Cincinnati and USF made their season debut and East Carolina moved to 2-0 during women's basketball action around The American on Saturday.
Cincinnati 73, Arkansas-Pine Bluff 57
Cincinnati used a mid-second-half run to earn a 73-57 win over Arkansas-Pine Bluff (UAPB) in the season opener for both teams at Fifth Third Arena.
The Bearcats (1-0) moved to 5-1 in season openers under Jamelle Elliott while UAPB (0-1) dropped its second straight matchup against Cincinnati. UC had 18 offensive rebounds, turning them into 15 points along with 28 points in the paint. The Bearcats had a 55-34 advantage in rebounds.
Jasmine Whitfield scored a game and career-high 24 points for Cincinnati, hitting three triples and grabbing nine rebounds. Marley Hill had her first career double-double, hitting a pair of career highs with 21 points and 18 rebounds. The 18 boards are the most in a game for a UC player since Jill Stephens finished with 22 against McNeese State on Nov. 21, 2007.
East Carolina 66, Rhode Island 38
Jada Payne scored 15 of her game-high 19 points in the first half and Ondrea Shaw matched her career-high with seven blocks as the East Carolina women’s basketball team picked up a 66-38 road win over Rhode Island on the final day of the URI Invitational at the Thomas M. Ryan Center.
Payne finished the day with 19 points on 7-of-13 shooting, five rebounds, five steals and two blocks en route to earning all-tournament team honors.
East Carolina (2-0) shot 14-of-29 (.483) from the field and 5-of-10 (.500) from beyond the arc, as both Payne and DeVaughn Gray connected on two 3-point shots apiece. The Rams shot 5-of-21 (.238) from the floor, 3-of-9 (.333) from downtown and 9-of-15 (.600) from the foul stripe.
USF 57, Villanova 56
Juniors Courtney Williams and Alisia Jenkins led the way for the Bulls with a pair of double-doubles Saturday, and scored the final nine points for USF to help edge Villanova 57-56 Saturday afternoon after 12 lead changes in the final 20 minutes. Taking the lead for good on a Williams jumper with 1:20 left, the Bulls’ defense held the Wildcats scoreless over the final 80 seconds to pull out a big win over a top-50 RPI opponent from last season.
Williams caused four lead-changes herself, scoring four different times with USF down one point, including the final basket of the game with 1:20 left on the clock. She finished with 21 points and 10 rebounds, while Jenkins added 11 points and 13 rebounds. Freshman forward Maria Jespersen started in place of the injured Katelyn Weber and scored four points and grabbed seven boards as the Bulls improved to 1-0 on the year.