January 8, 2026 • 7 mins
UC Women's Basketball coach Katrina Merriweather talks with Lance about the team's major upset win over #11 Iowa State.
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Speaker 1 (00:06):
Close it in on seven o'clock, about nine minutes away
from your news nine minutes. Welcome back to Ronail Carrier
Sports Talk presented by Kelsey Chevallet. I'm Lance Pacallister. Let's
do this, Kelly and I last night enjoyed you see
women's basketball. We were there. They upset number eleven Iowa
State seventy three sixty. I had that in front of me.
They win last night, highs ranked win in program history.
(00:26):
My next guest played for the Bearcats was a graduate assistant,
was an assistant now in her third season as head coach.
What a treat to welcome in the head coach that
would be Katrina Meriwether coach lancemacallister, how are you.
Speaker 2 (00:38):
I'm doing great, Lance, Thank you so much for having me.
Speaker 1 (00:41):
Man oh man, the environment last night, over three thousand
on hand. Congrats on the winning. What a shot of
confidence it must be for your team.
Speaker 2 (00:49):
It was a good night, and I think that we
had an opportunity to show was that when we have
our full roster, they will have a chance to do
something really special. So we were just happy be out
there and competing together with everybody who was available.
Speaker 1 (01:03):
Seventy one sixty three. The final score. I knew I
had that written down somewhere. Man watching Maya Perry last night,
twenty six points. I think she scored in double figures
at eighteen sixteen straight games. Now what her performance she
turned in for your group last night.
Speaker 2 (01:17):
She's amazing. You know. My favorite thing about Maya is
her mentality. She works incredibly hard. She practices really hard.
She is an example for our entire team, but especially
our or sixth person of what it looks like to
be a pro and to show up every day and
be committed to your craft. And I could be happier.
This year wears Brando and black.
Speaker 1 (01:38):
I believe you held the Cyclones twenty six points below
their season average and going in the story. One of
the storyline, maybe the biggest storyline in college basketball this
year has been Audie Crooks, who plays for Iowa State.
She leads the country in scoring twenty nine a game.
Your group collectively holds her to twenty three, six point
below her average. She is such a force. Tell me
how you went about doing the job you guys did
(01:59):
on her.
Speaker 2 (02:00):
I love how you said the group, because that's exactly
what it took. We talked a lot about winning the position.
And we have four or five players on our team,
and they all give different looks offensively and defensively, and
we just kept rolling them out there, one at a time,
every couple of minutes. Mary Carden, whose minutes had been
limited practice as Audie Crouks for the last two days,
(02:25):
and then she turned around and went in there and
guarded her destiny and alliance. They are very strong, but
they're short in comparison to Audi. And then Delaney lacks
a little bit of girth, but she's got long spaghetti
arms that we think are pretty annoyed. So we just
ran all for problematter and then just try to keep
her off balance and then put an emphasis on everyone
(02:47):
else and then the paint rebound in the ball boy.
Speaker 1 (02:49):
We were really interested to see the three time Miss
Ohio basketball stand out from Priscell, Mary and d Alexander.
She missed the first does her show games for you
guys with an ankle injury. Seven big points last night?
I remember early in the fourth the arena play for
she scored what and those were big points she contributed
in the fourth quarter, weren't they?
Speaker 2 (03:07):
Absolutely? And I mean everyone knows that these are McDonald's
All American. And my favorite part about her is she
very well could just tap out this season and say, hey,
I know I'm not where I need to be in
terms of, you know, having this surgery and being out,
and say I'm just gonna wait, Maria, I'm gonna wait
till next year. But what she realizes is that she
(03:28):
can have a positive impact on this season for her team.
And honestly, she's chosen Cincinnati and basketball and her teammates
over you know, anything that anyone may say individually about
her and where she may be in her journey. And
I'm really really proud of her and grateful that she's
making that decision for us.
Speaker 1 (03:46):
You know, there were moments last night I had to
laugh at the legendary basketball coach Al maguire once famously
said the best thing about freshmen they become sophomores. If
she had big moments, then there are a couple of moments.
I look to you and I think you may have
mouthed what are you doing?
Speaker 2 (04:04):
I'll tell you if you come to our game, we'll
see that a lot. I mean, you just can't help it.
I mean, I think that every coach and every team
has a university right, but join at Crawford, who does
a great job for us coming off the bench, who
played in one game then miss seven. It comes back
in the first game she plays and Kalia de Vilasi
is out, so she plays thirty five minutes. We Louise
(04:26):
Kylie Torrance, who is our starter at the fourth spot.
Like you mentioned, we didn't have d for twelve games.
I mean, you name it. It has happened. And I
only have the three people out of thirteen that played
in every game so far this year. And all that
matters to us is that we hear the people that
support us and are positive and know that it may
(04:48):
not look the way we thought it would or the
way we wanted it to. But all we can do
is keep taking steps forward every day.
