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Coach Pirtle

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Carla Jacobs

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Shelly Bellman

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However, pre-game high-hopes and even higher early-game defensive intensity were not enough to lift the Bearcats over the opportunistic Golden Eagles who took advantage of countless UC offensive miscues and poor defensive box outs, pulling away during the one-sided 20 minutes of action for the win, 76-59.

Marquette, who is 12 points from being undefeated this season, improves its outstanding record to 17-2 and 7-1 in the Big East. The loss, Cincinnati’s sixth in the last nine games, drops the Bearcats record to12-8 on the season, 3-5 in Big East play. UC also falls into sixth place in the conference rankings with their defeat this weekend. 

After fighting to stay competitive in their showdown with one of the most explosively dynamic squads -- offensively and defensively -- in the Big East during the first half, 33-26, Cincinnati saw many of their first-half mistakes come back to haunt them in the second half as they failed to remedy them. While the Golden Flashes amassed the majority (22) of their 37 combined points off turnovers and second-chance points during the first period, MU accrued the 17 hustle-bred tallies during the second period that ultimately doomed the Bearcats chances of claiming a victory. This was largely the case because of the manner by which those points were accumulated. 

The points Marquette collected came in “spurts”, as UC head coach Laurie Pirtle and I referred to them after the game. Seemingly every time the Bearcats would fight back from a sizeable deficit during the second half, Marquette would counterpunch with a bucket of their own and then opportunistically force UC into one of its now characteristic turnovers -- the Bearcats have turned the ball over more than 20 times in seven of their last nine games -- that would generally be forced ahead for an easy lay-in.  This seemed to happen time-and-time again, where MU would undo the hard work the ’Cats would do over the course of three or four minutes to get back into the contest over the course of a mere 35 to 40 seconds.  

The Golden Eagles quick strikes are the prime reason that the Bearcats, who committed just nine of their 21 turnovers and allowed only six offensive rebounds during the second 20 minutes of action, lost much of their offensive and defensive intensity during the game’s final period.  The momentum built over the course of their several come-from-behind efforts was deflated every time MU would capitalize on one of the numerous Bearcat mistakes.  While the ‘Cats were able to whittle the score down to three points, 41-38, with 12:53 to play, Marquette punished the them for their offensive and defensive shortcomings by going on an 11-0 run to pull away, 52-38. MU would go u by as many as 19 points in the closing minutes of the game.

The game-long derailment of Cincinnati’s offense was further exacerbated by Marquette’s explosion of defensively-driven offensive output in the second half.  As Marquette’s defense aided their struggling offense by benefiting from the plethora of Bearcat mistakes scoring the ball they helped induce, it was simultaneously helping to take their opponent out of the contest on the defensive end. In addition to easy fastbreak or tip-in buckets, MU was given numerous open looks that seemed to derive from deflated Bearcat defense.  This is largely evidenced by the fact that Marquette raised their shooting percentage from a dismal 38-percent first-half effort to a steamy 49 percent for the rest of the game.  Additionally, the usual ball hawking Bearcat defense that had forced the Golden Eagles into an unusually high seven turnovers during the opening period, could muster only another four giveaways spanning the duration of the remainder of the game.

Though their post-intermission act left much to be desired, the Bearcats early-game performance kept them within striking distance of one of the top teams in the country.  The game was nip and over the course of the first 15 minutes, as neither team could build a lead greater than three points to that point. The first half featured nine lead changes and two ties. Both squads shot 38 percent from the floor but 12 offensive rebounds helped the Golden Eagles amass more scoring opportunities during the period, as MU managed 31 field-goal attempts to UC’s 21.

The Bearcats had more turnovers (12) and fouls (9) than they had field goals made (8) in the first stanza.

UC hit the first basket of the game on a Jill Stephens’ long-range jumper. The Bearcats and Marquette traded baskets until the Golden Eagles established a five-point lead with 5:11 remaining in the half. Marquette equaled its largest lead of the half on a Krystal Ellis trey, making the score, 27-20, with 2:13 to play. The Bearcats replied with back-to-back 3-pointers by freshmen Stephanie Stevens and Carla Jacobs. Stevens hit her first collegiate 3-point field goal with 1:53 to play and Jacobs drilled a trey at the 1:15 mark to pull the Bearcats within three, 29-26. MU used a 4-0 run to close out the half.

While her career-high 17 points were enough to make it one of her best individual displays, Carla Jacobs (the BCI Player of the Game) also added four rebounds, two assists and two steals to the UC cause. Michelle Jones added 10 points and a season-high three assists in addition to a game-leading seven rebounds (four offensive). Angel Morgan added nine points, five rebounds and three assists for Cincinnati.

The Bearcats will have no time to dwell on this tough defeat, as they will host No. 5/7 Connecticut on Tuesday, Jan. 30 with a 7 p.m. tip off.