Files associated with this release:

Cincinnati Holds Off Southern Miss, 63-51
CINCINNATI, Ohio - Cincinnati's inside combo of Carolyn Alexander and Debbie Merrill combined for 31 points, leading the Bearcats to a 63-51 victory over Southern Miss in Conference USA action, Friday night. Southern Miss dropped to 9-9 on the year and 2-3 in league play, while Cincinnati improved to 16-3, 6-0.

Southern Miss placed three players in double-figure scoring, Allison Story and La'Tasha Sumerall had 11 points each, and Jessica Woods added 10 points. Alexander posted a double-double with 20 points and 10 rebounds, while Merrill also had a double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds, and Valerie King had 15 points.

"We stuck with our game plan tonight, trying to hold Valerie King and Debbie Merrill down," Head Coach Rick Reeves said. "I thought we did a pretty good job on their starters. Just their starters average 62 points per game. We were going to make someone else beat us besides King and Merrill, but Carolyn Alexander stepped up and scored and rebounded for them. We have to give them a lot of credit. Cincinnati is a well-coached team."

Cincinnati opened the game reeling off the first eight points of the game, before Southern Miss scored its first basket at the 16:13 mark on a Jones layup. Over the next 1:20, the Lady Eagles outscored Cincinati 7-0, taking a 9-8 lead. The Bearcats then outscored Southern Miss, 11-3, to take a 19-12 lead with 10:01 remaining. In the last 10 minutes of the half, Cincinnati outscored the Lady Eagles 13-10, taking a 32-22 halftime lead.

The Bearcats started the second half with a 10-6 run, building a 16-point lead. Southern Miss managed to cut the lead to 11 with just over nine minutes remaining in the game. Both teams went four minutes without scoring a point.

"I was pleased with our kids," Reeves said. "The key for Cincinnati was that they started to get offensive rebounds in the second half. I thought they hurt us there in the second half."

Cincinnati scored 28 points in the paint, while Southern Miss scored 18 points, but the Bearcats limited the Golden Eagles to only five second chance points. Cincinnati outrebounded the Lady Eagles 37-27.

Southern Miss continues its weekend series at Louisville, Sunday, Feb. 2., at 2 p.m.