TicketsDec. 1, 2006
, - The night after a foot of snow fell in , fell to , 81-73, at the 23rd annual Mildred and Roger L. White Invitational hosted by Northwestern. The Bearcats (5-1) suffered their first loss of the season Friday at Welsh-Ryan Arena by the hot hand of the Huskies who shot 53 percent from behind the arc. It's the same weapon UC has thrived on this season, but the Bearcats sank just 3-of-17 from 3-point range.
"We have a young team and we have a lot of kinks to work out," said UC coach Laurie Pirtle. " is a very good team this year and this was a good game to improve on. We played a little sporadic throughout."
NIU (4-2) not only struck from long range, striking 10 times, but they camped at the free throw line, hitting 27-of-34. Down by eight points with 1:05 left in the game, the Bearcats were forced to foul. UC slimmed down the lead to four on a Treasure Humphries lay up with 41 seconds to play, but the Huskies iced the game with six free throws in the final 39 seconds of the game.
The Huskies owned a 49-45 edge with 14:25 remaining in the game when Pirtle took a timeout. The Bearcats regained the lead for the first time in the second stanza on a Bellman steal and coast-to-coast jumper with 12:35. Karen Twehues nabbed a steal on the very next possession and Bellman converted another bucket to give UC a 52-49 lead. Bellman finished the game with a season-high 25 points. She scored 17 points in the first half - equaling her previous season-high for points in game set against in the season opener.
The Huskies regained the lead for good on a trey by Kylie York at the 6:40 mark. NIU's Stephanie Raymond scored a team-high 20 points, 17 that came at the free throw line.
The Bearcats fell behind, 39-36, after a first half that saw eight lead changes six ties. UC led by as many as 10 points on a jumper by Bellman with 14:53 left to play in the period. The Huskies led by four with 4:44 remaining until the half. The Bearcats chipped away and took the lead on a Bellman free throw with 1:36 to go. UC trailed despite shooting 46 percent from the field. NIU one-upped the Bearcats and shot 60 percent (6-10) from 3-point range.
UC owned a slight edge on the boards, 39-37. For the sixth consecutive game three Bearcats scored in double figures. In addition to Bellman's 25, Michelle Jones had 13 points and nine rebounds. Twehues contributed 10 points.
The Bearcats play in the consolation round of the invitational Saturday at 3 p.m. (EST). They take on the loser of the Northwestern/Princeton game.