Ahead of all the news surrounding the University of Cincinnati, and the football program the Woman’s Basketball team welcomed in Ole Miss to Fifth Third Arena to kick off what would be game one here at Fifth Third Arena today, as the Men’s team welcomes Bryant University later tonight. The Bearcats are coming in 4-3 on the season after a huge win over Central Michigan earlier this week. The Rebels on the other hand come into today’s contest 7-1 and currently on a 7-game winning streak. The Bearcats are looking to end the Rebels 7 game run and come out with what could be a huge non-conference win for coach Heard and the Bearcats.
The starters for the Bearcats today were Cailtyn Wilson, Akira Levy, Braylyn Milton, Arame Niang and Jillian Hayes, as the Bearcats were looking to go with a smaller lineup versus a very good Rebels team. Freshman Braylyn Milton is making her first career start for the Bearcats.
The Bearcats got off to a slow start as Ole Miss jumped out to an early 6-0 lead before the Bearcats got their first points from freshman Braylyn Milton. The Bearcats sprung off a 6 point run to tie this game at 10 after a Ole Miss technical foul. The Rebels started 5-of-5 from the field before the Bearcats flipped the momentum, as Freshman Braylyn Milton had a huge first quarter finishing with 12 points, on 3-of-4 shooting, including a three from the logo to beat the buzzer to end the first quarter giving the Bearcats a 21-18 lead over the Rebels.
The Bearcats got had all the momentum after a great finish to end the first quarter and it continued in the second quarter after junior guard Akira Levy got going for the Bearcats as she had consecutive possessions with and-1’s resulting in 6 straight points. However, the Rebels fought back as they were capitalizing off the Bearcats turnovers and continued to fight back taking a 36-31 lead into halftime following a big second quarter where they outscored the Bearcats 18-10.
The Rebels would come out and score 4 quick points to start the half as they extended their lead to 40-31 forcing the Bearcats to take an early timeout as they were looking to stop the Rebels momentum. The Rebels really started to attack the paint and that gave the Bearcats a lot of trouble, allowing the Rebels to not only get to the basket, but they were able to draw fouls and get to the free throw line which caused a lot of trouble for the Bearcats as they quickly extended their lead to 47-35 before a three from Emerita Mashaire cut the Rebels lead to 9. The Rebels on the other hand started to get sloppy with the ball as the Bearcats forced two turnovers and cut the deficit to 47-43 after consecutive threes from Emerita Mashaire. The Rebels punched right back though as they scored 6 straight points to push their lead to 10, but that wasn’t going to stop the Bearcats from locking in, as Akira Levy took over and scored nine 3rd quarter points, as the Bearcats went on a 8-0 run in the final 1:30 of the 3rd quarter.
The Bearcats tied the game at 55, as the Bearcats were looking to take their first lead since early in the second quarter, as the energy this team as bringing after each play was a huge factor as the Bearcats came down the stretch. The Bearcats were looking to stay locked in as they knew they were in for a close battle down the stretch. The Rebels jumped out to a 65-59 lead with 5 minutes remaining but the Bearcats would be looking to fight back late. The Rebels, found their grove and opened this game back up down the stretch after a 7 point run, the Rebels lead 69-59 with 3:36 remaining. The Rebels just held strong down the stretch after they pulled away, as they held on to beat the Bearcats 75-63.
The Bearcats were lead by Akira Levy who finished with a game high 21 points, three rebounds and six assists. Freshman Braylyn Milton finished with 19, after scoring 12 points in the first quarter, Ole Miss found a way to stop contain the freshman the rest of the game, but the two guards had a very impressive showing for the Bearcats as they combined for 40 of the teams 63 points.
The Bearcats now sit at 4-4 on the season, as they will look to bounce back in the win column when they welcome in crosstown rival Xavier to Fifth Third Arena, next Sunday at 2 pm.
