The Cincinnati Bearcats would improve to (11-10, 3-7 Big 12) following their huge 74-56 victory over Texas Tech after a stellar performance against the Red Raiders.
Senior forward Jillian Hayes had a dominant afternoon for the Bearcats as she finished with a team high 18 points, 12 rebounds, three blocks, three steals. Hayes, led the Bearcats down the stretch as nine of those 18 points came in the 4th quarter. “I knew we weren’t going to come off the court without the “W” at the end of the day,” said Hayes.
Taziah Jenks and A’riel Jackson each had 13 points for the Bearcats, as the back court duo took over down the stretch as they combined for 12 of the 24 points in the fourth quarter. With her 13 points this afternoon, Jenks has now achieved a new season high in points as well.
The Bearcats outrebounded the Red Raiders 43-26 as that was simply the difference maker in this contest, as the Lady Bearcats were showing they were willing to play to their advantage, and that was on the rebounding efforts. “Even though we outrebounded Texas Tech by 17, that is the expectation,” Katrina Merriweather said. “That is who we are, we have expectations, standards and we are not moving, changing, lowering them,”
The Rundown
The Lady Bearcats jumped out to an early 9-2 lead early in the first quarter after an eight-to-zero run to start the game following four huge points from Destiny Thomas off the bench. Cincinnati’s 1-2-2 zone continued to cause problems for the Red Raiders early, as they shot just 2-8 from the field through the first seven minutes of play.
The Bearcats took a huge 20-9 lead after the first ten minutes of action, behind five points and three rebounds from Reagan Jackson, as the freshman continues to make a name for herself in the Big 12. Thomas also provided huge minutes off the bench early for the Bearcats, racking up four points and three rebounds in just three minutes of action in the first quarter.
The Lady Bearcats stellar defense was just too much for the Red Raiders early, as the Bearcats length and physicality in the front court was playing to their advantage and the Red Raiders simply had no answer. Cincinnati out rebounded the Red Raiders 16-6 in the first quarter. However, the Bearcats continued to take advantage on early opportunities, after racking up five steals in the first quarter which turned into points the other way for Cincinnati.
Cincinnati would keep their foot in the gas in the second quarter following seven unanswered from the Lady Cats, with four straights from A’riel Jackson. The Red Raiders were scrambling for any sort of momentum early as they experience yet another three minutes plus scoring draught before Jasmine Shavers silenced the Bearcats momentum.
Shavers, first triple was the dagger the Raiders needed, as they respond out of the timeout with ten unanswered following a quick six points from Shavers to cut the Bearcats leads to single digits with five minutes remaining in the first half. Cincinnati then extended their lead back to double-digits as Jillian Hayes, started to find her groove on the offensive end after four quick points gave the Bearcats a 34-24 lead.
Cincinnati would hold the Red Raiders without a field goal the final five minutes of the second quarter, where the held a 35-27 heading into the break. A full 20 minutes of play for the Lady Cats through the first twenty minutes, as they outrebounded the Red Raiders 25-13, (14-5 OREB) in the first half. Hayes made a huge impact on both ends of the court, after a huge second quarter, as the senior led the Bearcats with seven points, seven rebounds and two steals during the first half.
The Red Raiders would respond with an early seven-to-zero run to start the second half, forcing a Bearcats timeout with 8:19 left in the third quarter. Cincinnati junior Ta’Ziah Jenks would silence the Red Raiders momentum with four straights to extend their lead to five, with 6:45 left in the third quarter.
The Red Raiders would respond with a huge three from Shavers, to make this a 47-43 game, with momentum favoring the Red Raiders after a foul away from the ball following the made basket. That is simply when the Red Raiders offense turned on the burners as they held the Bearcats to just 1 of 8 shooting to end the third quarter where the Bearcats saw their lead quickly erased. The Red Raiders cut the deficit to one, as the Bearcats led 50-49 heading into the fourth quarter.
Katrina Merriweather and the Bearcats started the fourth quarter with six unanswered to take a 56-49 lead with 8:00 left in this contest, forcing a Red Raiders timeout. The scoring didn’t stop there for the Bearcats though, after Hayes grabbed a huge offensive rebound, to keep the possession alive leading to a crucial three from Jackson to extend the Bearcats lead to double digits with seven minutes remaining. The Bearcats rattled off a 14-0 run at the end of things before the Red Raiders buried their first field goal of the fourth quarter with 4:20 left to play, as the Bearcats led 64-51.
The Bearcats held the Red Raiders without a field goal for the final five minutes of this contest as they continued to pour it on the Red Raiders down the stretch. Cincinnati ended the game on a 24-7 run, as 22 of the Bearcats 24 points in the fourth quarter came from Hayes (9), Jackson (7) Jenks (5).
From Katrina Merriweather
“I am incredibly proud of this group. I thought they were challenged really hard after our loss to Houston, and they stepped up in every way. Having 9 players score, being a collective team effort, playing together as a defense, that was everything we talked about doing.”
Cheryl Cook returns to Cincinnati
“Cheryl is from Indianapolis where I grew up, I’ve known about the Cookie Monster way before I knew anything about the University of Cincinnati,” Merriweather said. “To have her in the building we simply say, we had goat energy in the building today. She spoke to the team earlier today. Those things matter when you have people who wore this Cincinnati jersey with pride. People who were arguably the greatest player in our program, to have her present and the energy she brings carries our team. When players come back, it means they believe in what we are doing, they don’t come back to see me, they come back to see this team and how hard they are working.”
Up Next
The Bearcats will travel to Orlando on Wednesday to take on rival Central Florida, with tip-off slated for 6pm at Addition Financial Arena.
