TicketsFeb. 20, 2007
- The moved up one spot in the conference standings with a 60-50 win over Villanova on Tuesday at Fifth Third Arena and moved a step closer to advancing to the BIG EAST Championships.
The Bearcats improved to 14-12 overall and 5-9 in the conference, bumping past St. John's for 11th position, with the top 12 advancing to the tournament. The Wildcats (7-20, 1-13 BE) made it interesting in the final minute, but UC held them off for the crucial win. Villanova cut a 15-point lead to eight, 58-50, with 1:36 to play but Karen Twehues scored the final points of the game on free throws to ice it. Twehues finished with a game-high 15 points. Michelle Jones added 14 points, including six of six from the free throw line and also gathered six rebounds.
And rebounding was the story of the game for the Bearcats. Shelly Bellman and Treasure Humphries both had career days on the boards. Bellman equaled her career high with 14 caroms and Humphries established a new career-high with 11 rebounds, just the second time in her career she has boarded in double figures. The two combined for 25 rebounds, Villanova's team total. The final tally was, UC 46, VU 25.
Bellman also added six assists, tying teammate Carla Jacobs for game-high honors.
UC jumped out to an 11-3 lead to start the contest and kept Villanova at a distance throughout the half. The Wildcats got as close as 21-16 with 4:51 to play and led 27-20 after the first half of action. The Bearcats shot 37 percent and held the visiting Wildcats to just 28 percent (8-of-29). UC had 25 rebounds in the first half alone. Bellman (7) and Humphries (5) had almost as many rebounds as Villanova's entire team, which had 12. Both teams struggled from behind the arc, UC shooting just two of nine from 3-point range, but the Wildcats shot a paltry 12 percent (2-of-17).
The Bearcats play at on Saturday, Feb. 24 in BIG EAST action with a 2 p.m. tipoff. The game will be televised on ONN, channel 105 on Time Warner Cable.
Notes
- UC evened the series, 1-1.
- Villanova attempted 33 3-point field goals, the most against the Bearcats this season. The two teams combined for 50 attempts from behind the arc.
- UC held the Wildcats to just 32 percent (19-59) from the field, the second lowest this season. The Bearcats held (1/23/07) to 31 percent.
- The Wildcats had just 10 turnovers, the second lowest an opponent has had vs. UC this season. The lowest was (2/3/07) with nine.
- UC had just four steals, a season low, while `Nova had 11, third most a team has made against the Bearcats this season.