TicketsMarch 6, 2010
HARTFORD, Conn. - Kahla Roudebush (Noblesville, Ind./Hamilton Southeastern) scored 19 points, but the University of Cincinnati women's basketball team dropped a 70-44 decision to Rutgers in the second round of the 2010 BIG EAST Championship on Saturday night in the XL Center.
Shareese Ulis (Toledo, Ohio/Trinity Valley C.C.) added 10 points and Michelle Jones (Cincinnati, Ohio/Mount Notre Dame) scored five points and grabbed six rebounds in her final game for the Bearcats (12-18).
Brittany Ray scored a game-high 21 points and hit five threes to pace the Scarlet Knights (18-13).
Rutgers (18-13) raced out to a 16-11 lead with 13:06 left in the first, but three straight three-pointers by Ulis, Roudebush, and Shanasa Sanders (Jacksonville, Fla./Ribault Senior) gave UC a 20-16 lead with 11:30 to go.
From there, Rutgers used a 13-2 run to take a 29-22 lead with just over six minutes to go. A Jones layup stopped the run and cut it to 29-24 with 3:48 to go, but Rutgers closed the half with a 6-2 spurt to take a 35-26 lead into the break.
The Bearcats twice cut the lead to eight early in the second half, but the Scarlet Knights shot 57 percent in the period and extended its lead to as much as 28 with just over two minutes to play.
Cincinnati shot just 27 percent for the game and lost the rebounding battle, 38-26.
Khadijah Rushdan scored 14 points with six assists and April Sykes tallied 13 points and eight rebounds for the Scarlet Knights, who advance to play Georgetown in the quarterfinals at 8 p.m. on Sunday night.
Sanders started for the injured Carla Jacobs (Cleveland, Ohio/Regina) and tallied three points and six rebounds.
Roudebush finished just two points shy of ninth place in school history with 1,463 points. She finishes her UC career in the Top 10 in eight statistical categories.