TicketsCINCINNATI – The University of Cincinnati women’s basketball team pulled away in the second half to defeat UNLV, 65-48, on Saturday afternoon inside Fifth Third Arena.
Cincinnati (5-6) outscored the Lady Rebels 39-21 after halftime, including a 22-10 advantage in the third quarter.
Alliance Ndiba delivered a career performance, leading the Bearcats with career highs of 18 points and 13 rebounds while adding four blocks. The redshirt senior recorded the first double-double of her career and went 7-of-8 from the field. Ndiba also became the first Cincinnati player to post at least 18 points, 13 rebounds and four blocks in a game since Debbie Merrill in 2003.
Cincinnati had three players score in double figures, led by Ndiba’s 18, while Mya Perry added 13 points and Reagan Jackson chipped in 11.
UC controlled the glass, outrebounding UNLV 48-33, with Ndiba, Destiny Thomas (nine rebounds) and Kylie Torrence (nine rebounds) leading the effort. The Bearcats shot 41% from the field and 78.6% from the free throw line, while holding the Lady Rebels to 28.8% shooting.
Freshman Joya Crawford made her first career start, while fellow freshman Paige Whitted saw her first career action.
Perry scored all seven of the Bearcats’ points to open the game. Ndiba followed with six straight points to give Cincinnati a five-point edge (13-8). A Kali Barrett three-pointer pushed UC into the first media timeout ahead 16-11 with 2:47 remaining in the quarter. Cincinnati carried a 20-16 lead after the opening 10 minutes.
Both teams went through scoring droughts in the second quarter. UNLV broke the drought at the 4:03-mark to pull within five (25-20). The Lady Rebels closed the half on a 7-0 run to take a 27-26 lead into the break.
Cincinnati responded coming out of halftime, opening the third quarter on an 8-1 run. The Bearcats outscored UNLV 22-10 in the period to build an 11-point cushion heading into the final quarter (48-37). UC’s post players accounted for 14 of the 22 points.
The Bearcats put the game away in the fourth, using an 8-0 run over nearly three minutes to extend the lead to 16 before following with a 9-0 spurt. Cincinnati held the Lady Rebels to just 11 points in the quarter to secure a 65-48 victory.