TicketsFeb. 16, 2008
VILLANOVA, Pa.-- Kahla Roudebush (Noblesville, Ind./Hamilton Southeastern) scored a team-high 15 points but the University of Cincinnati (11-13, 2-10) could not stop the three-point shot, losing at Villanova University (15-10, 5-7), 69-50, in a BIG EAST contest on Saturday. Villanova hit 14 three pointers as a team, nine of which came in the second half, and outrebounded the Bearcats, 31-23, for the game.
"We didn't rebound and we turned the ball over today," said head coach J. Kelley Hall. "We knew we were going to shoot the ball in close, which is why we shot the ball so well (47.8% for the game), but we didn't go in to rebound the ball. They won the hustle stats today and it's very disappointing the we had a chance and let it get away."
Both teams started sluggish before Villanova put two points on the board. UC scored its first bucket at the 17:33 mark when Roudebush hit an off balance jumper. After five minutes the scoreboard read, 7-4, in favor of the Wildcats. Three 3-pointers for VU began an 11-6 run and put Villanova up, 18-10, with 12:04 to play. The two teams struggled to score briefly, but the Bearcats chipped away at the lead with a 5-4, run bringing the score to 23-14 with 6:32 to play. Cincinnati closed out the half on an 8-6 run with four points from Emy Ogide (Rockmart, Ga./Paulding County) and went into the locker room down seven, 29-22, despite giving up 11 points off of nine turnovers in the first stanza.
Roudebush and Ogide scored seven points for UC in the first half and the Wildcats connected on five treys. UC attempted six 3-pointers in the first half and was successful once, only the fifth time this season that UC has made only one trey in the first half.
Ogide and Stephanie Stevens started the second half in a swapped lineup and UC matched Villanova in the first three minutes with the score reading, 33-26, with 17:13 to play. The Wildcats hit back-to-back treys but UC didn't go away and scored off back-to-back turnovers, pulling one closer, 39-33, at the 15:22 mark. Natasha Graboski (Upper Sandusky, Ohio/Upper Sandusky) took her second charge of the game that resulted in a 3-point play on the offensive end of the court. Jill Stephens (Mineral Wells, W.Va./Parkersburg South) scored a basket, and a free throw, to pull UC to within three, 39-36, with 14:25 to go. The Wildcats hit two 3-pointers to spark a 9-2 run and put them up 10, 48-38, with 12 minutes remaining. Villanova's Laura Kurz scored eight straight points to ignite 9-3 run that put the Wildcats up 57-41 with 8:49 to go. Villanova began using most of the shot clock to eat away at the game clock and closed the game on a 19-9 for a final score of 69-50.
The Bearcats wore pink uniforms for the second straight game on Villanova's Think Pink day, part of the WBCA's initiative to raise awareness for the fight against breast cancer. Ogide scored a season-high 11 points for UC and Stephens finished the game with 10 points. No UC player grabbed more than five rebounds, with Roudebush leading the way with four boards.
Kurz scored a game-high 25 points and hit five three pointers for Villanova.
Cincinnati returns to Fifth Third Arena on Tuesday, Feb. 19 to take on No. 11/11 West Virginia University in a BIG EAST game at 7 p.m.