Villanova University

Feb. 20, 2007

CINCINNATI, Ohio - Despite a late rally in the closing minutes, a slow start offensively wound up being a critical factor as Villanova (7-20, 1-13 Big East) dropped a 60-50 decision on Tuesday night at Fifth Third Arena to Cincinnati (14-12, 5-9 Big East). The Wildcats fell behind by as many as 15 points in the second half and could get no closer than eight points down the stretch.

Trailing 58-43 with 3:22 to play, Villanova scored seven straight points to pull to within 58-50 with 1:36 left. The Bearcats missed three free throws and had a turnover during the time remaining, but the Wildcats cut no further into the lead.

Junior Stacie Witman (Plymouth Meeting, Pa.) reached double figures for the seventh straight game to lead Villanova with 12 points, while senior Jackie Adamshick (Allentown, Pa.) contributed 11 points and a team-high seven rebounds.

Aside from the two players in double figures, offense was hard to come by for much of the night, as the Wildcats shot 32 percent (19-of-59) and were outrebounded 46-25 by a Cincinnati squad that needed a victory in order to remain alive in the race for a spot in the BIG EAST Tournament next month.

The Bearcats led 39-31 before a 9-2 run in just under two minutes stretched the margin to 48-33 midway through the second half. Later in the period, Villanova went scoreless for more than five minutes during an opportunity to cut into the Cincinnati lead. After a three-point play by Michelle Jones with 9:46 left gave the Bearcats a 51-36 lead, there was no additional scoring until a Wildcat basket at the 5:33 mark.

Villanova went 0-for-5 from the field and turned the ball over two times while the teams were stuck on a score of 51-36, ending the drought on a layup by sophomore Lisa Karcic (New Hyde Park, N.Y.). The Bearcats held on for the victory despite scoring only 12 points in the last 11 minutes and just two in the final 3:22 of the contest.

Karen Twehues had 15 points and Michelle Jones 14 for Cincinnati, which avenged a 24-point loss to the Wildcats last season. The top two rebounders for the Bearcats - Shelly Bellman had 14 boards and Treasure Humphries grabbed 11 caroms - matched the team total for Villanova. Cincinnati held a 14-3 edge in second chance points and saw its bench outscore the Wildcat reserves by a 22-7 margin.

Karcic led all players with three steals as Villanova tallied 11 swipes in the game and forced the Bearcats into 17 turnovers. Witman, sophomore Briana Weiss (Piedmont, Calif.) and redshirt freshman Tia Grant (Lido Beach, N.Y.) each had two steals.

After droppings its school-record 12th straight game, the Wildcats now have just two contests remaining this season. Villanova heads to nationally-ranked Connecticut on Saturday and then closes out the season at home on February 26 against Providence.

NOTES: With 11 points in tonight's game, Adamshick moved to within two points of tying for seventh place on the school's all-time list ... She currently has scored 1,353 career points ... Witman has averaged 15.9 points per game over the last nine contests ... She has led the team in scoring in seven of the nine games ... The 17 turnovers forced by the Wildcats in tonight's game were nearly as many as the team had forced in the last four games (23) ... Meanwhile, Villanova had 12 assists and just 10 turnovers of its own in the game ... The Wildcats rank second in the entire nation in fewest turnovers per game ... The Villanova starting lineup has shouldered a heavy load in conference games, accounting for 85 percent of the team's scoring ... The Wildcat bench is averaging just 8.2 points per game in BIG EAST play ... Villanova started the game 2-of-18 (11.1%) before tripling that percentage and going 5-of-15 (33.3%) the rest of the game.