TicketsCINCINNATI – University of Cincinnati women's basketball will cap its seven-game homestand Thursday when it welcomes Southeast Missouri to Saint Ursula Academy Gymnasium & Convocation Center for a 7 p.m. tipoff. Admission to the game will be free of charge as part of the Experience UC initiative.
// EXPERIENCE UC
The Bearcats' 2017-18 campaign will, again, be part of the Experience UC initiative which offers free admission to home games. Groups interested in attending can contact Assistant Director of Marketing & Branding Deborah Dixon at dixond9@ucmail.uc.edu for more information.
// TEMPORARY HOME(S)
Due to the current, $87-million renovation of Fifth Third Arena, the Bearcats will play all home contests off campus this year. In the regular season, UC will play two games at Cincinnati State – the Nov. 13 home opener against Slippery Rock and the Nov. 27 meeting with St. Francis (Pa.) – with the remaining games played at Saint Ursula Academy Gymnasium & Convocation Center (SUA).
// STUDENT SHUTTLE
UC students are invited to enjoy a free bus ride to the game as well as free pizza. The bus will depart from the Bearcat statue on campus at 6 p.m. Free student shuttles to home UC women's basketball games will continue throughout the season.
// GAME PROMOTIONS
Thursday's game will celebrate Residence Hall Night and will serve as a rUCkus Rewards Redemption Night.
// GOING LIVE
Aside from the Dec. 17 game against Ohio State on ESPN2 and the Feb. 17 game versus Tulsa on the American Digital Network, all home games in 2017-18 will be streamed live on BearcatsTV free of charge. The link to the live stream can be found on the women's basketball schedule page. On the same page, links to live statistics can also be found.
// THE SERIES
Thursday's matchup will be just the second all-time meeting between the two teams. In the only previous matchup, UC opened the 2016-17 season at SEMO with an 83-75 win on Nov. 11, 2016. In the victory, forward Shanice Johnson (Philadelphia, Pa./Cardinal O'Hara/Monroe Community College) posted a career-high 32 points, to go along with 13 rebounds, in her first game as a Bearcat. Guard Ana Owens (Indianapolis, Ind./Lawrence North) added 25 points, while guard Sam Rodgers (Cincinnati, Ohio/Lakota East) scored 12 points in her collegiate debut.
// LAST TIME OUT
UC (4-3) was defeated, 77-73, by the Saint Francis Red Flash on Monday night at Cincinnati State.
The two teams played an up-and-down first half in which the visitors took a 38-35 advantage into the halftime break. Facing a deficit, UC came out of the locker room energized in the third quarter and outscored SFU 28-16 in the period to hold a 63-54 advantage going into the final stanza. The Bearcats upped their lead to as many as 14 points, 68-54, with seven minutes to go in the game, but saw the Red Flash respond with an 18-4 run to tie the game at 72 with two minutes left to play. Back-to-back unanswered buckets from SFU put the visitors ahead, 76-72, with 25 seconds to go. Down three with eight seconds remaining, a 3-point attempt from junior guard Nikira Goings (Marietta, Ga./Osborne) went errant and the Red Flash corralled the rebound and iced the game away from the free-throw line, 77-73.
Owens scored a season-best and team-high 19 points, along with four assists and four steals. Sophomore forward Angel Rizor (Zebulon, N.C./East Wake) added a career-high 16 points as well as six rebounds. Johnson stuffed the stat sheet with 15 points, six rebounds, six assists, and six steals.
// SCOUTING THE BEARCATS
Freshman forward Iimar'I Thomas (Oakland, Calif./Sacred Heart Cathedral Prep) is leading UC with 12.9 points and 6.6 rebounds per game. Thomas is joined by three additional double-figure scorers: Johnson (11.1), Goings (11.0), and Owens (11.0). Johnson is averaging 3.7 steals a contest, while Owens is dishing out 4.1 assists per.
After becoming the 26th member of UC women's basketball's 1,000-point club last season, Owens continues her climb up the Bearcats' all-time scoring list. After scoring 19 on Monday vs. Saint Francis, her 1,195 total career points vaulted her into 14th place. She is on pace to break into the top 10 all-time before season's end.
As a team, UC is second in the conference and 29th in the country in total assists with 113 on the year. The Bearcats are also runner-up in the league and 36th nationally in field goal percentage per game at 46.1 percent. The Red & Black's 96 made free throws in 2017-18 stand as second-best in The American and 39th-best in the country.
Individually on the year, Johnson's 26 total steals is sixth nationally and second in the AAC, while Thomas'61.8-percent field goal percentage is tops in the league. Owens ranks sixth in The American with 4.1 assists per game, while Goings' 2.3 made 3-pointers a contest is sixth-best in the conference.
// SCOUTING THE REDHAWKS
SEMO (4-3) is fresh off a 57-53 win over Bradley on Saturday at the SEMO Thanksgiving Classic. In the win, freshman guard Tesia Thompson led the way for the Redhawks with 14 points and 10 rebounds. UC and SEMO have shared a like-opponent this season with Southeast falling, 82-50, to Saint Francis on Nov. 17.
For the season, Thompson is pacing the team as the only double-figure scorer with 11.6 points, and 7.1 rebounds, per game. SEMO shoots the ball at a 41-percent clip from the field for the year and only gives up 36-percent shooting to its opponents. The Redhawks also average 11.3 steals a contest.
