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CINCINNATI - The University of Cincinnati women's basketball team led wire-to-wire and opened exhibition play with a 68-30 win over Kentucky Wesleyan, Friday, inside Fifth Third Arena.
UC had a 19-point lead entering the second half and ran it to as much as 30 with 12:35 left in the game. The Panthers brought the margin down to 21, 46-25, with 9:57 remaining, but would get no closer.
UC controlled the boards with a 55-37 rebounding edge and converting 19 offensive rebounds into 20 second-chance points. The Bearcats did most of their damage inside, scoring 32 points in the paint and blocking eight shots.
Marley Hill (Cleveland, Ohio/Columbus Africentric) led all players with 18 points and the sophomore grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds for the double-double.
Jasmine Whitfield (Crestwood, Ky./South Oldham) added 11 points and eight rebounds while Ana Owens (Indianapolis, Ind./Lawrence North) scored 10, pulled four boards and dished out four assists.
Sydney Morabito led the Panthers with six points as Kentucky Wesleyan struggled from the floor all night, shooting 13-for-62 (.210) and 4-of-26 (.154) from behind the arc.
During a special halftime ceremony with both teams still on the court, UC honored Lauren Hill, a freshman basketball player at Mount St. Joseph battling brain cancer. Hill has captured the nation over the last month with her compelling story. During her senior year at nearby Lawrenceburg High School, Lauren started to experience strange symptoms and was subsequently diagnosed with diffused intrinsic pentene gleoma (DIPG), an inoperable form of brain cancer with a near-zero chance of survival.
Lauren has continued to practice with her team throughout her chemotherapy and radiation treatments and recently competed in her first college game on Sunday, Nov. 2, a game made possible by an NCAA exemption to move the game to an earlier date.
UC presented Hill with an honorary jersey during halftime and she spoke to the crowd about her battle at halftime and 22 selected supporters participated in the #Layup4Lauren challenge to honor Lauren's jersey number 22. In addition, the Bearcats players and staff wore special grey t-shirts during warmups.
UC held a 28-9 halftime edge as the Bearcats shot at a 46.7 percent clip (14-of-30) in the opening 20 minutes. Hill scored 12 of her points in the first half, hitting six shots in 17 minutes of action.
The Bearcats were strong on the defensive end, holding the Panthers to four field goals, forcing 10 turnovers and blocking six shots.
UC opens the regular season on Saturday, Nov. 15, 2014 at 2 p.m. ET, taking on Arkansas Pine-Bluff inside Fifth Third Arena. It will be UC's lone home game before facing crosstown rival Xavier on Dec. 14 at 2 p.m. with the Bearcats playing six-straight road games between home contests.
Season and single-game tickets are on sale now for as little as $45 and $5, respectively. Please visit GoBEARCATS.com/tickets or call 1-877-CATS-TIX for more information about all ticket options.