TicketsFeb. 25, 2007
Game Notes
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UC vs. Date: Monday, Feb. 26, 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: UC leads, 2-1.
Last Meeting: UC 59, 43 on Jan. 21, 2006 at Manley Fieldhouse.
SETTING THE SCENE: The of will celebrate its three seniors in its regular season finale on Monday, Feb. 26 when the Bearcats host . The 7 p.m. tipoff will feature UC, who is fighting to hold on to its 11th place BIG EAST standing, and the Orange, who need a win to save its chances of earning the final spot in the BIG EAST Championship.
STORY LINES:
w Seniors Treasure Humphries, Karen Twehues and student coach Bianca Roldan-Jarus will be honored following the game against .
w The Bearcats finished 7-9 last season to earn the No. 11 seed in the BIG EAST Championship.
w Despite its 61-49 loss to on Feb. 24 the Bearcats remain in the 11th spot in the conference standings and have secured a berth to the postseason, the BIG EAST Champion- ship in Hartford. Losses by (68-56 to ) and (59-54 to Seton Hall), helped UC hold on to its No. 11 seed. A win vs. the would guarantee UC the No. 11 seed. A loss could push the Bearcats to the No. 12 seed if defeats No. 19 Marquette.
w The 's chances of making the BIG EAST Championship are still alive. To earn the 12th and final spot, needs to defeat , and and both need to lose. The Red Storm (8-18, 4-11 BIG EAST) hosts (23-5, 11-4 BIG EAST) and (13-15, 3-12 BIG EAST) plays at Villanova (7-21, 1-14 BIG EAST).
w UC is 4-3 in BIG EAST games at Fifth Third Arena this season. is 2-5 on the road in conference play.
w The Bearcats are third in the BIG EAST and 12th in the country in rebounding margin (+8.7). The (-4.4) are 14th in the conference.
w Carla Jacobs (4.2), Treasure Humphries (3.8) and Shelly Bellman (3.1) combine for 11.1 assists per game, while the entire SU squad averages 11.3, 16th in the BIG EAST.
w The game will feature two standout freshmen: UC's Carla Jacobs who leads the Bearcats in assists (109), minutes played (30.0) and assist/turnover ratio (1.95); and Syracuse's Nicole Michael, a four-time BIG EAST Freshman of the Week selection who leads the Orange in scoring (16.8) and rebounding (8.6).
w has three wins in the conference, a 61-59 victory over , a 62-51 win against Villanova, 62-51, and a 65-58 win over . The Bearcats lost to St. John's, 72-66, both defeated Villanova and , including two wins over the Hoyas. UC also defeated DePaul, 62-44 and , 74-61. The suffered a 67-58 defeat against DePaul and a 71-63 loss to .
NOTES FROM THE GAME:
w WVU's Olayinka Sanni scored her 1,000th career point.
w UC shot just 31 percent from the field (16-of-52), its second worst shooting performance this season. The worst was a 28 percent performance (19-of-69) vs. USF.
w Treasure Humphries scored nine points and is just 10 points away from becoming the 21st female at UC to join the 1,000-point club. Humphries also had eight rebounds. She has scored at least one point and grabbed at least one rebound in every game this season.
w Angel Morgan had a rebound and one assist, extending her streak to 32 games with at least one rebound and her streak of 29 games with at least one assist.
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.
SMARTY CATS:
w Nine of UC's players earned academic honors for the fall quarter. Jill Stephens was named the department of athletics top female scholar-athlete of the fall quarter after earning a 4.0 grade point average, plus was named to the Topcat Honor Roll. Shelly Bellman and Karen Twehues were also Topcats (3.5-4.0 GPA). Kristi Brogan, Treasure Humphries, Carla Jacobs, Michelle Jones, Emy Ogide and Stephanie Stevens were all named to the Bearcat Honor Roll (3.00-3.49 GPA).
TOP CATS:
w Treasure Humphries is UC's leading scorer (11.8), Shelly Bellman is the Bearcats' leading rebounder (6.6) and Carla Jacobs is the assists leader (4.32). 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 led UC in scoring vs. (2/17/07) with 16 points.
MOST IMPROVED:
w Junior Emy Ogide is averaging 6.3 points a game this season, almost tripling her career average coming into the season of 2.2 points. Ogide has led UC in scoring in four games. She had a team-best 12 points vs. Pitt (2/13/07). 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 23 of their 27 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 +8.7 rebounding margin this season, third in the BIG EAST and 12th in the country. The UC single-season record is a +6.7 margin.
BOARD BUDDIES:
w The sophomore trio of Shelly Bellman, Michelle Jones and Angel Morgan, and senior Treasure Humphries are wrecking balls on the boards for UC. Bellman leads the team with 6.6, Jones adds 6.0 and Morgan and Humphries are third with 5.1. Jones has 315 career rebounds and more than half have been offensive (162). Of her 162 rebounds this season, 85 have been offensive. She averages 3.15 per game, seventh in the BIG EAST. Bellman has 351 career rebounds and 261 have been defensive. She has 122 defensive rebounds of her 171 total this season. Morgan has 139 rebounds this season and 107 have been defensive. She has 190 in her career, with 136 of those being defensive. Bellman matched a career high with 14 boards vs. Villanova, 12 were defensive. Humphries had a career-high 11 rebounds vs. Villanova (2/20/07) and has 139 this season.
"A" FOR ACCURACY:
w Sophomore Michelle Jones is shooting a team-high 51 percent from the field, 11th in the BIG EAST. She has converted 117 of 230 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. Emy Ogide is not far behind Jones. The junior is shooting 50 percent (71 of 142) and had a five-of-five performance vs. Pitt (2/13/07).
SPREADING THE WEALTH:
w is seventh in the BIG EAST in scoring (68.5), but the Bearcats don't have a player who averages more than 15.0 points. Three players average double figures: Treasure Humphries (11.7), Michelle Jones (11.0) and Shelly Bellman (10.9).
HOLD EM':
w UC has held 14 of its 27 opponents to 65 points or less and held No. 24 DePaul (1/14/07) to 44 points, a season low. When the Bearcats are held to 60 points or less they are 0-6.
3-POINT THREAT:
w Senior Karen Twehues is third all-time at UC in career 3-point field goals made with184. She leads the Bearcats in 3-point field goal percentage at 37 percent, fourth 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 15.74 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 61 and is fifth in the BIG EAST with 2.26 a game. She has had multiple steals in 22 of 27 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 41. She has had at least one steal in 85 of her 101 career games.
w Jacobs is UC's assist leader with 109 in 26 games, a 4.19 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 (1.95) and the top freshman in that category. Treasure Humphries is second on the team in assists (102). She has had three or more assists in 19 of the Bearcats' 27 games. She is 12th in the BIG EAST with 3.78 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 nine games she has played this season and in 31 of 55 career contests.
w The Bearcats have had at least three players score in double figures in every game except for seven this season (only two vs. Villanova on 2/20/07, vs. USF on 1/6/07, vs. Marquette on 1/27/07 and vs. St. John's on 2/17/07 and only one vs. WVU on 2/24/07, vs. Rutgers on 2/3/07 and Pitt on 2/13/07). 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 30.0 per game. Jacobs played a career-high 39 minutes vs. (2/6/07). Angel Morgan played a season-high 40 minutes, the only Bearcat to play an entire game this season, 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. 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 have earned a spot in the BIG EAST Championship that will be held Saturday, March 3 through Tuesday March 6 in Hartford, Conn. UC will learn its final seeding and first-round opponent Monday night.