The Cincinnati Bearcats women's team made 7 of the 17 first half three point attempts (41.2%) they took on Monday night to stake themselves to a 33-27 lead at midpoint against Marquette. You'd THINK that this couldn't last, right? WRONG. They got better in the 2nd half, shooting 6 of 12 (50%) behind the arc to help withstand a rally from the Golden Eagles. Marquette actually managed to hold a lead for much of the last 9 minutes, but a Tatiyiana McMorris 3 ball with 2:54 would be the last time they would score at all and Cincinnati went on a 7-0 run to retake the lead and upset the #20/22 ranked Golden Eagles. McMorris led Marquette in scoring with 18, but couldn't convert on two 3 point chances to tie the game as the clock wound down.
With the loss, Marquette misses out on a tie for 4th in the Big East, instead winning a tiebreaker for 5th place to earn the 5th seed and a first round bye in the Big East Women's Basketball Championship. Marquette will begin play on Saturday, March 5at 1pm Central against the winner of Pittsburgh/South Florida. The game will be broadcast on BigEast.tv and check your local listings for availability through the Big East Network.
My Big East Women's Championship predictions are after The Jump:
Big East Champion: Connecticut
Most Valuable Player: Maya Moore, F, Connecticut
What? They haven't lost a Big East game since February of 2008. I'm not picking against them.