Cincinnati Enquirer

Cincinnati lost to Saint Louis for the third time in 27 games and gave up a chance at the Conference USA title in a 69-63 defeat in the season-finale on Sunday in St. Louis.

The Bearcats had not lost to the Billikens since 1993 and fall to 21-6 on the season with an 11-3 C-USA mark . Saint Louis improves to 17-12 overall and 8-6 in the conference.

UC was led by Debbie Merrill, who notched her eighth double-double of the season with 19 points and 11 rebounds. Three other Bearcats scored in double figures, including K.B. Sharp's 16 points and Valerie King's 14. Carolyn Alexander added 12 points while the Billikens were led by Harmonie King's 16 points.

The Bearcats started off the second half cold, missing their first six shots as Saint Louis went on a 7-2 run to take a 42-39 lead with just under 16 minutes remaining. UC managed to hit on only 31 percent of its second-half field goal attempts, compared to 49 percent in the first stanza.

CINCINNATI (21-6, 11-3 C-USA) - Alexander 4-7 4-4 12, Young 0-4 0-0 0, Merrill 9-16 1-5 19, Sharp 6-14 2-5 16, King 5-17 0-0 14, Dozier 0-0 0-0 0, Knoch 0-1 0-0 0, Harvey 1-4 0-0 2, Stevenson 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 25-63 7-14 63.

SAINT LOUIS (17-12, 8-6) - Jones 2-5 0-0 4, Solomon 4-4 0-0 8, King 6-10 0-0 16, Haywood 5-14 1-2 11, Jackson 2-5 4-4 9, Greer 2-4 0-0 4, Oliver 2-6 1-2 5, Holloway 1-3 0-0 2, Lewis 4-7 2-3 10, Brown 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 28-59 8-11 69.

Halftime: UC 37, SL 35. 3-pointers: UC 6-19 (Young 0-1, Merrill 0-1, Sharp 2-4, King 4-10, Harvey 0-3), SL 5-10 (Jones 0-1, King 4-6, Jackson 1-2, Holloway 0-1). Rebounds: UC 37 (Merrill 11), SL 39 (Haywood 10). Assists: UC 14 (Sharp 6), SL 19 (Haywood 6). Attendance - 734.