Speaker 1 (04:53):
Coach, I'm big in to bang for your buck and
the value of an entertainment dollar. You've got a huge
one coming up Saturday at home two seventeen of No
Texas Tech. My wife and I went last night. We
sat I think ten rows up from the floor, ten
dollars a piece for tickets, six bucks to perk and
Corey Garage. Big win, big environment. That was bang for
our buck.
Speaker 2 (05:11):
Last night, and that makes me feel good. I'm really
happy you had a good time, and we tell people
that all the time. Just come check us out. I
think you're gonna love how hard we play. I think
you're gonna love how gritty we are. And yes, you're
gonna see some mistakes. And we're playing four of our
six freshmen, heavy, heavy minutes, a lot of the situations
that they're in therein for the first time, and there's
(05:33):
gonna be a learning curve there. But you're gonna see
a diving from loose balls. You're gonna see us flying
through the air for rebounds, and in all of my
hearing's knocking down shot you'll be able to see some
good offense too.
Speaker 1 (05:43):
Hey, please, if you think about it, pass along my
best to what are your assistants? Who was great seeing
her on the sidelines last night, Abby Owings. She's one
of my all time favorites, A feisty point guard from
my part of the woods in Independence, Kentucky and Simon
Kenton and Thomas Moore. I'm a big fan of her.
It was great to see her on the sidelines last night.
Speaker 2 (06:01):
Yeah, she's a champion and such a great coach, and
we talked a lot of the time about how you know,
when we're recruiting, I'm like, find me. We call her Ao,
you know, find me in Ao, right, somebody who can
knock down shots, that's quick, fast, athletic, that can handle
the ball. That's the nation's on defense. And she probably
killed me if she knew. But I mean we throw
(06:22):
her in practice sometimes and she she gives these kids.
Speaker 1 (06:24):
Hell.
Speaker 2 (06:25):
I'm telling you that she is. They don't pay attention
to her, so knock down the free in their face.
He'll take the ball from them. You know, it's just
a I can't tell you. This is the first time
that we've had a losing non conference record, right, this
is the first time that we've had this type of
adversity with being young and being injured. And I cannot
(06:45):
imagine feeling this good about the season and the team.
And I know it's just because of the people that
we've recruited and the people that I've hired.
Speaker 1 (06:54):
So well said hey, I'm so happy for you. It
was a cool scene seeing everybody celebrate on the court
and on the postgame TA cameras on the court and
just to look on everybody's faces. It was a really
cool vibe. Last night, congrats and best of luck the
rest of the year.
Speaker 2 (07:07):
Thank you so much. We look forward to seeing you again.
Speaker 1 (07:09):
All right, Take care, coach.
Close it in on seven o'clock, about nine minutes away
from your news nine minutes. Welcome back to Ronail Carrier
Sports Talk presented by Kelsey Chevallet. I'm Lance Pacallister. Let's
do this, Kelly and I last night enjoyed you see
women's basketball. We were there. They upset number eleven Iowa
State seventy three sixty. I had that in front of me.
They win last night, highs ranked win in program history.
(00:26):
My next guest played for the Bearcats was a graduate assistant,
was an assistant now in her third season as head coach.
What a treat to welcome in the head coach that
would be Katrina Meriwether coach lancemacallister, how are you.
Speaker 2 (00:38):
I'm doing great, Lance, Thank you so much for having me.
Speaker 1 (00:41):
Man oh man, the environment last night, over three thousand
on hand. Congrats on the winning. What a shot of
confidence it must be for your team.
Speaker 2 (00:49):
It was a good night, and I think that we
had an opportunity to show was that when we have
our full roster, they will have a chance to do
something really special. So we were just happy be out
there and competing together with everybody who was available.
Speaker 1 (01:03):
Seventy one sixty three. The final score. I knew I
had that written down somewhere. Man watching Maya Perry last night,
twenty six points. I think she scored in double figures
at eighteen sixteen straight games. Now what her performance she
turned in for your group last night.
Speaker 2 (01:17):
She's amazing. You know. My favorite thing about Maya is
her mentality. She works incredibly hard. She practices really hard.
She is an example for our entire team, but especially
our or sixth person of what it looks like to
be a pro and to show up every day and
be committed to your craft. And I could be happier.
This year wears Brando and black.
Speaker 1 (01:38):
I believe you held the Cyclones twenty six points below
their season average and going in the story. One of
the storyline, maybe the biggest storyline in college basketball this
year has been Audie Crooks, who plays for Iowa State.
She leads the country in scoring twenty nine a game.
Your group collectively holds her to twenty three, six point
below her average. She is such a force. Tell me
how you went about doing the job you guys did
(01:59):
on her.
Speaker 2 (02:00):
I love how you said the group, because that's exactly
what it took. We talked a lot about winning the position.
