TicketsFeb. 1, 2008
Story lines
The University of Cincinnati takes on its fourth ranked team in five games, tipping off against No. 20/20 Notre Dame in a BIG EAST contest at Fifth Third Arena on Saturday, Feb. 2 at 3 p.m.
The Bearcats will look to snap a six game losing streak and earn a victory over a ranked team. The last time UC defeated a ranked team came at Fifth Third Arena, on Jan. 14, 2007 when it defeated No. 24/24 DePaul, 62-44.
Two UC players are averaging double figures, led by redshirt-sophomore Kahla Roudebush's 16.1 points a game. Junior forward Jill Stephens averages a team-high 9.5 rebounds a game and has collected seven double-doubles this year, the most a UC player has grabbed in a season since Debbie Merrill tallied 11 double-doubles during the 2002-03 season.
Today's game is Cincinnati's fourth doubleheader with the UC men's basketball team. The Bearcats are 2-1 when playing a doubleheader this season.
UC averages 8.4 three-pointers a game when playing at home and holds a +6.5 rebounding margin over its opponents when playing at Fifth Third Arena.
The Bearcats are 8-5 overall at home this season.
LAST TIME OUT:
Kahla Roudebush scored 19 points for UC but the Bearcats lost at Fifth Third Arena on Wednesday, 79-56, to Louisville.
Powered by three 3-pointers, UofL went on an 18-4 run and took a commanding 32-15 lead with 6:58 left in the first stanza. UC scored seven unanswered points to pull within 10, at 32-22, with 4:24 remaining, but UofL closed out the half on a 17-7 run -- including a half-court shot at the buzzer -- to take a 47-29 advantage into the locker room at halftime.
The Bearcats were outrebounded, 44-25, and gave up 34 points in the paint for the game. The Cardinals scored 29 points off of UC's 22 turnovers and were led in scoring by McCoughtry, who finished with 26 points and 11 rebounds.
Stephanie Stevens earned her first collegiate start and finished the game with seven points and four assists. Jill Stephens scored seven points and pulled down a team-high six rebounds.
ABOUT NOTRE DAME: Notre Dame is ranked No. 20 in both the AP and ESPN/USA Today Polls and has a 16-5 overall record. In BIG EAST play, the Fighting Irish are 4-3, earning victories over Louisville, Villanova, Georgetown and Providence. Notre Dame snapped a two-game losing streak on Wednesday when they defeated the Friars at home, 85-54. The squad is led in scoring by senior guard Charel Allen, who averages 14.1 points a game. Junior guard Lindsay Schrader pulls down a team-high 5.8 rebounds a game. The Fighting Irish are coached by Muffet McGraw who has a 465-184 record in 21 seasons at Notre Dame.
AGAINST RANKED TEAMS: Cincinnati is 7-52 overall against ranked teams. The Blue Demons, ranked No. 25 in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll, were the third straight ranked opponent for the Bearcats this season, playing No. 1/1 Connecticut on Jan. 19 and No. 5/5 Rutgers on Jan. 22. Prior to the loss at UConn, the highest ranked team UC played (since 1990) was No. 3 Georgia on Dec. 13, 1990. The Bearcats lost, 99-38. Cincinnati's last win against a ranked team came on Jan. 14, 2007 when it defeated No. 24/24 DePaul, 62-44 at home. The last road win UC has earned against a ranked team came on Jan. 31, 1999 when the Bearcats defeated No. 18 Tulane, 70-51.
ON TV: Cincinnati has played four games on television so far this season, against Valaparaiso (W, 96-69), at Xavier (W, 61-55), at Louisville (L, 69-37) and at UConn (L, 86-49).
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/forward 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 made her return to the hardwood against Wright State but missed the first seven games. Junior guard Angel Morgan is working back to full speed after an injury in the game against Michigan.
BIG FIRST IN THE BIG EAST: Junior forward Jill Stephens earned the BIG EAST Player of the Week award for the week ending Dec. 17. Stephens is the first UC player to be named the BIG EAST Women's Basketball Player of the Week since the Bearcats joined the league in 2005-06. Stephens led Cincinnati in scoring and rebounding in home victories over Wright State (73-66) on Dec. 11 and Youngstown State (79-56) on Dec. 15. Stephens played the entire game against Wright State, the fourth time she has been called on to do so this season, and scored 19 points and grabbed nine rebounds. She scored a game-high 27 points and notched her fourth double-double of the season with 14 rebounds against Youngstown State. She finished the game with career highs in points (27), field goals (11), field goal attempts (19), 3-point field goals made and attempted (5-of-6) and assists (4).