In the preseason, SEMO was picked to finish in a tie for eighth out of 12 teams in the Ohio Valley Conference.
// EXPERIENCE UC
The Bearcats' 2017-18 campaign will, again, be part of the Experience UC initiative which offers free admission to home games. Groups interested in attending can contact Assistant Director of Marketing & Branding Deborah Dixon at dixond9@ucmail.uc.edu for more information.
// TEMPORARY HOME(S)
Due to the current, $87-million renovation of Fifth Third Arena, the Bearcats will play all home contests off campus this year. In the regular season, UC will play two games at Cincinnati State – the Nov. 13 home opener against Slippery Rock and the Nov. 27 meeting with St. Francis (Pa.) – with the remaining games played at Saint Ursula Academy Gymnasium & Convocation Center (SUA).
// STUDENT SHUTTLE
UC students are invited to enjoy a free bus ride to the game as well as free pizza. The bus will depart from the Bearcat statue on campus at 6 p.m. Free student shuttles to home UC women's basketball games will continue throughout the season.
// GAME PROMOTIONS
Thursday's game will celebrate Residence Hall Night and will serve as a rUCkus Rewards Redemption Night.
// GOING LIVE
Aside from the Dec. 17 game against Ohio State on ESPN2 and the Feb. 17 game versus Tulsa on the American Digital Network, all home games in 2017-18 will be streamed live on BearcatsTV free of charge. The link to the live stream can be found on the women's basketball schedule page. On the same page, links to live statistics can also be found.
// THE SERIES
Thursday's matchup will be just the second all-time meeting between the two teams. In the only previous matchup, UC opened the 2016-17 season at SEMO with an 83-75 win on Nov. 11, 2016. In the victory, forward Shanice Johnson (Philadelphia, Pa./Cardinal O'Hara/Monroe Community College) posted a career-high 32 points, to go along with 13 rebounds, in her first game as a Bearcat. Guard Ana Owens (Indianapolis, Ind./Lawrence North) added 25 points, while guard Sam Rodgers (Cincinnati, Ohio/Lakota East) scored 12 points in her collegiate debut.
// LAST TIME OUT
UC (4-3) was defeated, 77-73, by the Saint Francis Red Flash on Monday night at Cincinnati State.
The two teams played an up-and-down first half in which the visitors took a 38-35 advantage into the halftime break. Facing a deficit, UC came out of the locker room energized in the third quarter and outscored SFU 28-16 in the period to hold a 63-54 advantage going into the final stanza. The Bearcats upped their lead to as many as 14 points, 68-54, with seven minutes to go in the game, but saw the Red Flash respond with an 18-4 run to tie the game at 72 with two minutes left to play. Back-to-back unanswered buckets from SFU put the visitors ahead, 76-72, with 25 seconds to go. Down three with eight seconds remaining, a 3-point attempt from junior guard Nikira Goings (Marietta, Ga./Osborne) went errant and the Red Flash corralled the rebound and iced the game away from the free-throw line, 77-73.
Owens scored a season-best and team-high 19 points, along with four assists and four steals. Sophomore forward Angel Rizor (Zebulon, N.C./East Wake) added a career-high 16 points as well as six rebounds. Johnson stuffed the stat sheet with 15 points, six rebounds, six assists, and six steals.
// SCOUTING THE BEARCATS
Freshman forward Iimar'I Thomas (Oakland, Calif./Sacred Heart Cathedral Prep) is leading UC with 12.9 points and 6.6 rebounds per game. Thomas is joined by three additional double-figure scorers: Johnson (11.1), Goings (11.0), and Owens (11.0). Johnson is averaging 3.7 steals a contest, while Owens is dishing out 4.1 assists per.
After becoming the 26th member of UC women's basketball's 1,000-point club last season, Owens continues her climb up the Bearcats' all-time scoring list. After scoring 19 on Monday vs. Saint Francis, her 1,195 total career points vaulted her into 14th place. She is on pace to break into the top 10 all-time before season's end.
As a team, UC is second in the conference and 29th in the country in total assists with 113 on the year. The Bearcats are also runner-up in the league and 36th nationally in field goal percentage per game at 46.1 percent. The Red & Black's 96 made free throws in 2017-18 stand as second-best in The American and 39th-best in the country.
Individually on the year, Johnson's 26 total steals is sixth nationally and second in the AAC, while Thomas'61.8-percent field goal percentage is tops in the league. Owens ranks sixth in The American with 4.1 assists per game, while Goings' 2.3 made 3-pointers a contest is sixth-best in the conference.
// SCOUTING THE REDHAWKS
SEMO (4-3) is fresh off a 57-53 win over Bradley on Saturday at the SEMO Thanksgiving Classic. In the win, freshman guard Tesia Thompson led the way for the Redhawks with 14 points and 10 rebounds. UC and SEMO have shared a like-opponent this season with Southeast falling, 82-50, to Saint Francis on Nov. 17.
For the season, Thompson is pacing the team as the only double-figure scorer with 11.6 points, and 7.1 rebounds, per game. SEMO shoots the ball at a 41-percent clip from the field for the year and only gives up 36-percent shooting to its opponents. The Redhawks also average 11.3 steals a contest.
In the preseason, SEMO was picked to finish in a tie for eighth out of 12 teams in the Ohio Valley Conference.