Bearcats Open New Year, BIG EAST Play Against Villanova

Jan. 2, 2009

Game Notes | | Watch Live on BIG EAST.tv |

BEARCATS OPEN NEW YEAR, BIG EAST PLAY AGAINST VILLANOVA
The University of Cincinnati women's basketball team will open the BIG EAST portion of its schedule, welcoming Villanova in each team's first game of the new year. The game will be televised on the BIG EAST Network, broadcast in syndication throughout the BIG EAST markets, including New York City, Chicago, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and Tampa.

THE SERIES
Villanova holds a 2-1 series lead between the BIG EAST rivals. Each team has held serve on its home court during the young series. In last year's meeting, the Bearcats dropped a 69-50 decision at the Pavilion on Feb. 16, 2008. UC's win in the series came in the 2006-07 season when the Bearcats topped the Wildcats, 60-50, at Fifth Third Arena on Feb. 20, 2007.

THE COACH
J. Kelley Hall is in 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 312-137 overall record and a 108-81 Division I head coaching ledger.

• Junior guard Kahla Roudebush, who led the Bearcats in scoring last season with 16.5 points per game, again tops the UC scorers, averaging 15.4 per game. She has scored 20 or more in two straight games and moved into fifth place in the UC record book with 102 career three-pointers
• 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 ranks 12th in the nation in scoring defense (as of NCAA Statistics Reports through 12/21/08).
• 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 22 at Cincinnati.
• Junior point guard Stephanie Stevens returned to the lineup against IUPUI after missing the first eight games of the campaign with an illness. Freshman Shanasa Sanders has started each of the first 13 games of the season, averaging over 29 minutes per game.
• Senior forward Jill Stephens is shooting .541 from the floor and .842 from the free throw line this season, both marks that would rank in the Top 5 in school single-season history.

BEARCATS APPEAR IN POLLS

• The Bearcats received votes in the Dec. 8 Associated Press Top 25 poll after its victory against No. 21/23 Xavier.
• 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

• Kahla Roudebush scored a game-high 28 points and the University of Cincinnati women's basketball team wrapped up its non-conference slate with a 75-65 win against Saint Francis (Pa.) on Dec. 30 at Fifth Third Arena.
• Roudebush, who posted her second straight 20-point effort and third of the season, added nine rebounds and six assists in 40 minutes of action and hit six three-pointers. She moved into fifth place in the UC record book with 102 career threes.
• Michelle Jones scored 14 points for the Bearcats and added five rebounds and Jill Stephens chipped in 12 points and five boards.
• UC led the entire 40 minutes, despite turning the ball over a season-high 19 times.
• Angel Morgan grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds for UC, which owned a 42-35 edge on the glass.
• UC allowed 60 points for just the second time this season, but the 75 points scored were a season high and the most since an 82-69 win against Central Michigan on Dec. 17, 2007.

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 11 starts this season, she is averaging 6.2 points and 7.3 rebounds.
• A 5-8 guard, she leads the team in rebounding with 6.7 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.
• She has three double-digit rebounding efforts this season.
• She was named to the BIG EAST Honor Roll for the week ending on Dec. 14.

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.
• With six threes against Saint Francis (Pa.), Roudebush moved into fifth place in school history with 102 triples.
• She has three 20-plus point games this season, including each of the last two.
• She leads the squad with a 15.4 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 held their first 10 opponents to under 60 points, allowing an average of 51.5 points per game during that span.
• Michigan became the first team to score more than 60 points against UC since Syracuse in a 66-56 win on Feb. 23, 2008, a span of 12 games.
• 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 nearly 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 7.5 points and 3.8 rebounds this season.
• Jones, a 6-1 post, returns after missing the 2007-08 season. She is a 9.5 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 (195-180).

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 nine of its first 13 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.

FUNDAMENTALS

• UC ranks sixth in the nation in turnovers, giving up just 13.8 per game.
• The Bearcats are fourth in the country in personal fouls, committing just 12.9 per contest.