By Colleen Kane
The Cincinnati Enquirer

On the surface, there doesn’t seem to be much for UC coach Laurie Pirtle to be happy about.

The last time the Bearcats entered the Conference USA tournament with a conference record (5-9) and a seed (No. 9) this bad was in the tournament’s first year, 1996.

UC is barely holding on to a .500 overall record at 14-14 and dropped its final home game on senior night against Louisville Saturday.

And her star player, Debbie Merrill, is still indefinitely suspended for violating team rules.

But as Pirtle prepared to leave Tuesday afternoon for Fort Worth, Texas, to get ready for today’s game against eighth-seeded USF (12 p.m. EST), her mood was surprisingly upbeat.

“They practiced really well today,” Pirtle said. “A lot of people were being very aggressive offensively. More and more personalities are coming out. March is a time when you see people evolving…It’s a new season, a chance to accomplish anything.”

Maybe it’s a premonition. Pirtle said the Bearcats had that same positive feeling just before making a weekend sweep of East Carolina and Charlotte two weeks ago and lacked it last week going into the game against the Cardinals.

Maybe it’s all of the good memories of the C-USA tournament that stick out in Pirtle’s mind. The Bearcats have made it to the tournament finals four of the last five years, winning in 2002.

Or perhaps it’s the fact that Pirtle said her younger players are continuing to develop - a necessity if the Bearcats are to make up for the 15.2 points and 7.5 rebounds that Merrill regularly contributed.

“I think we’ve responded well to having to lose a player of Debbie’s caliber, and it made people be like, ‘OK Debbie’s not here, I have to help the team get what we need to,’” senior Brittani Young said. “I think our mentality has changed and that makes our basketball that much better.”

Whatever the reason for the optimism, it might not be easy to keep the mood bright in a loaded conference tournament this weekend.

In their last meeting, USF won 66-64 in overtime at UC behind 27 points from freshman Jessica Dickson. Young, the Bearcats’ best defender, will match up with Dickson, who was named C-USA Freshman of the Year Wednesday. Young got into foul trouble in the last matchup.

“I’m just going to try to make her work to get the ball, and when she gets it, make it work so whatever she gets is a tough shot,” Young said. “Box her out, so she doesn’t get any easy points, and just try to stay on the floor...”

If the Bearcats win, they draw top-seeded and 11th-ranked Houston, which boasts 2004 C-USA Player of the Year, Chandi Jones. Houston beat UC 60-56 in their Jan. 23 meeting. Nationally-ranked DePaul (No. 24) and TCU (No. 16) are among other favorites to win the C-USA title.