TicketsCINCINNATI – University of Cincinnati women's basketball won its second-straight game Tuesday night with a 72-53 victory over the visiting Chattanooga Mocs at Fifth Third Arena.
Solid first-half play, including a 12-4 run to end the second quarter, allowed the Bearcats (3-2) to take a 37-26 lead into the halftime locker room. The home team then scored the first five points of the third period to go up 16, 42-26.
UC saw its advantage reduced to just six points with 10 minutes left to play. The Bearcats responded by scoring the first seven points of the fourth period to lead 56-43 with 5:49 remaining. The Red & Black kept the pressure on UTC (1-4) over the duration of the contest, increasing their advantage to as many as 21 points with under a minute to play to put the game away.
Junior forward IImar'I Thomas' (Oakland, Calif./Sacred Heart Cathedral Prep) scored a career-high 29 points – to go along with seven rebounds – to lead all scorers. Senior guard Antoinette Miller (Detroit, Mich./Southfield-Lathrup) added 14 points, four assists, and two steals, while senior guard Sam Rodgers (Cincinnati, Ohio/Lakota East) chipped in 12 points and three assists. In addition, freshman Chellia Watson (Winder, Ga./Winder-Barrow) came off the bench for season highs of seven points and seven rebounds, while redshirt-sophomore Addaya Moore (Granite City, Ill./Granite City/Illinois) contributed seven rebounds, five points, and four assists.
UC shot a season-high 47% (27-of-57) from the field and knocked down 44% (4-of-9) of its 3-point attempts. The Red & Black also drained 14-of-22 free throws and scored 40 points in the paint. Furthermore, the Bearcats outrebounded UTC 36-24 and turned 13 offensive rebounds into 18 second-chance points.
// UP NEXT
UC will spend its Thanksgiving holiday in San Juan, Puerto Rico competing in the Puerto Rico Clasico. The Bearcats will first face Iowa on Wednesday, Nov. 27 and follow against Bucknell on Thursday, Nov. 28. Both games are slated to tip-off at 2:30 PM ET.
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