Rough start

Cats crushed in conference opener

By Hunter Tickel | Senior Reporter

If Tuesday's Big East opener for the Cincinnati women's basketball is an indication of what awaits them in conference play, the Bearcats are in for a long season.

Projected to finish 15th in the Big East this season, the Bearcats were bested in every facet of the game by the Cardinals: fundamentals, style, athleticism and cohesion as they lost 78-40 at Fifth Third Arena.

"We wasted people's times today, said head coach Jamelle Elliott. "We wasted the [referee's] time, we wasted the fans' time and we wasted Louisville's time. We didn't show up today. We might as well have stayed in the locker room with the performance we put on today."

UC committed a season-high 31 turnovers and shot worse than 32 percent from the floor.

A reoccurring theme throughout the night was Cincinnati settling for jump shots or giving the ball away, while the Cardinals took high-percentage shots and scored 38 points in the paint to the Bearcats 12.

"We need a post player," said freshman guard Kayla Cook. "When we get in the Big East, we are going to be facing 6-4, 6-5 and our tallest player is barely pushing 6-1. They don't have any experience in the Big East either, so I think we are slacking in the post."

Point guard Shareese Ulis is the only returning player that garnered significant playing time from last year's squad that finished 4-12 in the league. UC is inexperienced, returning just 27 percent of minutes played and 28 percent of scoring from last season.

"I just told them when I walked into the locker room, ‘Welcome to the Big East,' " Elliott said. "That's what they signed up for. They came to Cincinnati to play against these teams. I've got to hope that they are ready to do that."

The Bearcats appeared rusty after having ten days off as they prepared for their exams last week.

"[I told them] you guys have five minutes to get that out of your system and then we have to be ready to play," Elliott said. "Five minutes turned into 40 minutes. It's just one of those games where nothing went our way."

Ulis entered the night averaging a team-leading 15.7 points per game. She drew double teams on the perimeter from the outset and never found a comfortable flow against UL. The senior finished with 14 points and just two assists.

"I feel like I have to get these guys involved in order for us to be a great team," Ulis said. "If I can't get them to be with me, we don't have a chance at winning. Tonight I didn't play as good as I normally do and it carried over to everyone else."

Ulis scored the team's first basket after nearly eight minutes had surpassed as they struggled in their half-court sets.

By the midpoint of the first half, the contest was all but finished with UC falling behind 21-2. The Bearcats got on the score sheet for a second time with 8:06 remaining in the opening half.

The Bearcats totaled a season-low 40 points and allowed the Cardinals to shot better than 58 percent as they scored 18 points in transition.

After its Big East opener, the Bearcats step out of conference play again at 2 p.m. Saturday against Wright State at Fifth Third Arena.