TicketsJan. 6, 2007
Box Score | Notes | Photo Gallery
- The sunshine state was not friendly to the Bearcats. UC suffered its worst loss of the season, a 67-49 setback to , dropping the Bearcats' overall record to 10-4 and 1-2 in the BIG EAST.
Michelle Jones scored a team-high 15 points for UC and Karen Twehues grabbed a career-high 12 rebounds to go along with 10 points for a double-double, the second of her career.
The first 20 minutes was a defensive standoff with the Bulls taking a 26-23 lead. The Bearcats had their lowest first-half scoring output of the season and shot just 27 percent from the floor. UC held the Bulls to their second lowest first-half total of the season. The Bulls, who average 79.6 points per game, only scored less in the first half in a 60-48 win over Villanova on Dec. 7 when they tallied 25 points. The Bulls shot just 33 percent. The first half was a back-and-forth affair with four lead changes and four ties.
At the halfway mark of the first half, Michelle Jones - who scored seven points and grabbed five rebounds - powered down low for a bucket to give UC its largest lead, 13-9. USF used a 13-2 run to take a 22-15 lead with 5:34 to play before the half.
UC used an 8-1 run of its own to get within one point on a Karen Twehues' trey to make the score, 24-23. Twehues' long-range trey at the buzzer just missed the mark.
The second half was all USF (12-3, 2-0 BIG EAST). The Bulls came alive, shooting 53 percent from the floor, while UC continued to struggle; only shooting 28 percent. Combined with the first half, UC made 16-of-69 shots attempted, a season-low. USF outscored the Bearcats, 41-26 in the second stanza. UC also had 20 turnovers to USF's 14.
The Bearcats play the second of back-to-back conference road games when they travel to Notre Dame for a BIG EAST showdown on Wednesday, Jan. 10 for a 7 p.m. tipoff.