TAMPA, Fla. (January 6, 2007) ? The University of South Florida women's basketball team swatted 11 Cincinnati Bearcat shots in the 67-49 USF (12-3, 2-0 BIG EAST) victory Saturday night at the Sun Dome.
Senior forward Nalini Miller (Capital Heights, MD) paced the Bulls with a season-high six blocked shots while senior All-America and National Player of the Year candidate Jessica Dickson (Ocala, FL) had three.
In the first half of the BIG EAST match up, the Bearcats took a four-point lead with 10 minutes remaining, but a layup by Miller and one by freshman Stephanie Sarosi (Mims, FL) at the seven-minute mark put the Bulls up for good in the contest.
Dickson scored 11 points as sophomore Shantia Grace (Sarasota, FL) added seven to lead the Bulls to a three-point 26-23 margin at the intermission.
After the break USF posted a 12-3 run early in the second period to break open the game with the Bearcats, who are now 10-4 overall and 1-2 in BIG EAST play following the loss.
Grace led all scorers with 19 points and seven rebounds while Dickson added 16 points and eight rebounds. Junior forward ChiChi Okpaleke (Tampa, FL) recorded her first double-double of the season, notching 10 points and grabbing 14 rebounds, including 11 defensive, in 31 minutes on the hardwood.
USF scored 18 points off of 20 Cincinnati miscues and outscored the Bearcats 36-24 in the paint. The Bulls shot 43.3 percent (26-60) from the field and as the Bearcats hit just 19-69 (27.5 percent) shots.
USF next plays Rutgers in Piscataway, N.J., on January 9, then returns to the Sun Dome on January 13 to play Notre Dame at noon. The Rutgers game can be seen live on College Sports Television (CSTV) and in the Tampa Bay area on DirecTV channel 610 and Dish Network channel 152.
USF vs. Cincinnati Postgame Notes
- USF won its fourth game in its last five outings and its fifth game in its last seven tries with the victory over Cincinnati.
- The Bulls raised their record to 12-3 for the first time in school history and also marked the second best 15-game start in school history behind the 1976-77 teams' 13-2 beginning.
- The win over Cincinnati improves the Bulls' record to 35-6 overall record on their home turf over the past two seasons ... In addition, USF is 37-6 in the Sun Dome since defeating No. 18 TCU, 89-84, in double overtime on Feb. 2, 2004.
- USF is 2-0 in conference for the first time since the 2004-05 campaign when it defeated Louisville (67-59) and, like this year; the Bearcats (74-56) to start the Conference USA season ... The Bulls defeated Villanova (60-48) on Dec. 7 to open up this year's BIG EAST season.
- The win also raises USF's BIG EAST Conference winning streak to four games dating back to last year and its home conference winning streak to three games dating back to last season.
- USF recorded 11 blocked shots, the most this season, and the most since swatting 15 on Nov. 20, 2005 against Tennessee-Martin ... The 11 against Cincinnati is tied for the third most in school history ... The Bulls last rejected 11 shots on Jan. 14, 1984 against Montclair (NJ) State.
- Nalini Miller surpassed her previous season-high of five blocks (vs. Vermont, Dec. 28, 2006) against the Bearcats when she rejected six which is tied for third all-time.
- Shantia Grace dished out seven assists for the third time this year equaling her season-high.
- ChiChi Okpaleke's 10-point, 14-rebound double-double is the first of the season and the second of her career.