And we have four or five players on our team,
and they all give different looks offensively and defensively, and
we just kept rolling them out there, one at a time,
every couple of minutes. Mary Carden, whose minutes had been
limited practice as Audie Crouks for the last two days,
(02:25):
and then she turned around and went in there and
guarded her destiny and alliance. They are very strong, but
they're short in comparison to Audi. And then Delaney lacks
a little bit of girth, but she's got long spaghetti
arms that we think are pretty annoyed. So we just
ran all for problematter and then just try to keep
her off balance and then put an emphasis on everyone
(02:47):
else and then the paint rebound in the ball boy.
Speaker 1 (02:49):
We were really interested to see the three time Miss
Ohio basketball stand out from Priscell, Mary and d Alexander.
She missed the first does her show games for you
guys with an ankle injury. Seven big points last night?
I remember early in the fourth the arena play for
she scored what and those were big points she contributed
in the fourth quarter, weren't they?
Speaker 2 (03:07):
Absolutely? And I mean everyone knows that these are McDonald's
All American. And my favorite part about her is she
very well could just tap out this season and say, hey,
I know I'm not where I need to be in
terms of, you know, having this surgery and being out,
and say I'm just gonna wait, Maria, I'm gonna wait
till next year. But what she realizes is that she
(03:28):
can have a positive impact on this season for her team.
And honestly, she's chosen Cincinnati and basketball and her teammates
over you know, anything that anyone may say individually about
her and where she may be in her journey. And
I'm really really proud of her and grateful that she's
making that decision for us.
Speaker 1 (03:46):
You know, there were moments last night I had to
laugh at the legendary basketball coach Al maguire once famously
said the best thing about freshmen they become sophomores. If
she had big moments, then there are a couple of moments.
I look to you and I think you may have
mouthed what are you doing?
Speaker 2 (04:04):
I'll tell you if you come to our game, we'll
see that a lot. I mean, you just can't help it.
I mean, I think that every coach and every team
has a university right, but join at Crawford, who does
a great job for us coming off the bench, who
played in one game then miss seven. It comes back
in the first game she plays and Kalia de Vilasi
is out, so she plays thirty five minutes. We Louise
(04:26):
Kylie Torrance, who is our starter at the fourth spot.
Like you mentioned, we didn't have d for twelve games.
I mean, you name it. It has happened. And I
only have the three people out of thirteen that played
in every game so far this year. And all that
matters to us is that we hear the people that
support us and are positive and know that it may
(04:48):
not look the way we thought it would or the
way we wanted it to. But all we can do
is keep taking steps forward every day.
Speaker 1 (04:53):
Coach, I'm big in to bang for your buck and
the value of an entertainment dollar. You've got a huge
one coming up Saturday at home two seventeen of No
Texas Tech. My wife and I went last night. We
sat I think ten rows up from the floor, ten
dollars a piece for tickets, six bucks to perk and
Corey Garage. Big win, big environment. That was bang for
our buck.
Speaker 2 (05:11):
Last night, and that makes me feel good. I'm really
happy you had a good time, and we tell people
that all the time. Just come check us out. I
think you're gonna love how hard we play. I think
you're gonna love how gritty we are. And yes, you're
gonna see some mistakes. And we're playing four of our
six freshmen, heavy, heavy minutes, a lot of the situations
that they're in therein for the first time, and there's
(05:33):
gonna be a learning curve there. But you're gonna see
a diving from loose balls. You're gonna see us flying
through the air for rebounds, and in all of my
hearing's knocking down shot you'll be able to see some
good offense too.
Speaker 1 (05:43):
Hey, please, if you think about it, pass along my
best to what are your assistants? Who was great seeing
her on the sidelines last night, Abby Owings. She's one
of my all time favorites, A feisty point guard from
my part of the woods in Independence, Kentucky and Simon
Kenton and Thomas Moore. I'm a big fan of her.
It was great to see her on the sidelines last night.
Speaker 2 (06:01):
Yeah, she's a champion and such a great coach, and
we talked a lot of the time about how you know,
when we're recruiting, I'm like, find me. We call her Ao,
you know, find me in Ao, right, somebody who can
knock down shots, that's quick, fast, athletic, that can handle
the ball. That's the nation's on defense. And she probably
killed me if she knew. But I mean we throw
(06:22):
her in practice sometimes and she she gives these kids.
Speaker 1 (06:24):
Hell.
Speaker 2 (06:25):
I'm telling you that she is. They don't pay attention
to her, so knock down the free in their face.
He'll take the ball from them. You know, it's just
a I can't tell you. This is the first time
that we've had a losing non conference record, right, this
is the first time that we've had this type of
adversity with being young and being injured. And I cannot
(06:45):
imagine feeling this good about the season and the team.
And I know it's just because of the people that
we've recruited and the people that I've hired.
Speaker 1 (06:54):
So well said hey, I'm so happy for you. It
was a cool scene seeing everybody celebrate on the court
and on the postgame TA cameras on the court and
just to look on everybody's faces. It was a really
cool vibe. Last night, congrats and best of luck the
rest of the year.
Speaker 2 (07:07):
Thank you so much. We look forward to seeing you again.
Speaker 1 (07:09):
All right, Take care, coach.
Lance McAlister News
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