TicketsFeb. 12, 2007
Game Notes
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SETTING THE SCENE: The of has had a week to prepare for in a BIG EAST clash on Tuesday, Feb. 13 at 7 p.m. at the . The game will be nationally televised on CSTV. The Bearcats have momentum going into the contest with a 74-61 win over on Tuesday, Feb. 6, breaking a three-game losing slide. The Panthers are on a four-game winning streak, but will have played three contests in 10 days, including two on the road-- an 84-40 win at Providence, a 66-53 win over Villanova at home, and a road trip to Tampa in a 69-65 win over USF on Feb. 10. In all the Panthers traveled 3,180 miles.
STORY LINES:
w With five games to play, the Bearcats are currently in 11th place in the BIG EAST standings. The Panthers are in fifth place. Only the top 12 teams in the conference advance to the BIG EAST Championship. The Bearcats are 1-4 on the road in conference play, while Pitt is 4-1 at the in BIG EAST play.
w Both Pitt and UC feature freshmen that lead the squad in assists. The Bearcats' Carla Jacobs averages 4.6 dimes per game, fourth in the BIG EAST. She leads UC in assist/turnover ratio at 2.04, third in the BIG EAST. The Panthers' rookie Jania Sims leads the team with 3.9 assists, seventh in the conference, and is also seventh in the BIG EAST in assist/turnover ratio (1.70).
w Jacobs and Pitt's Danielle Taylor both played their high school basketball in . Jacobs helped Regina High to two state championships, while played for Villa Angela St. Joseph High, just seven miles from .
w Michelle Jones leads UC in starts this season with 22. She is the only Bearcat to start every BIG EAST game this season. Shavonte Zellous, Marcedes Walker and Xenia Stewart have started every conference game for Pitt, and Zellous is the lone Panther to start every game this season.
w The game will feature two of the best offensive rebounders in the conference. Pitt's Marcedes Walker is fourth in the BIG EAST with 3.50 offensive boards a game, while UC's Michelle Jones is sixth with 3.22 per game.
w Sophomore Shelly Bellman has played some of her best basketball for UC vs. Pitt. In two games she has averaged 21 points. She became the fifth Bearcat to make six 3-pointers in a game, her career high, in UC's BIG EAST Tourney loss to (3/4/06). Jill Stephens also has a career high vs. the Panthers with her three assists (2/4/06).
NOTES FROM THE GAME:
w The game was delayed 90 minutes due to the weather conditions, which prevented officials from getting to the game by the original 7 p.m. tip-off.
w The Bearcats evened the all-time series vs. the Friars, 1-1.
w Carla Jacobs played a career-high 39 minutes. That bumped her average to 29.1 minutes per game which leads the Bearcats.
w Jill Stephens was 2-for-3 from beyond the arc, a career high for the sophomore post player for 3-point field goals made. Karen Twehues was 4-of-4 from the free throw line, marking a season-high for free throws made.
w The Bearcats held 's Catherine Bove, a native, to just four points.
w UC outrebounded the Friars, 41-32, marking the 19th time in 23 games the Bearcats have bested their opponent in that category.
w The Friars put up 30 treys, the most hoisted against the Bearcats this season. only shot 23 percent from behind the arc (7-of-30).
w Treasure Humphries had a double figure rebounding game for the first time in her four-year career. She pulled in a career-high 10 boards.
w The Bearcats had five players score in double figures for the fifth game 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.
TOP CATS:
w Treasure Humphries is UC's leading scorer (12.3), Shelly Bellman is the Bearcats' leading rebounder (6.4) and Carla Jacobs is the assists leader (4.36). Both Bellman and Humphries have been named to the BIG EAST Honor Roll this season and Jacobs was named BIG EAST Freshman of the Week.
SCORING DROUGHT ENDED
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 Rutgers (2/3/07) and got back into double figure scoring with 11 vs. (2/6/07).
MOST IMPROVED:
w Junior Emy Ogide is averaging 6.0 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 19 of their 23 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 an +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 6.4, Jones adds 6.0 and Morgan is third with 5.4. Jones has 290 career rebounds and more than half have been offensive (151). Of her 137 rebounds this season, 74 have been offensive. She averages 3.22 per game, sixth in the BIG EAST. Bellman has 320 career rebounds and 240 have been defensive. She has 101 defensive rebounds of her 140 total this season. Morgan has 124 rebounds this season and 96 have been defensive. She has 175 in her career, with 125 of those being defensive.
"A" FOR ACCURACY:
w Sophomore Michelle Jones is shooting a team-high 53 percent from the field, ninth in the BIG EAST. She has converted 107 of 203 attempts. After her 11-point performance vs. No. 5/6 UConn (1/30/07) she moved to second on the team in scoring (11.7). 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.
SPREADING THE WEALTH:
w is sixth in the BIG EAST in scoring, but the Bearcats don't have a player who averages more than 15.0 points. Three players average double figures: Treasure Humphries (12.3), Michelle Jones (11.7) and Shelly Bellman (11.3).
HOLD EM':
w UC has held 12 of its 23 opponents to 65 points or less and held No. 24 DePaul (1/14/07) to 44 points, a season low.
3-POINT THREAT:
w Senior Karen Twehues is third all-time at UC in career 3-point field goals made with178. She leads the Bearcats in 3-point field goal percentage at 37 percent, seventh in the BIG EAST.
STEALS AND DEALS:
w Senior Treasure Humphries and freshman Carla Jacobs are the masters of creating shots for their teammates, helping UC to 16.4 assists 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 52 and is fourth in the BIG EAST with 2.26 a game. She has had multiple steals in 19 of 23 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 at least one steal in 18 of 22 games this season.
w Jacobs isUC's assist leader with 96 in 22 games, a 4.36 average that ranks fourth 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 (2.04) and the top freshman in that category. Treasure Humphries is second on the team in assists (91). She has had three or more assists in 18 of the Bearcats' 23 games. She is eighth in the BIG EAST with 3.96 per game.
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.
DOUBLE OR NOTHING:
w Michelle Jones has scored in double figures in a team-high 17 games this season and 34 in her career.
Shelly Bellman has scored in double figures in all but seven games she has played this season and in 30 of 51 career contests.
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 five 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, UC's BIG EAST home opening win over Georgetown, 77-55 (1/3/07), and the Bearcats' 74-61 win over Providence (2/6/07).
GETTING FLOOR TIME:
w Freshman Carla Jacobs leads UC in minutes played at 29.1 per game. Jacobs played a career-high 39 minutes vs. (2/6/07). 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.
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 The Bearcats had their earliest season opener in school history, playing at on Nov. 10. 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 play their second consecutive BIG EAST road game when UC takes on on Saturday, Feb. 17 in