Bearcats Travel to West Virginia

Jan. 6, 2009

Game Notes | |

CINCINNATI HEADS TO WEST VIRGINIA
The University of Cincinnati women's basketball team looks to improve to 2-0 in conference play when it travels to West Virginia for a BIG EAST contest on Wednesday, Jan. 7. Tipoff from the WVU Coliseum is set for 8 p.m.

THE SERIES
UC leads the all-time series, 4-3, but WVU owns a 2-1 advantage since the Bearcats joined the BIG EAST during the 2005-06 season. West Virginia has won the last two meetings, including an 82-63 win in Cincinnati last season. UC's last win in the series came on Feb. 15, 2006, a 56-46 victory at Fifth Third Arena.

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 313-137 overall record and a 109-81 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 15.6 per game. She has scored 20 or more three times and has averaged 23.7 points and 7.3 rebounds per game over her last three.
• UC's 61-54 win against Villanova marked the first time the Bearcats won a conference opener as a member of the BIG EAST (since 2005).
• 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.
• UC ranks 14th in the nation in scoring defense (as of NCAA Statistics Reports through 1/4/09). The Bearcats are also sixth in turnovers per contest and second in personal fouls committed 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 23 at Cincinnati.
• Senior forward Jill Stephens is shooting .526 from the floor and .857 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 19 points and Jill Stephens tallied 15 and eight rebounds to lead the Bearcats to a 61-54 win against Villanova on Jan. 3 at Fifth Third Arena in the BIG EAST opener for both teams.
• UC won its BIG EAST opener for the first time since joining the league in 2005.
• The Bearcats connected on 19-of-22 free throws, including 4-of-4 in the last minute to hold the lead.
• UC outrebounded Villanova, 33-27, and turned the ball over just six times, while committing just nine personal fouls.
• Angel Morgan added nine points and six rebounds for the Bearcats, winners of three straight.

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 12 starts this season, she is averaging 6.4 points and 7.2 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.
• Roudebush has scored 23.7 points and added 7.3 rebounds per game over her last three, shooting 50 percent from the floor and 100 percent from the free throw line during that span.
• She was named to the BIG EAST Honor Roll for the week ending on Jan. 4.
• 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.
• She leads the squad with a 15.6 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'

• UC ranks 14th in the nation in scoring defense, allowing 52.9 points per game.
• 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 7.4 points and 3.6 rebounds this season.
• Jones, a 6-1 post, returns after missing the 2007-08 season. She is a 9.4 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 (196-181).

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 10 of its first 14 contests.

FUNDAMENTALS

• UC ranks sixth in the nation in turnovers, giving up just 13.6 per game.
• The Bearcats are second in the country in personal fouls, committing just 12.7 per contest.