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CINCINNATI - The University of Cincinnati women's basketball team fell Friday evening to the No. 22 USF Bulls, 78-51, inside Fifth Third Arena in the Bearcats' annual Play 4Kay Pink Game.
// THE SHORT STORY
UC (7-17, 3-10 The American) fell behind USF (18-6, 11-3 The American) early; facing a 21-11 deficit following the opening quarter. The Bearcats competed neck and neck with the Bulls in the second period, though, and trailed 38-27 at halftime. Cincinnati came out of the gates energized in the third quarter to cut its deficit to only six points a minutes into the period. The nationally-ranked Bulls answered by outscoring the Bearcats 16-9 over the duration of quarter to bring the score to 54-41 after three. An 11-2 run by USF to begin the final period put the game out of UC's reach as the visitors went on to down the hosts, 78-51.
// KEY PLAYERS
CINCINNATI
Jasmine Whitfield: 14 points | 4 rebounds | 2 steals
Ana Owens: 9 points | 7 rebounds | 4 assists
Bianca Quisenberry: 8 points | 4 steals | 2 rebounds
USF
Courtney Williams: 22 points | 6 rebounds
Kitija Laksa: 14 points
Maria Jespersen: 10 points | 3 rebounds | 2 assists
// KEY RUNS
- USF surged ahead with a 9-2 run through the first four minutes of the game and led 11-4 through the first half of the opening quarter. The Bearcats were outscored 10-7 over the remainder of the period as the Bulls took a 21-11 advantage into the second.
- UC trailed by 12, 28-16, with 6:48 to go before halftime, but responded with a 7-3 run, capped by a freshman guard Nikira Goings (Marietta, Ga./Osborne) corner three-pointer to bring the score to 31-23 with 3:59 left in the second quarter. The period progressed with the Bulls taking a 38-27 advantage into the halftime break.
- The Bearcats stormed out of halftime with a 5-0 streak to close the gap to 38-32 with 9:01 to go in the third period, but USF countered with an 8-0 burst to pull ahead by a score of 46-32 with 6:24 left in the quarter. UC responded by outscoring the visitors 9-8 over the length of the period to trail 54-41 to begin the final stanza.
- The Bulls began the fourth quarter with a 16-6 run over the opening five and a half minutes of the period to pull ahead by a then game-high 23 points, 70-47. USF was able to increase its lead through the remainder of the final period as the Bearcats fell, 78-51.
// TEAM NOTES
- Cincinnati scored 20 points in the paint Friday to mark the 17th time this season they have scored 20 or more in the painted area in a game.
- The Bearcats got 11 or more points from their bench for the third-consecutive game with 11 on the night.
- UC forced USF into 13 turnovers, capitalizing on these miscues with eight points.
- Cincinnati totaled four blocked shots, six steals, and assisted on 11 of its 20 made field goals.
// INDIVIDUAL NOTES
- Senior guard Jasmine Whitfield (Crestwood, Ky./South Oldham) led the Bearcats in scoring for the eighth time this season and the 17th time of her career with 14 points.
- Sophomore guard Ana Owens (Indianapolis, Ind./Lawrence North) totaled team bests of seven rebounds and four assists. The guard has now led the team in boards eight times this season and has been the Bearcats' top distributer 13 times in the 2015-16 campaign.
- Junior guard Bianca Quisenberry (Springfield, Ohio/Tecumseh) swiped a game-best four steals.
- Sophomore forward Trinity Hunter (New Albany, Ohio/Gahanna Lincoln) tied a season high with two points.
// UP NEXT
UC will hit the road to face the No. 1 ranked UConn Huskies on Wednesday, Feb. 17, at 7 p.m. inside Gampel Pavilion. The game will air live on ESPN3 - airing regionally on SportsNet New York (SNY) -- while a live audio broadcast can be accessed on Bearcats TV. Live stats will be available through GameTracker.