This afternoon the Bearcats improved to 5-3 on the season following their dominant 69-47 victory over Xavier in the Woman’s Crosstown Shootout to hand the Musketeers their eight consecutive losses to start the 2023-2024 season. The Bearcats would retain the Kendle Cup as they revenge their loss to the Musketeers from a season ago.
Bearcats head coach Katrina Merriweather now improves to 11-0 all-time vs the Musketeers following their 69-47 victory. Merriweather, who played in this rivalry during her time at Cincinnati was able to get her first victory on the other side of this rivalry in her first season as head coach of the Bearcats.
The Bearcats were led by Reagan Jackson who finished with 14 points on 5-of-13 shooting as the freshman continued to show that she is capable of being a key factor for the Bearcats this season. Jackson, has now scored in double digits the last four games and has proven to be a big spark for Katrina Merriweather through the Bearcats first eight games.
Senior Malea Williams recorded yet another dominant performance for the Bearcats as she finished with 13 point and eight rebounds. Williams, continues to alter the game in many ways with her great length and size as the forward continues to be a huge presence for the Bearcats on both ends of the court. Redshirt junior Taziah Jenks recorded a season high 10 points, eight in which came in the fourth quarter.
However, the Musketeers did a great job at containing Jillian Hayes, as the Bearcats leading scorer was held to just nine points, but continued to be a huge factor on the glass as she grabbed seven rebounds for the Bearcats. The Bearcats dominated the glass this afternoon as they outrebounded the Musketeers 39-28, fifteen of those rebounds came from Williams and Hayes.
The Bearcats gave the Musketeers all kinds of trouble today, as the Musketeers were back in action for the first time in nearly two weeks after their last two games were canceled due to not having enough available players. You could simply tell the Musketeers were looking to shake off the rust as the Bearcats forced a season high 23 turnovers on the afternoon. A huge momentum shifts in this game as Katrina Merriweather knew they had to find ways to make the Musketeers turn the ball over and they did just that as the Musketeers had no answer on the offensive end as they shot just 36% from the field.
The Bearcats would take an early 17-14 lead after the first quarter after Reagan Jackson’s quick seven points sparked a 9-0 run in favor of the Bearcats. The Bearcats would not look back from there after starting the second quarter on a 11-0 run, holding the Musketeers scoreless for nearly the first eight minutes of the second quarter. However, the Musketeers struggled to get anything get anything going from their as nearly half, (10) of their 23 turnovers came in the second quarter.
The Bearcats just poured it on the Musketeers from there after seven quick points from Malea Williams made this a 37-26 game with 6:24 remaining in the third quarter. The Bearcats would end the third quarter on a six point run to extend their lead to fifteen.
You could quickly see the Musketeers were out of gas as the Bearcats just continued to run the Musketeers out of the gym this afternoon. The Bearcats were without second leading scorer Mya Jackson for this one, but even without the graduate student the Bearcats saw great contribution from the bench players. Taziah Jenks a key example of that as she recorded the Bearcats last eight points to seal the Bearcats 69-47 victory and reclaim the Kendle Cup.
Up Next
Katrina Merriweather and the Bearcats (5-3) will be back in action this Wednesday at Fifth Third Arena vs Howard as they search for their fourth straight victory for the first time since the 2019-2020 season.
