The Bearcats defeated East Carolina on Friday and Charlotte on Sunday, despite being without one of their best players.

Bearcats junior Debbie Merrill, a two-time all-conference center who led the team in scoring (15.2 points a game) and rebounding (7.5 a game), was suspended indefinitely by UC head coach Laurie Pirtle before Friday's game.

A statement released by UC said Merrill violated team rules and that the matter would be handled internally. Pirtle would not comment further on the issue or say whether Merrill would return.

Merrill has not been practicing with the team.

But without its star, UC (14-13, 5-8) pulled out a 78-72 double overtime victory Friday against the Pirates, clinching a berth in the C-USA Tournament, and an 80-56 win over the 49ers on Sunday.

One of the driving forces behind the wins was also a little unlikely.

Sophomore center Anne Stephens tied a career high with 16 points on Friday and followed with 20 points on Sunday. She also totaled 15 rebounds and five blocks during the weekend wins.

"I felt like I stepped up to the challenge that was presented," she said. "There was a little bit of pressure, but it wasn't anything that I didn't feel like I could respond to."

Stephens, who at 6-feet-4 is the tallest player in UC history, played little last season and averaged about 2.7 points in conference play this season before the weekend.

"She's turning it back on again," Pirtle said. "She's playing confident, taking advantage of what teams give her and is starting to mature . . . It's a very young team, and they're coming on. I really think the young kids are becoming mature and are turning a nice corner."

But the real test to show if the Merrill-less Bearcats can survive the Conference USA Tournament will come in their season-ending game against Louisville on Saturday. East Carolina and Charlotte combined have lost their last 12 games, but Louisville has an eight-game winning streak.

When asked about the mood of the team without Merrill, Stephens simply said the Bearcats are doing what they have to.

"(Filling in for Merrill) was something we all understood had to be done," Stephens said. "Everyone's stepping up and taking a bigger role upon themselves."

MIAMI: Junior Nicki Motto said there was a feeling in the RedHawks' huddle at Central Michigan Saturday that they "weren't going to roll over and die." And despite being down by nine points with about a minute remaining in the game, they didn't.

Motto hit a career-high seven of nine 3-pointers and combined with senior Colleen Day to score 22 points down the stretch to help Miami extend its winning streak to 10 games with the 81-77 overtime victory on the road.

"It was an attitude that we weren't going to lose," Motto said. "It was a confidence thing, really. Everybody wanted the ball. Everybody wanted to be a part of it . . . Team success is more or less part of it. But it's really our team chemistry. It just clicks."

Miami (18-6, 12-1 Mid-American Conference) needs to win one of its final three home games to clinch its second straight MAC East title and at least a share of Miami's first overall MAC championship since 1990. The season finale will be Tuesday against Kent State, the only conference team Miami has lost to this season.

XAVIER: The Musketeers (15-11, 7-8 Atlantic 10) enter Friday's regular season-ending game against Dayton on a four-game losing streak.

"It's hard," XU sophomore Tara Boothe said. "But you've got to keep telling (the team), if we keep working at it, we'll be fine."

Fans will get in free to Friday's 7 p.m. game if they bring a Kroger nonperishable food item to donate to the Free Store Food Bank.

Coming up

This week's women's basketball games:

XU: vs. Dayton, 7 p.m. Friday.

UC: vs. Louisville, 6 p.m. Saturday (WXIX-TV).

Miami: vs. Ball State, 7 p.m. today; vs. Buffalo, 2 p.m. Saturday, vs. Kent State, 7 p.m. Tuesday.

Ohio State: at Minnesota, 8 p.m. Thursday; at Wisconsin, 8 p.m. Sunday.