CINCINNATI, Ohio – Stepping up the competition as they stepped out of conference, Alabama A&M (0-2, 0-0 SWAC) fell by a 73-60 score as they took on Cincinnati (1-0, 0-0 AAC) out of the American Athletic Conference (AAC) in an NCAA Division I women's basketball game on Wednesday, November 10.
 
Graduate forward Kierra Johnson-Graham (Atlanta, Ga.) led the way for the Bulldogs as she just missed a double-double, finishing with nine points, a game-high 13 rebounds and three steals while graduate guard Deshawna Harper (Indianapolis, Ind.) finished with 10 points as the only other double-digit scorer.
 
A&M did deliver balance, however, as sophomore guard Darian Burgin (Cincinnati, Ohio) notched nine points playing in her hometown while graduate guard Nigeria Jones (Lincoln, Neb.) had seven points, five assists and a pair of steals. Senior center Jada Clowers (Macon, Ga.), meanwhile, came away with seven points, five caroms and two blocks. Freshman guards Jill Harris (Navarre, Fla.) and Zhordan Shannon (Smyrna, Tenn.) each added six points to round out the top performers.
 
The Bearcats would waste no time as they barreled out to a 20-6 lead through the first quarter before extending to a 19-point advantage, 31-12, with 4:15 left in the half. At that point A&M would put together an 8-0 run, fueled by back-to-back threes from Harper, to cut it to an 11-point deficit before heading to the break down 35-22.
 
Following a 7-3 stretch to start the third that pushed the lead to 17, the Bulldogs would not allow that margin to go beyond that for the remainder of the quarter but would not make up much ground either as they trailed 58-43 heading into the final frame.
 
Cincinnati would extend their lead to 20 at 69-49 in the opening four minutes of the fourth before A&M mounted an 11-2 rally behind six different scorers to pull to within 71-60 with 1:06 to play. It would come too late, however, as UC closed out the 13-point victory just over a minute later.
 
Jillian Hayes led the Bearcats as she just missed a double-double herself, finishing with 17 points, nine boards, five assists, four blocks and a pair of assists. Akira Levy added 12 points, six assists and four steals while Arame Niang had eight points and 11 caroms. Taziah Jenks added 11 points and six rebounds and Malea Williams and Jadyn Scott had nine and eight points, respectively.
 
The Bulldogs stay on the road as they head to Big Ten member Nebraska (1-0, 0-0 Big Ten) for a matinee on Sunday, November 14. Tip-off against the Cornhuskers is set for 2 p.m. with it serving as a homecoming for Nebraska natives Nigeria Jones and Dariauna Lewis.