TicketsMarch 15, 2011
By Garrett Sabelhaus
GoBEARCATS.com
There are often signature wins throughout a season for any team. For the University of Cincinnati women's basketball team, the signature win came at a perfect time.
It was Senior Night as the Bearcats saw their best player and their most tenured honored during pregame ceremonies prior to tipping off with Marquette.
Shareese Ulis and Shelly Bellman, a sixth-year senior, played like it was their last game ever at Fifth Third Arena as Ulis dropped a game-high 20 points and Bellman scored 12, hauled in eight rebounds and handed out eight assists in a thrilling 65-62 win over No. 20 Marquette. It was their best individual games of the season according to head coach Jamelle Elliott who said the win was a huge confidence builder for both the team and herself as a coach.
"To say that we needed that game is an understatement," Elliott said. "I'm really, really, really happy we got that game, if for nothing else, to show the hard work that my (kids) continue to do in practice every day; how hard they continue to play in games even during that losing streak. It paid off and they saw that if I don't give up, if I continue to work hard, if I continue to buy in then good things can happen."
Bellman hit a big three-pointer late to take the lead for the Bearcats and Ulis blocked a three-point attempt seconds later to seal it for UC. When the buzzer sounded Elliott rushed toward midcourt and hugged her two seniors as if a tremendous weight had just been lifted off her shoulders.
It was a fitting end for the senior leaders on a team loaded with underclassmen. It also marked the first time in Elliott's two seasons at Cincinnati her team knocked off a nationally-ranked opponent.
Unfortunately for the Bearcats, the season came to abrupt end with a first-round loss to West Virginia in the BIG EAST Championship just a few days later.
The season had its upside, though. The Cats started the year 5-0 before losing their first game of the season.
The Cats will say goodbye to their leading scorer in Ulis, but return their next four top scorers including Kayla Cook at 8.1 points per game and Bjonee Reaves who came on late in the season and finished averaging 7.6 per game. Cook, along with Jeanise Randolph were both named to the BIG EAST All-Freshmen team.
Randolph shot a team-high 53 percent and averaged 5.7 points per game and also hauled in 5.6 rebounds per game, good enough for second most on the team among players who played in at least 20 games.
Daress McClung will also return for her junior season after playing and starting in just four games in November. In those games she was great, averaging eight points and 6.3 rebounds per game, while shooting 48 percent from the field.
The Bearcats will move on from a grinding 2010-11 season where they finished 9-20 and return with a solid base for next season.
As for Elliott, with the win over Marquette she gained a little peace of mind knowing Cincinnati was the right decision for her.
"It gave me some confidence in knowing that maybe I am putting the proper pieces in place for the foundation so we are able to compete against nationally-ranked teams," Elliott said.
Those pieces are coming together quickly. Elliott said she will spend the next four to six weeks on the road recruiting and was at a tournament in Kansas recruiting just a week after the season ended.