The Cincinnati Enquirer

Senior guard Reetta Piipari tied her career high with 28 points and also had seven assists as Xavier defeated Massachusetts 77-65 Friday night at Cintas Center.

Senior Amy Waugh added 18 points, and freshman Tara Boothe recorded her fourth career double-double for XU with 10 points and 13 rebounds.

XU improved to 12-5 (4-2 Atlantic 10), matching its win total from all of last season.

UMass fell to 11-6 (3-3).

The Minutewomen's Jennifer Butler, the nation's leading rebounder at 14.9 a game, was held to eight boards, her first single-digit tally since Dec. 7.

Nekole Smith led UMass with 17 points.

XU plays again Sunday, taking on Rhode Island at 2p.m. at Cintas Center.

UMass (65)--Pegues 5-12 2-2 15, Smith 8-12 1-2 17, Butler 6-14 3-7 15, Nelson 2-12 1-2 7, Foster 1-7 0-0 2. Liivandi 0-0 0-0 0, Cannon 1-2 0-0 2, Zsedenyi 0-0 0-0 0, Govan 1-2 0-0 3, Sneed 1-1 2-4 4. Totals 25-62 9-17 65.

Xavier (77)--Boothe 3-7 4-6 10, Henderson 4-5 0-0 8, Waugh 4-13 8-12 18, Piipari 10-17 2-2 28, Wallner 1-3 0-0 3, Statuto 0-1 0-0 0, Thomas 0-2 0-0 0, Wells 1-1 0-0 2, Sarajlija 4-6 0-0 8. Totals 27-55 14-20 77.

Halftime: Tied 35-35. 3-point goals: UMass 6-16 (Pegues 3-6, Nelson 2-7, Cannon 0-1, Govan 1-2), Xavier 9-22 (Waugh 2-10, Piipari 6-9, Wallner 1-1, Thomas 0-2). Rebounds: UMass 31 (Butler 8), Xavier 36 (Boothe 13). Assists: UMass 17 (Nelson 8), Xavier 19 (Piipari 7). Records: UMass 11-6, 3-3 A-10; Xavier 12-5, 4-2).

Cincinnati 72, South Florida 37

TAMPA, Fla. - Debbie Merrill posted her second-straight double-double and the Bearcats played their best defense of the season.

It was UC's sixth straight win as it moved to 4-0 in Conference USA play and 14-3 overall. The Bulls dropped their sixth in a row to fall to 5-12, 0-4 in the league.

It was just the Bearcats' second win in their last six road games. They did it with steady offense and outstanding defense, holding USF to 27.6 percent shooting and outrebounding the Bulls 53-38.

After Sharon Cambridge gave USF a 2-0 lead less than a minute into the game, UC held the Bulls scoreless for the next 5:14. The Bearcats scored 11 straight points, the first five by Merrill. USF missed six straight shots and turned over the ball three times during the run.

The Bearcats outscored the Bulls 16-5 over the final 5:52 of the first half to take a 34-16 lead into halftime.

Merrill had 12 points and eight rebounds at the break, and Valerie King had 13 points on 4-of-6 shooting. UC held USF to 7-of-32 shooting (.219) in the opening half, with Jameelah Trimble owning eight of the 16 points.

Cincinnati (72)--Alexander 2-9 4-6 8, Young 2-4 4-4 8, Merrill 9-16 5-9 23, Sharp 1-7 2-2 4, King 6-11 3-4 19, Dozier 0-4 0-0 0, Knoch 1-1 0-0 3, Harvey 1-3 0-0 3, Piepho 0-0 0-0 0, Hillman 0-1 0-0 0, Stevenson 1-3 1-2 3, Stephens 0-0 1-2 1. Totals 23-59 20-29 72.

South Florida (37)--Cotton 1-9 0-0 2, Kline 1-3 0-0 2, Cambridge 2-4 0-1 4, Tape 1-2 1-3 3, Shepard 0-9 2-4 2, Webb 4-12 0-0 8, Lochmann 0-2 2-2 2, Tanksley 0-1 0-0 0, Trimble 7-15 0-0 14, Sepielli 0-1 0-0 0, Teets 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 16-58 5-10 37.

Halftime: Cincinnati 34-16. 3-point goals: Cincinnati 6-15 (Merrill 0-1, Sharp 0-1, King 4-6, Dozier 0-4, Knoch 1-1, Harvey 1-2), South Florida 0-8 (Cotton 0-1, Kline 0-2, Shepard 0-1, Webb 0-2, Lochmann 0-1, Sepielli 0-1). Rebounds: Cincinnati 53 (Merrill 13), South Florida 38 (Trimble 13). Assists: Cincinnati 17 (Sharp 8), South Florida 7 (Cotton, Tape 3). Records: C 14-3, 3-0 C-USA; S 5-12, 0-4.