TicketsFeb. 5, 2007
Game Notes
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Game 23 - UC vs. Date: Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2007
Time: 7 p.m. EST
Site: Fifth Third Arena (13,176) Tickets: GoBEARCATS.com
Live Stats: GoBEARCATS.com
TV: None.
Radio: CATSVision (Tommy Gelehrter).
Series: leads, 1-0.
Last Meeting: 58, UC 57 at Alumni Hall.
SETTING THE SCENE: The Bearcats hope to get back on track and make a run at the BIG EAST Championship, in which only the top 12 teams in the conference advance. The of , currently sitting at 12th place, hosts --right behind UC in 13th place-- this Tuesday, Feb. 6 at Fifth Third Arena. The 8 p.m. tip-off will be the first time has played in . The Bearcats are 9-4 at home and the Friars are 3-6 when playing on the road. Both teams own a 12-10 record and are coming off tough losses--the Bearcats, an 85-43 defeat at No. 25 , and the Friars, an 84-40 setback to Pitt at home.
STORY LINES:
w With six games to play, the Bearcats are currently in 12th place in the BIG EAST standings. is on their heels in 13th place. Only the top 12 teams in the conference advance to the BIG EAST Championship.
w This game features two freshmen from the opposing teams with strikingly similar statistics. The Bearcats' Carla Jacobs and the Friars' Kendria Holmes both lead their teams in assists. Both dish out 4.24 assists per game, tying them for fifth in the BIG EAST. Jacobs is UC's fourth leading scorer at 8.6, while Holmes is the fourth leading scorer for at a 7.7 clip.
w For the third consecutive game the Bearcats' opponent will have a player from on its roster. After facing UConn's Mel Thomas (Mt. Notre Dame) on Jan. 30 and Rutgers' Myia McCurdy (Winton Woods), 's Catherine Bove ( ) will return to the to play in her hometown for the only time in her collegiate career.
w Michelle Jones leads UC in starts this season with 21. She is the only Bearcat to start every BIG EAST game this season.
w UC has hit a brick wall, losing its last eight of 11 games, after starting the season 9-2.
w hopes to use its leverage on the boards to its advantage. UC is the third best rebounding team in the BIG EAST (+8.4), while the Friars are the worst in the conference (-5.3).
w The last time the Bearcats won a conference game at home was vs. No. 24 DePaul on Jan. 14, a 62-44 win.
w has lost six consecutive conference games and UC has lost its last three.
NOTES FROM THE GAME:
w The loss brought UC to 7-47 all-time vs. Top 25 teams. Eight of the Bearcats' 10 losses this season have been to ranked teams or teams receiving votes in the polls. UC is 1-4 this season against ranked foes with losses to No. 14/16 , No. 22/24 , No. 17/18 , No. 5/6 , and No. 25/23 . The Bearcats' lone win over a ranked opponent was on Jan. 14 when UC defeated No. 24/24 DePaul, 62-44. The Bearcats are 0-3 this season vs. teams that received votes (, USF, Xavier).
w The game vs. marked the first time in UC women's basketball history that the Bearcats played three consecutive games vs. Top 25 teams in the same season. The Bearcats went 0-3. On one other occasion, UC played back-to-back-to-back games vs. Top 25 teams, but it spanned two different seasons. During the 1981-82 season UC fell, 83-59, at No. 16 Memphis on Feb. 26. The next game, UC's final of that season, the Bearcats defeated No. 20 Ohio State, 71-70, at home. The following year, in their opener, the Bearcats dropped an 84-76 decision to No. 8 Kentucky on Nov. 27.
w The 85-43 loss to No. 25 Rutgers was the 10th-worst loss in program history and the worst since a 93-50 loss to on Feb. 18, 1992.
w Freshman Natasha Graboski sank a 3-point field goal, the first of her collegiate career.
w UC's 10 assists vs. No. 25 Rutgers tied a season low. The Bearcats also had just 10 assists vs. No. 5 UConn (1/30/07).
w The Scarlet Knights outrebounded UC, 27-23. became just the fourth team to do so this season.
BEARCATS DATA
PLAYERS HONORED:
w Carla Jacobs earned UC's first BIG EAST Weekly honor this season, when she was named Freshman of the Week on Jan. 29. Jacobs, a native of , had a career week as she averaged 16.0 points, 6.0 assists and 3.5 rebounds, while shooting 6-of-6 from the foul line. The guard tied her career high with 15 points and dished out a career-high 10 assists in the team's 80-62 win over Georgetown (1/23/07), nabbing her first career double-double. She bettered her offensive production with a new career-high 17 points in UC's loss to No. 18/17 (1/27/07). Jacobs shot 6-of-15 from the field, including a 3-of-6 effort from 3-point range.
w Jill Stephens (Mineral Wells, W.Va./Parkersburg South) was named the athletics department's top female scholar-athlete of the fall quarter after earning a perfect 4.0 grade point average, plus was named to the Topcat Honor Roll. To qualify for the Topcat Honor Roll, a student-athlete must have earned a grade point average between a 3.5 and a 4.0 GPA.
