Valerie King (AP photo) | ZOOM |

        MILWAUKEE — Freshman Valerie King scored 27 points and fifth-seeded Cincinnati beat Alabama-Birmingham 74-56 Saturday in the quarterfinals of the Conference USA tournament.

        The Bearcats (21-8) advanced to play No.8 seed DePaul in the semifinals today. DePaul shocked top-seeded Louisville 78-57 Saturday.

        King, who averages 15 points, scored on a variety of shots, including drives to the basket and 3-pointers. K.B. Sharp added 10 points and six assists for the Bearcats.

        Cincinnati held fourth-seeded UAB (18-10) to two field goals in the first 10 minutes while building a 16-4 lead. It was 37-24 at halftime.

        Mia Thrash led UAB with 19 points. Deanna Jackson, the conference's player of the year, was held to 12 points, 14 below her average.

        CINCINNATI (21-8) — Wilder 2-3 5-6 9, Young 2-5 1-2 5, Douglass 2-3 3-3 7, Sharp 4-10 1-2 10, King 7-20 10-11 27, Dozier 0-2 0-0 0, Merriweather 2-2 0-0 4, Flournoy 1-3 3-4 5, Adams 0-0 0-0 0, Hostetler 3-4 0-0 7, Dunlap 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 23-52 23-28 74.

        ALABAMA-BIRMINGHAM (18-10) — Thrash 6-12 7-8 19, Jackson 5-20 1-1 12, Rhodes 1-1 2-2 4, Stallings 1-5 2-2 5, Jeter 1-1 0-0 2, White 0-0 0-1 0, Broussard 0-1 0-0 0, Thomas 4-7 1-4 10, Smith 1-1 2-2 4, Brown 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 19-48 15-20 56.

        Cincinnati ....... 37  37-74

        UAB ....... 24  32-56

        Attendance: 733. 3-pointers: UC 5-22 (Wilder 0-1, Young 0-3, Sharp 1-4, King 3-11, Dozier 0-2, Hostetler 1-1), UAB3-12 (Thrash 0-2, Jackson 1-4, Stallings 1-4, Thomas 1-2). Rebounds: UC 34 (King 7), UAB 28 (Jackson 10). Assists: UC 11 (Sharp 6), UAB 10 (Jeter 5). Technical fouls: none. Officials: Ralph Pickett, Jay Davis, Ed Novak.

Bearcats win 6th straight C-USA title C-USA tourney up for grabs Conference USA tournament schedule Conference USA women's tournament schedule UC women make tourney semifinals

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