TicketsDec. 16, 2008
FAIRBORN, Ohio - Kahla Roudebush (Noblesville, Ind./Hamilton Southeastern) scored 17 points and the UC defense clamped down, holding its 10th straight opponent to under 60 points in a 56-41 victory at Wright State on Tuesday (Dec. 16) night at the Ervin J. Nutter Center.
Michelle Jones (Cincinnati, Ohio/Mt. Notre Dame) added 11 points off the bench. The UC bench scored 29 and nine Bearcats saw 10 or more minutes of action.
The Bearcats started the game on a 10-0 run over the first four and a half minutes, capped by a Jill Stephens three.
Wright State didn't score its first basket until a Tatiana Hall jumper with 13:12 to play in the half, the first of four straight baskets for the Raiders, bringing WSU to within one, 10-9. After a pair of Stephanie Stevens free throws - her first points of the 2008-09 season - the Raiders scored 15 of the next 17 points to take a 24-14 lead and complete a 24-4 run. The Bearcats missed 11 straight field goals during the span.
A three by Elisa Shoate (Spiro, Okla./Arkansas-Fort Smith) - the first of her UC career - stopped the run and started UC on a 23-2 run that spanned over eight minutes at the end of the first half and into the second. A Roudebush three with three seconds to play in the first half pulled the Bearcats even at 26-26.
Wright State scored 18 points off 10 UC turnovers in the half and had eight second chance points to UC's two.
The second half started much like the first, as the Bearcats held Wright State scoreless for the first 5:20 of the stanza. During that span, UC opened an 11-point lead.
The Bearcats held the lead throughout the half and took their largest lead when Shelly Bellman (Ottawa, Ohio/Ottawa-Glandorf) connected on a free throw at the 3:01 mark, 54-39. After a pair of Wright State free throws cut the lead back to 13, Jones knocked down a pair of freebies to push the lead back to 15.
The Raiders chose not to foul and UC was able to run out the clock and earn its eighth win of the season.
The Bearcats hit 15-of-16 free throws and shot 40 percent from the floor.
Stephanie Stevens (Pickerington, Ohio/Pickerington Central), playing in her second game of the season after overcoming an illness, scored eight points and added five assists and a steal.
UC wraps up a two-game road swing with a trip to Michigan on Friday, Dec. 19. Tip-off between the Bearcats and Wolverines is set for 7 p.m. and the game will be broadcast nationally on Big Ten Network.