TicketsJan. 29, 2007
Game Notes vs. UConn
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UC vs. No. 5/7
Date: Tuesday, Jan. 30, 2007
Time: 7 p.m. EST
Site: Fifth Third Arena (13,176)
Tickets: GoBEARCATS.com - $2 each
Live Stats: GoBEARCATS.com
TV: CPTV, Play by Play: Bob Picozzi, Analyst: Meghan Culmo.
Radio: CATSVision (Tommy Gelehrter).
Series: UConn leads, 1-0.
Last Meeting: UConn 92-UC 71.
SETTING THE SCENE: The Bearcats take on the only team with an unbeaten mark in the BIG EAST when they host No. 5/7 on Tuesday, Jan. 30 at Fifth Third Arena, the first time the Huskies have played at his venue. The 7 p.m. tip off will feature the highest ranked team (No. 5) UC has faced since 1990 when the Bearcats fell, 99-38, to No. 3 Georgia on Dec. 13. The Huskies are the fifth ranked opponent for this season, and the second consecutive.. The Bearcats are recovering from a 76-59 loss to No. 18/17 on Jan. 27. UConn won at home, 64-47, over Notre Dame on Jan. 27.
STORY LINES:
w UConn's Mel Thomas and UC's Michelle Jones both played at Mt. Notre Dame in Cincinnati where they led the team to a 28-0 record and a Division I state championship together. Jill Stephens finished second in the West Virginia Ms. Basketball voting to UConn's Renee Montgomery, who attended , located an hour and 15 minutes south of Parkersburg South, where Stephens played. UC's Stephanie Stevens played at , just 30 minutes from Brittany Hunter's alma mater, . UC's Emy Ogide grew up outside of , , just a two-hour drive down I-185 to where Ketia Swanier is from.
w Michelle Jones leads UC in starts this season with 19. She is the only Bearcat to start every BIG EAST game this season.
w UConn leads the BIG EAST in 10 of 20 categories. The Bearcats lead the conference in rebounding defense (31.8).
w The game will feature two of the best ball handlers in the league. UConn's Ketia Swanier leads the BIG EAST in the assist/turnover ratio at 2.26. 's Carla Jacobs is right behind her with a 2.13 ratio. Both average 4.4 assists per game. The contest will also feature two of the best from 3-point range. Mel Thomas is second in the conference in 3-point field goal percentage (.445), while Karen Twehues is fifth (.392).
w UC is 7-45 all-time vs. Top 25 teams. The Bearcats' most recent win over a ranked opponent was on Jan. 14 when UC defeated then ranked No. 24 DePaul, 62-44. UC is 1-3 this season against ranked foes. The Bearcats are 0-3 vs. teams that received votes (, USF, Xavier).
NOTES FROM :
w Carla Jacobs scored a career-high 17 points. She earned UC's first ever Player of the Week recognition
w Michelle Jones had a game-high seven rebounds in the loss for UC (12-8, 3-5 BIG EAST).
w Stephanie Stevens scored the first 3-point field goal of her career and hit 4-of-4 free throws, tying her career high for points scored with seven.
w UC shot a season-best 87 percent (20-of-23) from the free throw line.
w Treasure Humphries did not register an assist vs. , breaking a 62-game streak where she had dished out at least one helper.
w 's five steals vs. the Golden Eagles tied a season low (UC also had only five steals vs. Seton Hall on 1/20/07).
w For the first time in her career Shelly Bellman was held scoreless. In 48 games she had scored at least one point. She was 0-for-3 from the field vs. .
w UC out rebounded , 35-31, though the Eagles had 18 offensive boards to UC's 16 and scored 17 second chance points. The Bearcats have out rebounded 17 of their 20 opponents this season.
BEARCATS DATA
DOUBLING DOWN:
w Carla Jacobs got UC's 12th double-double of the 2006-07 season with a career performance against (1/23/07). She had15 points and set a new career high with 10 assists.
w Karen Twehues and Michelle Jones both registered double-doubles vs. Xavier (1/17/07). Jones, accomplishing the feat for the second time in as many games, had 18 points and 10 rebounds. Twehues, notching the third of this season and in her career, had 12 points and 10 rebounds. The last time two Bearcat players had a twin double in the same game was Dec. 21, 2004 vs. Loyola Marymount when Anne Stephens scored 11 points and grabbed 11 boards, and Toni Slaughter had 16 points and 12 rebounds.
w Karen Twehues scored her first career double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds against Alabama A&M (12/18/06). She blocked two shots, a career-high. She added her second career double-double with 10 points and a career-high 12 rebounds against USF (1/6/07).
w Michelle Jones recorded a double-double in the season-opener against (11/10/06). She scored 11 points and nabbed 10 rebounds for her second career double-double. Jones tacked on her second double-double of the season with a game-high 19 points and a career-high 13 rebounds vs. No. 24 DePaul (1/14/07).
w Shelly Bellman has six career double-doubles, including five this season, most recently vs. Seton Hall (1/20/07) when she had 12 points and 11 rebounds. Against Notre Dame (1/10/07) she had 13 points, 10 rebounds and added seven assists. She had 14 points and 11 rebounds against St. Francis (11/22/06); 13 points and 13 rebounds against (11/28/06); and 17 points and 11 rebounds against Tennessee Tech (12/21/06). She also had seven assists, on the verge of getting UC's first triple-double since Jane Anne Preston in 1992.
