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Bearcats Take on West Virginia in BIG EAST Championship First Round

Bearcats Take on West Virginia in BIG EAST Championship First RoundBearcats Take on West Virginia in BIG EAST Championship First Round

March 2, 2011

BIG EAST Championship Central | Game Notes | Watch live on BIGEAST.tv | Live Audio | Twitter

THE GAME
The University of Cincinnati women's basketball team opens the 2011 BIG EAST Championship on Friday, March 4, against No. 22 West Virginia in Hartford, Conn. The Bearcats, seeded 15th, take on the 10th-seeded Musketeers in the XL Center with the winner moving on to play No. 7 seed St. John's at 6 p.m. on Saturday, March 5.

THE SERIES
West Virginia topped the Bearcats, 72-44, on Jan. 8 in Morgantown to even the all-time series at 5-5. This will be the first meeting between the teams in the BIG EAST Championship.

THE COACH
Jamelle Elliott enters her second season as a head coach, taking over the Cincinnati program after 12 years as an assistant coach at Connecticut, her alma mater. She was a six-time national champion with the Huskies, including helping UConn to its first championship as a student-athlete in 1995. One of the most accomplished players in the distinguished history of the Connecticut program, Elliott finished her career ranked No. 2 among UConn's all-time rebounding leaders (1,054), No. 5 in BIG EAST career rebounding (558), and No. 11 in UConn career scoring (1,387).

  • Cincinnati will look to win a first-round BIG EAST Championship game for the third straight season. UC is 2-4 in the tournament since joining the league in 2005-06.
  • The Bearcats snapped a school-record 13-game losing streak with a 65-62 win over No. 20/22 Marquette on Feb. 28.
  • Senior guard Shareese Ulis is UC's leading scorer, averaging 13.9 points per game, which is 13th in the BIG EAST.
  • Ulis has knocked down a three-pointer in each game this season and 30 straight games dating to 2009-10.
  • Jeanise Randolph scored a career-high 20 points on a school-record 10-of-11 (.909) shooting at Villanova.
  • Chanel Chisholm returned to the lineup after missing five games due to injury. During that span, Cincinnati dressed only seven players.
  • Since being inserted into the starting lineup seven games ago, Bjonee Reaves is averaging 38.7 minutes per game.
  • The Bearcats start two freshmen, a first-year D-I transfer, a first-year junior college transfer, and a second-year junior college transfer.
  • Head coach Jamelle Elliott, the only BIG EAST head women's basketball coach to also play in the league, enters her second season on the Bearcats bench.
  • Elliott spent 12 seasons as an assistant at Connecticut following a four-year playing career for the Huskies, where she won a combined six national championships as a player and coach.
  • Cincinnati started the season 5-0 for the first time since the 2006-07 season before falling at Dayton on Dec. 2.