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.
MOST IMPROVED:
w Junior Emy Ogide is averaging 6.2 points a game this season, more than doubling her career average coming into the season of 2.2 points. Ogide led UC in scoring in back-to-back games. She put up 14 points vs. No. 25/23 (2/3/07) and the game before, scored a team-high 12 points, on 5-of-6 six shooting from the field vs. No. 5/6 UConn (1/30/07). 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.
BEARCATS ATTACK THE BOARDS:
w The Bearcats have won the battle of the boards in 18 of their 22 games this season. Only and Top 25-ranked teams Rutgers (2/3/07), (12/14/06) and (12/28/06) have beaten UC in that category. owns a +8.4 rebounding margin this season, third in the BIG EAST. The UC single-season record is a +6.7 margin.
BOARD BUDDIES:
w The sophomore trio of Shelly Bellman, Michelle Jones and Angel Morgan are wrecking balls on the boards for UC. Jones is an expert on offensive rebounding, while Bellman and Morgan make their marks on the defensive end. Bellman leads the team with 6.6, Jones adds 6.0 and Morgan is third with 5.3. Jones has 284 career rebounds and more than half have been offensive (148). Of her 131 rebounds this season, 71 are offensive. She averages 3.23 per game, sixth in the BIG EAST. Bellman has 318 career rebounds and 239 have been defensive. She has 100 defensive rebounds of her 138 total this season. Morgan has 117 rebounds this season and 90 have been defensive. She has 168 in her career, with 119 of those being defensive.
"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 102 of 193 attempts. After her 11-point performance vs. No. 5/6 UConn (1/30/07) she is second on the team in scoring (12.1). 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.
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 37 percent, sixth in the BIG EAST.
SCORING DROUGHT
w After scoring in the first 48 games of her college career, Shelly Bellman was held scoreless vs. No. 17/18 (1/27/07) and No. 5/6 UConn (1/30/07). Bellman broke the slump with five points vs. No. 25/23 (2/3/07).
STEALS AND DEALS:
w Senior Treasure Humphries and freshman Carla Jacobs are the masters of creating shots for their teammates, helping UC to 16.71 a game, fourth in the BIG EAST. The duo are also creating havoc on the defensive end, going one-two in steals.
w Humphries, who led the team in steals both her freshman and junior seasons, is pacing the team in thefts with 50 and is fourth in the BIG EAST with 2.27 a game. She has had multiple steals in 18 of 22 games this season. She tied a career-high with seven take aways vs. No. 23 Arkansas (12/28/06). Jacobs is second on the team in steals with 38. She has had multiple steals in 11 of 20 games this season.
w Carla Jacobs recently took over as UC's assist leader with 89 in 21 games, a 4.24 average that ranks fifth in the BIG EAST. She had a career-high 10 assists against (1/23/07). She knows how to take care of the ball too. She is third in the conference in assist/turnover ratio (2.07) and the top freshman in that category. Humphries is second on the team in assists (85). She has had three or more assists in 17 of the Bearcats' 22 games. She is 10th in the BIG EAST with 3.86 per game.
DOUBLE OR NOTHING:
w Treasure Humphries is UC's leading scorer (12.6) and Shelly Bellman is the Bearcats' leading rebounder (6.6). 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 seven games she has played this season and in 29 of 50 career contests. Michelle Jones has scored in double figures in a team-high 16 games this season and 33 in her career.
w The Bearcats have had at least three players score in double figures in every game except for three this season (only two vs. USF on 1/6/07 and vs. on 1/27/07 and only one vs. 2/3/07). 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).
GETTING FLOOR TIME:
w Shelly Bellman leads the squad in playing time, seeing the floor 29.2 minutes a game. Angel Morgan is second on the team in average minutes played with 28.9. 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 .
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 an 89-65 win over Arkansas-Pine Bluff (11/14/06).
NORTHWESTERN TOURNEY HONORS:
w Shelly Bellman averaged 19.5 points and 5.5 rebounds and was named to the all-tournament team of the Mildred and Roger L. White Invitational (12/1-2/06), hosted by Northwestern.
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.
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 have a week off before facing BIG EAST opponent on Tuesday, Feb. 13 at 7 p.m. at the .