TicketsJan. 3, 2011
By Garrett Sabelhaus
GoBEARCATS.com
Injuries turn into public enemy number one for basketball teams that aren't deep to begin with. Unfortunately, the injury bug has hit the University of Cincinnati women's basketball team hard in Jamelle Elliott's second season as head coach.
Just six of her players have played in all 13 of the games; three of which are freshmen. Elliott fears where the 7-6 Bearcats would be without her top three freshmen in Tiffany Turner, Jeanise Randolph and Kayla Cook.
"Whether they were ready or not to compete they've kind of been thrown into the fire," Elliott said. "Typically do you want your freshmen to play the amount of minutes they're playing? Probably not. I'm glad that they've been able to step up and really contribute to our team."
Cook, the only freshman to start all 13 games has led the team in scoring in three games, resulting in two wins. The guard from South Webster, Ohio is averaging 7.6 points and four rebounds per game.
Despite recently battling a back injury that nearly forced her out of a win against Hofstra, Cook does other things on the court to make a positive impact on the team.
"Even though she may not be scoring or doing things like that she's a great contributor to our basketball team," Elliott said. "She gives us 110 percent every time she's out on the court."
Turner is another freshman who has brought a lot to the table. She's played in all 13 games and started 11 of them averaging nearly 25 minutes a game while leading the team with 7.3 rebounds per game. She also chips in 6.2 points per game.
Randolph is the third freshman to receive significant playing time despite starting only twice. She has played in all 13 games and is one of the team's top rebounders. Her 25 offensive rebounds rank third on the team.
She averages 4.3 points per game in just under 17 minutes of action each contest and is the most efficient shooter on the team knocking down 58 percent of her shots.
Elliott says seniors Shelly Bellman and leading scorer Shareese Ulis are pulling for the younger players to do well to ultimately help the team reach its ultimate goals.
"With both of those guys being seniors and wanting to end their senior years as positively as they can, they know it's in their best interest to get the younger guys to play as well as possible," Elliott said. "They understand that the better the freshmen play the better their senior year is going to be and the better note that they're going to end their career here at Cincinnati."
But even as the injuries are piling up, Elliott said the freshmen are gaining valuable experience for the rest of the season and for their final three years at UC.