Bearcats Return Home to Take On In-State Foe Toledo

Nov. 21, 2008

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BEARCATS RETURN HOME TO TAKE ON IN-STATE FOE TOLEDO
The University of Cincinnati women's basketball team looks to rebound from a three-point loss at Kentucky on Monday when it welcomes Toledo to Fifth Third Arena for a 2 p.m. tipoff on Sunday, Nov. 23.

THE SERIES
UC and Toledo will square off for the 10th time. The Bearcats hold a 7-2 mark all-time against the Rockets, winning the first five in the series. The teams have split each of their last four meetings, each winning on the other's home court. UC won the last meeting, 70-60, in Fifth Third Arena on Dec. 20, 2005.

THE COACH
J. Kelley Hall enters his second season at Cincinnati after being named the seventh head coach in school history on April 4, 2007. Hall previously held the top spot at Louisiana-Lafayette, earning Sun Belt Coach of the Year honors in 2004-05. He is the winningest coach in ULL history and led the 2006-07 team to the NCAA Tournament, the first in school history. Hall has held assistant positions at Alabama, Mississippi State, Auburn, Cal State Fullerton, and Louisville. He was the head coach at a pair of junior colleges early in his career, leading Gordon College in 1984-85 and spending seven seasons at Truett-McConnel College. He holds a 303-135 overall record and a 99-79 Division I head coaching ledger.

• The Bearcats welcome back two players who missed all of 2007-08 in juniors Shelly Bellman and Michelle Jones.
• UC returns four starters from last season and 78 percent of its minutes played, 81 percent of its scoring, and 86 percent of its rebounding.
• Junior guard Kahla Roudebush is the Bearcats' leading returning scorer. She averaged 16.5 points per outing in 2007-08 and finished in the Top 10 in the BIG EAST in scoring, three-point field goal percentage, and three-pointers per game. Roudebush scored a career-high 29 points against Kentucky.
• Senior Jill Stephens is UC's top returning rebounder after averaging 9.4 rebounds per game last season, third in the BIG EAST. She also finished fourth in the conference in three-point field goal percentage (.422).
• Freshman point guard Shanasa Sanders will be relied upon heavily with the absence of junior Stephanie Stevens. Sanders has started each of the first two games of the season, averaging 31.5 minutes and 8.5 points. She has five assists and only one turnover.

LAST TIME OUT

• The Bearcats led for the first 25 minutes of the game, but could not hold on, falling 58-55 at Kentucky on Nov. 17.
• Kahla Roudebush scored a career-high 29 points, shooting 11-of-15 from the field and 5-of-9 from the three-point line. She scored 14 points in the first 6:45 of the game.
• Roudebush was the only Bearcat in double figures.
• UC was outrebounded, 40-37, including 17-7, on the offensive boards. UK's Eleia Roddy and Victoria Dunlap had nine offensive rebounds between them. Dunlap scored a career-high 22 points, including the first two three-pointers of her career.
• UC shot 42% from the floor and held UK to 33%.

ROUDEBUSH PICKS UP WHERE SHE LEFT OFF

• Junior sharpshooter Kahla Roudebush made her mark on the UC record books last season with her three-point shooting. She led the Bearcats in 2007-08, scoring 16.5 points per game and knocking down 66 triples.
• She leads the squad with a 17.0 points per game average after scoring 29 against Kentucky, including five treys.
• Roudebush missed the bulk of the 2006-07 season after shoulder and knee injuries.

GUESS WHO'S BACK

• Juniors Shelly Bellman and Michelle Jones, that's who.
• Bellman, a 5-10 guard/forward, missed the entire 2007-08 season after tearing her ACL in preseason practice. She averaged 10.6 points over 57 games during her freshman and junior campaigns and led the Bearcats in rebounding in both years, averaging over 6.0 board per contest.
• Jones, a 6-1 post, returns after missing the 2007-08 season. She is a 10.4 point-per-game scorer in her career and led the team in offensive rebounding in each of her first two seasons. In fact, Jones has more offensive rebounds than defensive boards in her career (168-155).

LITTLE BIT OF OLD, LITTLE BIT OF NEW

• The Bearcats return four starters from a season ago, but welcome five newcomers and two likely starters return from missing the 2007-08 season.
• J. Kelley Hall and his coaching staff have six players on the roster that they have coached and seven players that are new to the Hall style of basketball (five newcomer and Bellman and Jones, who missed the 2007-08 season).

SUPER STEPHENS

• Senior Jill Stephens is the top returning rebounder for the Bearcats, having grabbed 9.4 boards in 2007-08, which ranked third in the BIG EAST.
• Stephens led the league in minutes played, averaging 37.4 minutes per contest.
• She led the Bearcats in three-point shooting percentage, firing at a .422 clip last season.
• Stephens posted 10 double-doubles in 2007-08.
• She grabbed a career-high and Fifth Third Arena record 14 offensive rebounds against McNeese State last season.

BEARCATS PICKED 15TH

• Cincinnati was picked by the league's coaches to finish 15th in the BIG EAST in 2007-08.
• Connecticut is the preseason favorite, followed by Rutgers and Louisville.

UC SIGNS PAIR

• The Bearcats have signed a pair of prep standouts who will join the squad for the 2009-10 season.
• Daress McClung, a 6-0 guard/forward from Indianapolis, Ind., is a two-year letterwinner at Lawrence North High School. She averaged 14 points, 9.2 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 3.0 steals, and 3.0 blocks per game as a junior and helped the Wildcats to conference and sectional titles during her sophomore season.
• Bryonna Snow, a 6-1 forward, is a three-year letterwinner at Blue Springs High School in Blue Springs, Mo. A three-time all-conference and two-time all-city selection, she helped the Wildcats to three conference championships and a district title during her three-year varsity career.