BEARCATS ATTACK THE BOARDS:
w The Bearcats have won the battle of the boards in 17 of their 20 games this season. Only and Top 25-ranked (12/14/06) and (12/28/06) have beaten UC in that category. owns a +9.3 rebounding margin this season, third in the BIG EAST. The UC single-season record is a +6.7 margin.
STEALS AND DEALS:
w Senior Treasure Humphries, who led the team in steals both her freshman and junior seasons, is pacing the team in thefts with 46 and is fourth in the BIG EAST with 2.42 a game. She has had multiple steals in 17 of 19 games this season.
w Humphries also leads the team in assists (83). She has had three or more assists in 16 of the Bearcats' 19 games. She is sixth in the BIG EAST with 4.37 per game.
w Carla Jacobs had a career-high 10 assists against (1/23/07) . She is fifth in the BIG EAST in assists per game with 4.37 and second in assist/turnover ratio (2.13).
DOUBLE OR NOTHING:
w Treasure Humphries is UC's leading scorer (13.2) and Shelly Bellman is the Bearcats' leading rebounder (7.0). Bellman averaged 19.5 ppg and 5.5 rpg and was named to the all-tournament team of the Mildred and Roger L. White Invitational (12/1-2/06), hosted by Northwestern. Both Bellman and Humphries have been named to the BIG EAST Honor Roll this season.
w Bellman has scored in double figures in all but five games she has played this season and in 29 of 48 career contests. Michelle Jones has scored in double figures in a team-high 15 games this season and 32 in her career.
w The Bearcats have had at least three players score in double figures in every game except for two this season (only two vs. USF on 1/6/07 and vs. on 1/27/07). The Bearcats have had five players score in double figures in four games this season; Cincinnati's 83-51 win over St. Francis (Pa.) (11/22/06), UC's 86-70 win over Tennessee Tech (12/21/06), a 94-82 loss to No. 23 Arkansas, and UC's BIG EAST home opening win over Georgetown, 77-55 (1/3/07).
"A" FOR ACCURACY:
w Sophomore Michelle Jones is shooting a team-high 53 percent from the field, 10th in the BIG EAST. She has converted 99 of 187 attempts. She had career highs of 10 field goals made (10-of-13) and 24 points against Tennessee Tech (12/21/06). She was also a perfect 4-of-4 from the free throw line.
GETTING FLOOR TIME:
w Shelly Bellman leads the squad in playing time, seeing the floor 30.1 minutes a game. Angel Morgan is second on the team in average minutes played with 29.0. Morgan played the entire 40 minutes and scored a career-high 18 points, vaulting UC to a 74-57 win over (11/28/06). The win gave head coach Laurie Pirtle her 300th at .
3-POINT THREAT:
w Senior Karen Twehues is third all-time at UC in career 3-point field goals with175. She leads the Bearcats in 3-point field goal percentage at 39 percent, fifth in the BIG EAST.
MOST IMPROVED:
w Junior Emy Ogide is averaging 5.6 points a game this season, more than doubling her career average coming into the season of 2.2 points. She had a career game in UC's 65-60 win over (11/16/06). The 6-2 junior forward came off the bench to score a game- and career-high 18 points, doubling her previous best of nine points set last year against on Feb. 21, 2006.
RECORD SHATTERED:
w UC broke a team record for 3-point field goals in a game in an 89-65 win over Arkansas-Pine Bluff on Nov. 14. UC finished with 13 treys, including 10 in the first half. The Bearcats bested the old mark of 12 set vs. on March 5, 2004.
STREAKING:
w The Bearcats extended their home-opener winning streak to 11 with the win over Arkansas-Pine Bluff (11/14/06).
EARLY BIRDS:
w The Bearcats had their earliest season opener in school history, playing at on Nov. 10.
DAGOSTINO DEPARTS UC STAFF:
w First-year assistant coach Dave Dagostino has left the UC coaching staff, citing personal reasons. The resignation was effective on January 26. Prior to joining the UC staff last Spring, Dagostino had been the head coach at , where he also resigned from his post following a six-year tenure at the school, including three as the Gamecock's head coach.
STIFLING "D":
w has held 11 of its 20 opponents to 65 points or less and is averaging 66.2 points allowed this season. The Bearcats held No. 24 DePaul (1/14/07) to 44 points, a season low.
STARTING FRESH:
w With the start against YSU, Carla Jacobs became one of nine true freshmen Division I point guards in the nation who started in their teams' women's basketball season openers.
LOOKING AHEAD: The Bearcats will face off with Rutgers at the on Saturday, Feb. 3 with a 2 p.m. tip off.