By Shannon Russell
The Cincinnati Enquirer

As soon as time expired, the University of Cincinnati women's basketball team huddled around the Skyline Chili Crosstown Shootout traveling trophy and raised it skyward.

Annual bragging rights stayed in Clifton with the Bearcats for the eighth straight year.

Cincinnati scored the first four points and never looked back, beating Xavier 52-41 Sunday afternoon in the 26th annual Shootout at Cintas Center. The Bearcats, which lead the overall series 20-6, improved to 4-1 as Xavier's record dropped to 2-1.

UC scored its fewest points in a win since 1999 and Xavier produced its lowest score since 1997. Neither team shot better than 40 percent.

"We always come in with a defensive plan for them and they came in with a defensive plan for us," UC coach Laurie Pirtle said. "And that's really what the game was about, figuring out each other's defensive plan."

XU knew exactly where to start: inside-outside tandem Valerie King and Debbie Merrill.

King, who set school and Conference USA records Tuesday for scoring 46 points against Charleston Southern, was held to a season-low 12 points by Kristy Wallner. Merrill, guarded by Alexis Henderson, added a season-low seven points, snapping her 35-game streak of double-figure scoring.

Xavier's attention to high-profile players opened opportunities for rookie point guard Treasure Humphries, who scored a team-high 14 points in her fourth game at UC.

"I thought the key was Treasure Humphries," said Xavier coach Kevin McGuff "It kind of came down to if they could get one more person, that third scorer, to make some shots - and she did. I think that's where we struggled."

Sophomore forward Tara Boothe scored more points than her team combined, leading all scorers with 23 points, nine rebounds and a career-high four blocks.

The Musketeers battled cold shooting early, hitting only one free-throw in its first eight shots. Six minutes into the first half, Boothe scored the Muskies' first field-goal.

Despite the Muskies' first-half 26.1-percent field goal percentage, Boothe brought Xavier to within five points of the Bearcats at half.

"She really stepped up today," Pirtle said. "We gave her a different angle on the shot that we didn't think she would make, and she made it."

UC senior Brittani Young nabbed six of her team-high 10 rebounds in the second half, and Micah Harvey's two free throws with 34 seconds left cemented UC's largest lead at 14 points.

SHOOTING WOES: Xavier was UC's third straight opponent to shoot less than 36 percent from the floor. The Musketeers' 15 field goals were its lowest since hitting 14 in a 49-44 loss to Massachusetts on March 1, 1998.

LOW-DOWN: Xavier's 41 points was its lowest in a Shootout since 1987-88 (39). UC's 52 was its lowest vs. Xavier since 1992-93 (48).

Cincinnati	M	FG	Att	FT	Att	R	A	F	TO	TP
Merrill	26	2	9	3	4	3	0	5	4	7
Young	40	2	5	0	2	10	1	0	0	4
Stephens	31	3	6	0	0	3	0	3	2	6
King	40	4	7	2	2	3	4	0	1	12
Humphries	18	6	9	0	0	4	2	3	3	14
Knoch	9	1	2	0	0	4	0	0	1	3
Harvey	20	0	6	4	4	3	0	0	2	4
Slaughter	16	1	3	0	0	3	1	3	4	2
Totals	200	19	47	9	14	37	8	14	17	52

Team rebounds - 7.

Xavier	M	FG	Att	FT	Att	R	A	F	TO	TP
Wallner	38	1	6	2	5	3	4	2	0	4
Boothe	39	9	16	5	8	9	0	2	5	23
Henderson	20	0	2	0	0	2	2	1	2	0
Chowning	28	2	6	0	0	2	1	3	0	4
Geryak	33	0	7	2	2	1	2	5	3	2
Green	8	0	1	0	0	1	0	2	1	0
Miller	13	0	3	0	0	2	2	1	1	0
Sarajlija	21	3	6	0	0	2	1	1	1	8
Totals	200	15	47	9	15	26	12	17	13	41

Team rebounds - 4.

CINCINNATI	22	30	- 52
XAVIER	17	24	- 41

3-pointers - Cincinnati 5-9 (Young 0-1, King 2-2, Humphries 2-2, Knoch 1-2, Harvey 0-2), Xavier 2-15 (Wallner 0-1, Boothe 0-1, Henderson 0-1, Chowning 0-3, Geryak 0-4, Sarajlija 2-5). Technicals - None. Officials - Struckhoff, Comanita, Green. Attendance - 2,326.