TicketsTurnover Trouble: Cincinnati played with high energy for 40 minutes, led by junior point guard Shareese Ulis' 20 points. However, Ulis also had trouble turning the ball over, a concern head coach Jamelle Elliott will have to address. "To be honest with you, I was upset with Shareese all first half," Elliott said. "I thought she made some careless turnovers, I thought she was making some careless passes early on in the game, and that was obvious when she had four turnovers in the first half."
She added, "It starts with our point guard ... if she's going to be the one setting the tone for my team, that's not a good thing if she's going to turn the ball over."
18 turnovers is the biggest red flag I saw coming out of tonight's game. With the switch from last year's zone defense to this year's man-to-man defense, the Bearcats limited the Panthers to 36 points, but 11 of those points came off turnovers. When the competition gets hotter, better teams are going to capitalize off of more of those turnovers. Look for the Bearcats to improve in this area if they want to compete this season.
Freshman Surprise: I was struck with just how mature freshman forward Daress McClung looked off the bench. In 16 minutes she scored eight points, but the real story was her intensity on defense and aggressiveness after the ball. She pulled down two athletic steals and made a Panther look stupid with a block on a midrange jumper.
"I thought she came in and really changed the game right away," Elliott said. "I challenged my freshmen. I was waiting for one of them to step up. Right now they love each other and they're best friends and they're kind of in a pack, and I've challenged one of them to kind of step outside that pack and contribute, freshman or no freshman. Today, Daress did that for us."
Going into the season, this is by far the most encouraging sign for a team that lacks depth to begin with. UC is playing with only one experienced frontcourt player in Michelle Jones. If McClung quickly develops into a player the coaches can count on to contribute, she will be able to come in and not only keep Jones fresh, but challenge opponents with her athleticism as well.
Starting 5: Tonight Carla Jacobs was out with an ankle injury, so we only saw four of the five starters going into the regular season. Here is the lineup, as it will be on Sunday at 7 p.m. when the Furman Paladins come to town: G Shareese Ulis, G Carla Jacobs, G Kahla Roudebush, G/F Val Schuster, and C Michelle Jones.
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