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Bearcats Play Final Exhibition Game

Bearcats Play Final Exhibition GameBearcats Play Final Exhibition Game

Nov. 6, 2007

Story Lines

• The University of Cincinnati plays its second and final exhibition game of the 2007-08 season when it takes on the Ohio Girls Basketball Report All-Stars at Fifth Third Arena. Cincinnati won its first exhibition game on Thursday, Nov. 1 by defeating NCAA Division II Northern Kentucky, 69-67.

• UC is led by an entirely new coaching staff, directed by J. Kelley Hall. Hall comes to Cincinnati from Louisiana-Lafayette where he compiled an 86-62 overall record in five seasons. In his short time with the Ragin' Cajuns, Hall won two Sun Belt Conference West Division titles and led the team to its first trip to the NCAA Tournament (2006-07).

• The Cincinnati women's basketball team will sign autographs and mingle with the crowd following tonight's game. The "Meet the Team Night" festivities include autographed posters, schedule cards, and an official white adidas C-Paw hats.

• OGBR All Stars, also known as the Ohio Legends, features former collegiate players from Ohio, Illinois, Georgia, Arkansas, and Kentucky.

• The Bearcats open the regular season against Michigan on Tuesday, Nov. 13 at 7:00 p.m. It is the first time the Wolverines have played at Fifth Third Arena since the 1998 season.

LAST TIME OUT:

• Cincinnati took on area Division II power Northern Kentucky University in an exhibition game at Fifth Third Arena and won, 69-67.

• Two Bearcats reached double-figure point totals, led by Jill Stephens' and Kahla Roudebush's 16 points. Freshman Tenishia Benson and newcomer Renee Hein tallied eight points each for the game.

• UC forced the Norse to 23 turnovers and won the battle of the boards, 37-36. Stephens led all players with 10 rebounds and Roudebush pulled down eight boards.

• Fifth-year senior Hein, who was a member of UC's track and field team the first four years of her career, started at forward for the Bearcats and showed no jitters. Hein won the tip for Cincinnati and took a shot 11 seconds into the game. She scored her first points, and UC's first points of the game, at the free throw line at the 18:08 mark of the first half.

• Roudebush was on fire in the first half, scoring 15 of her 16 points and helping UC to a 36-24 halftime lead. The sharp-shooter was 4-for-6 from behind the three point line in the first half and finished the game shooting 40% from downtown.

J. Kelley Hall: J. Kelley Hall was named the head coach of the University of Cincinnati women's basketball team on April 4, 2007. Hall's career coaching highlights include guiding his teams to six NCAA Tournaments and coaching six all-Americans, 10 all-Southeastern Conference student-athletes and one NCAA scoring champion. He has a 290-118 overall record as a head coach with a winning percentage of .711. As the head coach at Louisiana-Lafayette, Hall compiled an 86-62 overall record and led the Ragin' Cajuns to their first-ever trip to the NCAA Tournament in 2007.

ABOUT THE LEGENDS: The Legends have played Eastern Michigan, Toledo, Xavier, Dayton and Kentucky in exhibition contests over the last eight days. The team is comprised of former collegiate players and has knocked off all of its opponents except Toledo. The squad defeated EMU, 68-63; lost to the Rockets, 70-69; beat Xavier, 66-60; downed Dayton, 67-64 and whipped the Wildcats, 88-70. Larecha Jones (Ohio State, `99) is averaging 18 points a game for the Legends. OGBR was a preseason opponent last year for the Bearcats and was led to victory by Jones, who scored 28 points in the 78-74 win.

BEARCATS BITS: The 2007-08 Bearcats return nine letterwinners and three starters from last season's squad that finished 15-14 overall and 6-10 in the BIG EAST Conference. Of the letterwinners returning for the Bearcats, junior guard/forwad Shelly Bellman, one of UC's top returning players with a 10.4 points per game average last year, is out for the 2007-08 season with a leg injury. Senior forward Emy Ogide and freshman guard Asia Jenkins also will not suit up for the Bearcats against the Legends. Sophomore center Natasha Graboski missed the first exhibition game nursing an injury, but is welcomed back into the lineup. Graboski, a 6-3 presence in the paint, averaged 1.7 points a game as a freshman. Sophomore guard Carla Jacobs, a member of the all freshman BIG EAST team in 2007, saw limited action in the first exhibition game but should see considerable playing time against OGBR. Freshman guard Tenishia Benson and freshman forward Caitlin Pauley saw plenty of action against Northern Kentucky and scored eight and six points, respectively. Junior guard Angel Morgan played 32 minutes and tossed in seven points for the Bearcats.

NUMBER 45: After two seasons wearing jersey number 40, junior forward Jill Stephens has switched to number 45 for the 2007-08 season. Stephens is now wearing the same jersey number that her sister Anne wore during her career as a Bearcat (2003-06).

33 IN 33: The Indianapolis Star has picked what it considers the best 33 local players in the last 33 years and former Bearcat Cheryl Cook -- the only female women's basketball player in school history to have her jersey retired -- has been named to the First Team. Cook was named Indiana Miss Basketball in 1981 by the Indianapolis Star and scored 2,367 points during her career at Cincinnati. She still owns nine school records and is in the Top 10 in 14 other statistical categories. Cook, nicknamed the "Cookie Monster," played overseas in Spain and Italy for six seasons after her career as a Bearcat.

LOOKING AHEAD: The Bearcats will open the 2007-08 regular season hosting the Michigan Wolverines on Tuesday, Nov. 13 at 7:00 p.m. and will host Valparaiso on Friday, Nov. 16 in a 4:00 p.m. contest that will be televised on Fox 19 WXIX.