader, whose brother is a sophomore pitcher on the Bearcat baseball team, scored 11.
Neither offense got a foothold in the first half and the teams were tied at 9-9 after almost seven minutes when Twehues hit a three-pointer to give the Bearcats the lead.
The Irish got a triple from Breona Gray in response and scored the next two baskets for a 16-12 advantage with 11:11 to play.
Another trey by Twehues ignited a 10-4 run by UC. Jill Stephens made her second three-pointer of the season and followed with a jumper to cap the run and give the Bearcats a 22-20 lead with 4:30 to go.
ND scored the next eight points, however, six by Gaines, to earn a 28-22 lead. Humphries, who scored UC's first basket of the game, made a spinning lay-up as the shot clock expired to send the Bearcats into the lockerroom trailing, 28-24, at the half.
UC shot just .313 in the half and was 3-of-10 from behind the arc. Only five Bearcats scored in the half, as Twehues and Bellman had six and Humphries and Stephens scored five. Bellman and Stephens each had four rebounds.
Gaines led UND with six at the break with six rebounds as the Irish shot .444 from the floor and owned a 16-6 edge in the paint.
Bellman and Twehues sandwiched triples around a pair of Irish free throws to quickly tie the score at 30-30 as the second half got underway. UC would miss its final eight three-pointers after that.
After UC took a 32-30 lead on free throws, each team scored just once each in the next five and a half minutes. Duffy made a three-pointer and Crystal Erwin scored inside for a 37-34 UND lead with 10:08 to play.
The teams essentially traded scores for the next five minutes, with the Irish never giving up the lead, but never going up by more than four until consecutive baskets by Duffy and Charel Allen gave them a 53-47 edge, setting up the final four minutes.