TicketsNov. 14, 2008
CINCINNATI - Shelly Bellman (Ottawa, Ohio/Ottawa-Glandorf) celebrated her return by tying a career high with six three-pointers, leading the University of Cincinnati women's basketball team to a 66-59 season-opening win against Detroit on Friday (Nov. 14) in Fifth Third Arena.
Bellman led the Bearcats (1-0) with 18 points, eight rebounds, and four assists in her first regular-season game since the March 3, 2007, a 76-71 loss to Pittsburgh in the BIG EAST Championship first round. She missed the entire 2007-08 season with a knee injury. Jill Stephens (Mineral Wells, W.Va./Parkersburg South) had 11 points and Michelle Jones (Cincinnati, Ohio/Mt. Notre Dame), who also missed the 2007-08 season, posted 10 points and eight rebounds in her return.
Detroit (0-1) was paced by Zemora Davis' team-high 17 points. Jalesa Jones and Brigid Mulroy added 10 points apiece for the Titans.
Bellman scored the first nine points of the game for the Bearcats, hitting three three-pointers in the first five minutes, the third of which drew the Bearcats even at 9-9. UC went three minutes before its next basket, but Detroit scored just once in that span and the game was tied at 11 at the 11:45 mark.
Just three combined points were scored by both teams between the 11:45 and 5:13 marks of the half. A Brigid Mulroy three gave the visitors their largest lead of the contest at 18-14 with 4:39 to play in the stanza. UC closed on a 10-5 run to take a 24-23 lead into halftime.
The teams combined for 25 turnovers in the opening 20 minutes, 16 by Detroit. UC was just 1-for-6 from the free throw line.
An early 7-0 run in the second half, capped by Bellman's fifth triple, gave the Bearcats a 37-30 lead. UC opened a nine-point lead on a Val Schuster (Wausau, Wis./Wausau Newman Central) jumper with 10 minutes to play. Bellman's sixth three of the night pushed the UC lead back to nine after the Titans cut it to 46-40.
A Stephens jumper with 4:08 to play gave UC its largest lead at 55-44. Detroit scored seven in a row to cut the lead to 55-51 with just over a minute to play, but the Bearcats knocked down 11-of-14 free throws down the stretch to close out the win.
Freshmen starters Shanasa Sanders (Jacksonville, Fla./Ribault Senior) and Schuster each tallied eight points in their first collegiate action.
UC forced Detroit into 30 turnovers in the game and held the Titans to 38.9 percent shooting from the floor.
The Bearcats travel to Kentucky for a 7 p.m. tipoff on Monday, Nov. 17.