Saturday, March 04, 2000
UC women win tournament opener
BY J.J. HYSELL
Enquirer Contributor
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Madinah Slaise led the University of Cincinnati with 29 points as the Bearcats advanced to the Conference USA tournament quarterfinals Friday with a 65-59 victory over No.10 seed Houston at Freedom Hall.
The seventh-seeded Bearcats (17-11, 10-7) outrebounded the Cougars 43-38. They will face No.2 seed Tulane (23-4, 12-4) in the quarterfinals at 8 p.m. today.
Slaise, a senior guard, scored her 29 points on 8-of-15 shooting. Forward Laura Wilder added 11 points and 11 rebounds while Candice Roberson had eight points.
“We started off so well then we got into playing their style,” said Cincinnati coach Laurie Pirtle. “Give them a lot of credit for taking us out of our game. But it's a win and we're happy with it.”
Sharonda Lasseter led Houston (7-21, 4-13) with 17 points and forward Kokeasha Randle had 12 points. Cincinnati shot 37 percent from the field and hit 7-of-15 from 3-point range.
Houston forward Angela Curl's layup cut the Lady Bearcats lead to 11-9 early in the first half. Cincinnati then socred nine consecutive points, including seven from Slaise to go ahead 20-9.
The Cougars answered by chopping the deficit to 23-19 on a 3-pointer by Nakia Mitchell.
Cincinnati extended its lead to 30-24, but Houston closed the half with three free throws and a basket by Jessica Shanklin to trail 30-29 at halftime.
Slaise scored 16 of her points in the opening half on 4-of-5 shooting. Cincinnati quickly found itself in trouble in the second half. Forwards Nikki Brooke and Portia Fournoy each picked up her fourth foul by just four minutes in.
But Slaise and Kristen Sharp kept the Bearcats in the game as each hit a 3-pointer to give Cincinnati a 51-47 advantage with 7:45 remaining.
Wilder and Slaise hit jumpers to extend the lead to 56-49. Houston continued to challenge as forward Danielle Fenderson's free throw pulled the Cougars to within 56-54 at the 2:30 mark.
Mitchell raced back for a layup that rolled in to tie the game at 56-56 with 1:30 left.
When Cincinnati returned from a timeout, guard Tish Perry swerved around a defender and made a wide-open three-pointer to go ahead 59-56.
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