BIG EAST HONORS: Redshirt-sophomore Kahla Roudebush was named to the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll after her performance during the week of January 7th. The sharp-shooter averaged 21 points a game, grabbed an average of 5.5 rebounds, 4.0 assists, and connected on 7-for 16 from downtown in the games against Georgetown (W, 69-49) and Pittsburgh (L, 86-61).
BIG EAST HONOR ROLL: Junior forward Jill Stephens was named to the BIG EAST Honor Roll for the week ending Nov. 26, as announced by the league office. Stephens started both the McNeese State and Duquesne games, averaging 14.0 ppg, 17.0 rpg, and shooting 9-of-10 from the free throw line. Stephens pulled down 22 rebounds -- 14 of them offensive -- in the McNeese State game, earning third place in the UC record books for total rebounds in a game and tying a Fifth Third Arena record with 14 offensive boards. She recorded her second double-double of the season with 14 points and 10 rebounds vs. Duquesne. Freshman guard Tenishia Benson was named to the BIG EAST Honor Roll for the week ending Nov. 18, as announced by the league office. Benson earned her first start against Valparaiso and showed no rookie jitters. She finished the game with a game-high 25 points and was perfect from the free throw line (11-11). Additionally, Benson started the second half against Michigan and finished the game with 11 points and seven rebounds. The last UC freshman to lead the team in scoring in her first collegiate start was Shelly Bellman (15 points in 74-39 victory over St. Francis on Nov. 19, 2005).
STREAKIN': Kahla Roudebush connected on 17 consecutive free throws starting against Central Michigan and not missing until the second half of the Georgetown game. She has made 43 of her last 51 (84.3 percent) attempts at the charity stripe (since Xavier game on Dec. 1, 2007).
SUPER STEPHENS: Junior forward Jill Stephens has recorded seven double-doubles this season and currently leads the team with 9.5 rebounds a game. Her 22 rebounds against McNeese State is tied for the sixth best rebounding performance in the country (in games through Jan. 27th).
BENSON BRINGS IT: Freshman guard Tenishia Benson has made significant contributions for UC, earning her first start against Valparaiso and scoring a game-high 25 points. She snapped Valerie King's streak of 21 free throws made in 2002-03 by landing her first 27 attempts over the first six games of the season. Benson finished the McNeese State game with her first double-double of the year, scoring 14 points and grabbing 10 rebounds, and at Dayton she recorded a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds. She scored 11 points, seven in the last two minutes, in the win at Xavier. Benson scored 15 points against Wright State and had a balanced game against Central Michigan, scoring 19 points and grabbing 11 rebounds for her third double-double of the year. Benson dropped in 10 points against Georgetown, shooting 5-for-6 at the charity stripe. At UConn, Benson scored seven points and handed out three assists and she pulled down five boards against Rutgers.
FROM DOWNTOWN: The Bearcats have landed 146 three pointers this year and average 7.3 treys a game -- third best in the BIG EAST. With eight regular season games left in 2007-08, UC needs to only connect on 11 triples to finish in the Top 5 in the school record book for three-pointers made in a season (157 is fifth).
EXTREME STAMINA: Jill Stephens played her fourth consecutive and eighth overall 40-minute game at Seton Hall while Kahla Roudebush played her third consecutive 40-minute game at Tennessee Tech and fifth 40-minute game against Georgetown. Carla Jacobs played her second consecutive full game at Tennessee Tech and her fourth full game against Georgetown. Both Tenishia Benson and Natasha Graboski have played 40 minute games for UC as well this season. In the BIG EAST statistics, all five of UC's starters are ranked in the Top 30 in minutes played, with Stephens logging the most minutes a game in the league (37.65) and Roudebush playing the third most (35.10).
HELPING HAND: Cincinnati handed out a season-high 21 assists in the victory over Youngstown State. UC's 21 helpers were the most since the last game of the 2006-07 season against Pittsburgh (March 3, 2007).
WINDOW WIPERS: The Bearcats focus heavily on rebounding and are outrebounding opponents, 795-724. UC grabbed 60 rebounds against McNeese State, the third highest rebounding performance in school history, and followed it up with a 54-rebound game against Presbyterian. The Bearcats have won eight of the 11 games that they have outrebounded their opponents.
