TicketsFurman Paladins on Sunday: The Bearcats will open the season Sunday at 7 p.m. at Fifth Third Arena against the Furman Paladins. Last year, Furman went 12-18 and finished in 9th place in the Southern Conference.
Furman will be a good team for UC to start the season against; the transition from the exhibition win against Kentucky Wesleyan should go smoothly. The Bearcats need time to develop their new offense and defense, so playing against a smaller school such as Furman should help them build confidence going into some much tougher matchups throughout the season.
Things to watch for:
• How guard Shanasa Sanders performs off the bench. On Monday night, Sanders went 1 for 6 from the floor, not scoring until late in the second half. She won't begin the season in the starting lineup, but her performance will be a key factor in UC's overall level of success this year. Last year she made the all-Big East freshman team after showing some great production and maturing as the season wore on, so the potential for her to be great is there. "I'm just waiting for Shanasa to really have a breakout practice, a breakout game, because I think there's so much more in that kid that she has to offer," Elliott said. "It's just kind of waiting for it to come out. And I challenge her every day, 'Look, I need more from you.' The better she is, the better team we'll be."
• Production from forward Daress McClung. McClung has the potential to contribute as a freshman off the bench in the frontcourt. She showed tremendous athleticism on offense and defense against Kentucky Wesleyan, which will be huge if she continues to perform as the season kicks into gear. Cincinnati is in desperate need of depth at the forward position, so if she can develop into a dependable bench player who can eat up some valuable minutes, UC will be much stronger for it.
• Overall intensity. Elliott has challenged her team to play hard for 40 minutes regardless of the game situation, and made it clear that anything less is unacceptable. This is going to be an "x" factor that can't really be measured on a stat sheet. If Elliott succeeds in maximizing the potential out of her current players, then it's a safe bet that their season this year will be different than last year. Just by talking to the players and seeing the excitement in their eyes, they have started to realize already how much they have to give. That is the attitude they will need to keep all year if they are to pull themselves out of the basement in the Big East standings.
Injury Update: Carla Jacobs' ankle seems to be doing fine. I saw her practicing full-speed yesterday, so she should be good to go on Sunday night barring any setbacks. According to head coach Jamelle Elliott, Jacobs will start and Shanasa Sanders will be the first guard off the bench.
Starting Lineup: G Shareese Ulis, G Carla Jacobs, G Kahla Roudebush, G/F Val Schuster, C Michelle Jones.
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