TicketsHOUSTON – The University of Cincinnati women’s basketball fell at the buzzer to Houston, 72-70, on Sunday afternoon inside the Fertitta Center.
The Bearcats (8-14, 3-7) erased a six-point deficit in the fourth quarter and took the lead with under four seconds remaining, but Houston answered with a game-winning three as time expired.
Point guard Caliyah DeVillasee led the way with a team-high 21 points to go with four rebounds. She went a perfect 7-of-7 from the charity stripe. It marked her fifth 20-point performance of the season.
Destiny Thomas tied her season high with 10 points on a perfect 4-of-4 shooting, and Texas native Reagan Jackson also finished in double figures with 10 points.
Cincinnati shot 41% from the field but just 8% from deep, while Houston finished 44% from the field and made five three-pointers.
Houston jumped out to an 8-3 advantage at the first quarter media timeout. Alliance Ndiba broke the drought for the Bearcats with 3:39 on the clock (10-5). A pair of Dee Alexander finds to Thomas brought UC within five after the first quarter (16-11).
A Jackson and-one cut the deficit to two to start the second quarter (16-14). Cincinnati then scored five straight, highlighted by an and-one from DeVillasee, to tie the game at 23-all. The Bearcats went into the locker room trailing by four, 35-31.
Two separate 4-0 runs allowed UC to briefly reclaim the lead in the third quarter before Houston used a 9-0 run to take a 53-47 advantage into the final period.
Cincinnati opened the fourth with back-to-back layups from Crawford and Perry, then used a 9-2 run late to tie the game with under three minutes remaining. DeVillasee scored seven points during the stretch. After Jackson split a pair of free throws to give the Bearcats a one-point lead, Houston secured the win with a buzzer-beating three.