FINE AT THE LINE: The Bearcats have connected on 232-of-310 attempts for a .748 percentage at the charity stripe. Freshman Tenishia Benson was an outstanding 11-for-11 from the line in the win over Valparaiso and followed up that performance by going 9-for-9 against Duquesne. The Bearcats did not miss at the line against McNeese State, going 10-for-10 as a team and tying the school record of 100% from the free throw line. The 2003-04 team was perfect from the line twice in 2003, landing 11-for-11 against Indiana State and going 14-for-14 against Loyola Marymount. UC hit 15-of-18 at the line against YSU, shooting 83.3% as a team and made its last six consecutive free throws at Tennessee Tech. Four players connected on 2-of-2 free throws at Seton Hall and the Bearcats matched a season-high 22 made free throws against Georgetown. UC's current percentage of 74.8 from the line would set a new school record if the season were to end today (74.6% is the school record, set by the 2003-04 team).
PF PER GAME: Cincinnati's personal fouls per game average is 12.95. In games through Jan. 27, UC had the second best personal fouls per game average in the nation (12.8 pfpg). At Tennessee Tech, UC had a season-high 19 fouls but have only had someone foul out of a game five times this season and have committed only 259 fouls so far as a team. Through the first 20 games last season, UC had 361 fouls as a team.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: Cincinnati's 73-66 victory over Wright State was the 1000th game played in women's basketball history at UC. The Bearcats are now 538-473 overall in their 37th season of play.
STANDING GROUND: In two consecutive games, redshirt-sophomore guard Kahla Roudebush took four charges, three coming at Tennessee Tech and one at Seton Hall.
LAST TIME AGAINST NOTRE DAME (1-10-07): Cincinnati could not overcome a season-high 25 turnovers, falling to Notre Dame, 81-70. Senior Treasure Humphries led the Bearcats with 16 points and Shelly Bellman posted a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds. UC suffered back-to-back defeats for the first time in 2006-07. Bellman added seven assists to her double-double, posting a near triple-double for the second time in five games. Karen Twehues made four of UC's 10 three-pointers in scoring 14 points and Carla Jacobs added 13. The Bearcats outrebounded the Irish, 33-32.
SWATTING GUARD: Sophomore point guard Carla Jacobs is second on the team with nine blocks. Jacobs's nine blocks is more than a UC player tallied during the 2006-07 season. The 5-7 floor general is second behind center Natasha Graboski, who has swatted 15 shots this season -- the most a UC player has blocked in a season since Anne Stephens' 22 during the 2005-06 season.
10 TREYS: Cincinnati has knocked down 10 or more three-pointers in a game six times this season, winning each time they have connected in double-digits from downtown. The Bearcats hit a season-high 13 triples against McNeese State, the most UC has made in a game since the second game of the season last year against Arkansas-Pine Bluff (13) on Nov. 14, 2006.
BENCH PRODUCTIVITY: Against Georgetown, Cincinnati had zero points from bench players. UC has had less than five points from bench players four times this year (Xavier, Wright State, Seton Hall and Georgetown), winning three of the four games. At No. 25 DePaul, UC had a whopping 37 points from bench players with Stephanie Stevens scoring a career and game-high 16 points and Kristi Brogan chipping in 10. Only three starters scored against the Blue Demons, combining for a total of 14 points.
PROTECTING THE BALL: After averaging 20.5 turnovers a game in the two exhibition games, UC has done a much better job protecting the ball in regular season play, committing 16.4 turnovers a game. At No. 25 DePaul, UC had its most turnovers in a conference game this season, committing 23 turnovers.
TRIPLE TIME: Kahla Roudebush needs to make four three pointers to put her name in the school record book for 3-pointers made in a career (10th place). She currently has connected on 54 career 3-pointers. Two players have made 58 career treys, ranking 10th in the UC women's basketball records (Shelly Bellman, 2005-present, and Micah Harvey, 2003-06).
CITY STREAK: Cincinnati has landed a basket from downtown in 33 consecutive games. The last time UC finished a game without connecting on a 3-pointer was against No. 24 DePaul on Jan. 14, 2007 at Fifth Third Arena. The Bearcats launched nine triples that game, but did not hit. They did, however; win the game. UC has made 146 three pointers as a team this season.
STARTING STEVENS: Sophomore guard Stephanie Stevens earned her first career start against Louisville on Jan. 30, 2008 after recording a career-high in points (16) at No. 25 DePaul. She finished the game against Louisville with seven points and four assists.
PLAYMAKER: Sophomore guard Carla Jacobs has recorded an assist in all but one game she has played at UC. Jacobs had an assist in every game last year and pushed her streak of handing out an assist in a game to 32 games before playing only 26 minutes against McNeese State in the fourth game of the 2007-08 season and going without a helper. She has since dished out an assist in every game, starting a new streak that now stands at 16 games.