Cincinnati 60, South Florida 41

Cincinnati's Portia Flournoy, left, and South Florida's Denetrice Stinson and Aiya Shepard (33) try for a rebound in the first half of a first-round game at the Conference USA tournament Friday, March 2, 2001, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)

The Cincinnati point guard, known more for her playmaking, scored 13 of her 15 points in the first half to get the Bearcats started toward a 60-41 victory over South Florida in the first round of the Conference USA Tournament on Friday afternoon.

In the second half, she took only two shots, but added to her assist total, finishing with 10 to tie the C-USA Tournament record for a single game. Her total doubled the team total for South Florida (4-24).

``I didn't have to shoot in the second half,'' Sharp said.

The fifth-seeded Bearcats (20-8), who play fourth-seeded Alabama-Birmingham in Saturday's quarterfinals, led 35-19 at halftime after Sharp hit all five of her shots, including three 3-pointers.

``I thought that was really crucial to get them out of their zone,'' Cincinnati coach Laurie Pirtle said of Sharp's shooting.

After being down by as many as 21 points, the Bulls cut the deficit to 50-38 with just over five minutes to play.

``I think we were a little complacent,'' Sharp said, ``so we had to pick it up on defense.''

A 7-0 Cincinnati run on field goals by Sharp and Tammy Douglass, followed by a 3-pointer by Valerie King, quickly restored order and made it 57-38.

``I was happy with the way the kids responded,'' Pirtle said.

King scored 12 points and Douglass had 10 for the Bearcats, who shot 45 percent (25-of-56) from the field.

Aiya Shepard led South Florida with 15 points. Sarah Lochmann added 10 for the Bulls, who shot 31 percent (16-52).

Shannon Layne, who scored eight points for South Florida and moved into the school's all-time top-10 scoring list, lauded the Bearcats.

``A lot of it had to do with their depth,'' she said. ``Sometimes they subbed five at a time and we just go with eight players. They were all over us.''

In ending a humbling season for the Bulls, coach Jose Fernandez took it in stride.

``I'm just pleased with the effort,'' he said. ``They never give up. Today we just didn't have many scoring chances and we didn't shoot very well.''