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Bearcats Open Two-Game Road Swing at Wright State

Bearcats Open Two-Game Road Swing at Wright StateBearcats Open Two-Game Road Swing at Wright State

Dec. 15, 2008

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CINCINNATI EMBARKS ON TWO-GAME ROAD SWING
The University of Cincinnati women's basketball team will take to the road for just its second game away from home this season, traveling to Wright State for a 7 p.m. tip against the Raiders on Dec. 16 in the Ervin J. Nutter Center.

THE SERIES
UC and Wright State have met 17 times on the hardwood, with the Bearcats holding a 14-3 edge in the series. Last season, the Bearcats topped the Raiders, 73-66, in Fifth Third Arena behind 19 points from Jill Stephens, 17 from Kahla Roudebush, and 15 from Tenishia Benson. UC won the first 11 games in the series and after Wright State won three in a row in the mid-1990s, the Bearcats have won the last three.

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 309-136 overall record and a 105-80 Division I head coaching ledger.

  • UC has won two straight after dropping a 59-56 decision against Dayton on Dec. 3.
  • The Bearcats have held each of their first nine opponents to under 60 points.
  • With its 65-55 win against No. 21/23 Xavier on Dec. 7, UC knocked off a Top 25 opponent for the first time since a 62-44 win against No. 24/24 DePaul on Jan. 14, 2007.
  • 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, averaging 16.5 points per outing in 2007-08 and finishing in the Top 10 in the BIG EAST in scoring, three-point field goal percentage, and three-pointers per game.
  • J. Kelley Hall won his 100th game as a Division I head coach when the Bearcats topped Toledo, 60-59, on Nov. 23. Hall won 86 games at the helm of Louisiana Lafayette and has won 19 at Cincinnati.
  • Freshman point guard Shanasa Sanders will be relied upon heavily with the absence of junior Stephanie Stevens. Sanders has started each of the first nine games of the season, averaging 30.6 minutes and 7.4 points.

BEARCATS APPEAR IN POLLS

  • The Bearcats received votes in the Associated Press Top 25 poll last week.
  • The last time UC found itself in the Top 25 was in the AP and coaches polls on Dec. 9, 2002. The Bearcats were No. 25 in each poll.

LAST TIME OUT

  • The University of Cincinnati women's basketball team defeated IUPUI, 67-58, on Dec. 14 in Fifth Third Arena.
  • Angel Morgan tied a career-high with 18 points and posted her first career double-double with 12 rebounds. Morgan also connected on a career-best four three-pointers and shot 6-for-9 from the floor.
  • UC shot a season-best 51.1 percent from the field.
  • Four Bearcats scored in double figures (Morgan - 18, Roudebush - 15, Stephens - 12, Bellman - 10).
  • UC won the rebounding battle, 32-28.
  • UC has held each of its first nine opponents to under 60 points.

SEND ME AN ANGEL

  • Senior guard Angel Morgan started the season as an energy player coming off the bench, but has won a starting spot.
  • In seven starts this season, she is averaging 6.9 points and 8.0 rebounds.
  • A 5-8 guard, she leads the team in rebounding with 7.0 per contest.
  • Morgan grabbed a career-high 14 rebounds in UC's win against Mississippi Valley State and recorded her first career double-double with a career-high 18 points and 12 rebounds against IUPUI.

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 13.9 points per game average and scored a career-high 29 against Kentucky, including five treys.
  • Roudebush missed the bulk of the 2006-07 season after shoulder and knee injuries.

TENACIOUS `D'

  • The Bearcats have held their first nine opponents to under 60 points, allowing an average of 52.7 points per game. UC's match-up zone defense, a staple for any J. Kelley Hall-coached team, has stifled opponents, holding them to 36 percent shooting and an average of 17 turnovers per game.

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 sophomore campaigns and led the Bearcats in rebounding in both years, averaging over 6.0 boards per contest. She is averaging 8.6 points and 4.1 rebounds this season.
  • Jones, a 6-1 post, returns after missing the 2007-08 season. She is a 9.6 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 (186-171).

LITTLE BIT OF OLD, LITTLE BIT OF NEW

  • The Bearcats return four starters from a season ago, but welcome five newcomers and two key players 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 newcomers 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.

TAKING THE LEAD

  • UC has been a strong first-half team thus far, taking a lead into the locker room in seven of its first nine contests.

BEARCATS PICKED 15TH IN BIG EAST

  • Cincinnati was picked by the league's coaches to finish 15th in the BIG EAST in 2007-08.
  • Preseason No. 1/1 Connecticut is the conference 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.