Maybe knowing all about the Cincinnati-Xavier rivalry isn't that important when it comes to the women's basketball teams squaring off. For the second straight season, the University of Cincinnati was led to victory by a freshman, whose only knowledge of the Crosstown Shootout came by word of mouth.

        This time it was Debbie Merrill, whose 22 points and career-high 13 rebounds helped UC knock off the Musketeers 62-56 Sunday.

        Last season, it was then-freshman guard Valerie King who scored a game-high 26 for Cincinnati.

        “... I ought to just leave them alone because all these freshmen are just walking in here and taking care of business,” UC coach Laurie Pirtle said.

        It was the Bearcats' sixth consecutive victory over Xavier (2-4), which has dropped four in a row for the first time since January 1997. The Musketeers have never lost five straight under coach Melanie Balcomb.

        Cincinnati (5-0) also ended XU's 22-game home winning streak, which was tied for fourth-longest in the nation.

        “As always, what a battle,” Pirtle said. “Look how many games in the past could've gone either way. And this is one of them.”

        The crowd of 3,145 at Cintas Center was believed to be the biggest for a Women's Crosstown Shootout.

        Sunday came down to two second-half spurts.

        The first was by the Musketeers, who trailed by seven at intermission. They started the second half on a 19-6 run. XU took its first lead of the game at 42-39 on a Reetta Piipari 3-pointer. About two minutes later, Piipari hit another 3 to make it 45-39 with 8:59 remaining.

        UC made just three of its first 13 field-goal attempts in the half. Xavier was grabbing one offensive rebound after another.

        After Xavier went ahead by six, it failed to score again for almost 5 1/2 minutes.

        The Bearcats scored 12 unanswered points. Their last field goal came with 3:46 left, but they hit 11 of 16 free throws to hold off Xavier.

        Merrill had 11 points in the first half despite going to the bench for almost eight minutes with her second personal foul. She grabbed 11 of her rebounds in the second half and finished 7-of-14 shooting from the field and 7-of-10 from the foul line.

        “I'm not sure how I'm supposed to feel about this game,” Merrill said. “(Senior) Tammy (Douglass) and Laura (Wilder) kind of helped me understand what the game means. I just kind of listen to what they say and take it.”

        “I've heard a lot about Debbie Merrill,” Balcomb said. “She looks good on tape, and everybody we called for verbal reports told us that she was awesome. So we were ready for Merrill. We just didn't have the depth in the post, especially when we got in foul trouble with our post players, to guard her.”

        Douglass added 13 points and King 10 for the Bearcats. Amy Waugh led Xavier with 16 points, five assists and nine rebounds, which matched her career high. Piipari and Shavon Bell each scored 12 points, and Kate Kreager had 10 — eight in the first half — for the Musketeers.

        XU won the rebounding battle 34-32 but turned the ball over 20 times.

        “We got our lead and we stopped executing,” Balcomb said. “Right now, we're not a very good team down the stretch because we don't have the experience, and in a big game like this it became real obvious.”

        CINCINNATI (62) — Merrill 7-14 7-10 22, Sharp 4-8 1-2 9, Young 1-3 2-4 4, King 3-12 3-4 10, Douglaco 5-8 3-5 13, Wilder 2-5 0-1 4. Totals: 22-51 16-26 62.

        XAVIER (56) — Waugh 4-11 5-5 16, Piipari 4-10 1-2 12, Kreager 5-12 0-0 10, Bell 4-9 3-3 12, Henderson 1-3 2-3 4, Yukes 1-1 0-0 2. Totals: 19-47 12-14 56.

        Halftime: Cincinnati 33, Xavier 26. 3-point goals: UC 2-13 (Merrill, King), X 6-17 (Waugh 3, Piipari 3). Records: Cincinnati 5-0, Xavier 2-4.

UC women beat Xavier Grove returning to UC Guidugli named UC MVP

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