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Bearcats Looking for 3-0 BIG EAST Start Against Syracuse

Bearcats Looking for 3-0 BIG EAST Start Against SyracuseBearcats Looking for 3-0 BIG EAST Start Against Syracuse

Jan. 9, 2009

Game Notes | |

BEARCATS LOOK FOR 3-0 CONFERENCE START AGAINST SYRACUSE
The University of Cincinnati women's basketball will look for its fifth straight win and a 3-0 start in BIG EAST play when it welcomes Syracuse to Fifth Third Arena on Jan. 10 at 7:30 p.m. The game will be televised locally on Fox Sports Ohio, wth play-by-play duties being handled by Jim Barbar and analysis from Sonya Beeler.

THE SERIES
UC leads the all-time series, 3-2, but dropped a 66-56 decision at Syracuse on Feb. 23, 2008, in the last meeting between the two. The Bearcats are 2-1 against the Orange since joining the BIG EAST and holds the largest margin of victory in the series, winning 59-43 at Syracuse on Jan. 21, 2006, UC's first season as a member of the BIG EAST.

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 314-137 overall record and a 110-81 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 16.2 per game. She has scored 20 or more four times and has averaged 23.8 points over her last four games.
  • 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).
  • The Bearcats are 2-0 in conference play for the first time since the 2002-03 season, a team that finished 23-8 and earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament.
  • 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 24 at Cincinnati.
  • Senior forward Jill Stephens is shooting .524 from the floor and .854 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 24 points and Jill Stephens, playing in her home state for the last time as a collegian, posted her first double-double of the season to lead the University of Cincinnati women's basketball team to a 61-55 win at West Virginia on Jan. 7 at the WVU Coliseum.
  • Stephens scored 12 points and added 10 rebounds and Angel Morgan grabbed 11 defensive rebounds for the Bearcats, who are 2-0 in conference play for the first time since 2002-03.
  • UC held West Virginia to 31 percent shooting and just 6-of-30 from behind the three-point line.
  • The Bearcats overcame a 10-point first-half deficit and outscored the Mountaineers, 39-24 over the final 21 minutes of the game.
  • The Bearcats have won four straight and seven of their last eight games.

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 13 starts this season, she is averaging 6.4 points and 7.5 rebounds.
  • A 5-8 guard, she leads the team in rebounding with 6.9 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 four 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 23.8 points and added 5.8 rebounds per game over her last four, shooting 48 percent from the floor, 44 percent from behind the arc, and 92 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 four 20-plus point games this season.
  • She leads the squad with a 16.2 points per game average and scored a career-high 29 points 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 53.1 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 35 percent shooting and 16 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 7.1 points and 3.7 rebounds this season.
  • Jones, a 6-1 post, returns after missing the 2007-08 season. She is a 9.3 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 (196-183).

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 averaging 10.7 points and 5.5 rebounds per contest this season.
  • Stephens posted her first double-double of the season on Jan. 7 at West Virginia, dropping in 12 points and grabbing 10 rebounds. She had 10 double-doubles last season.
  • Stephens is shooting 52 percent from the floor, 44 percent from the three-point line and leads the team at 85 percent from the free throw line.

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 15 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.