TicketsCINCINNATI – University of Cincinnati women's basketball will close nonconference play Friday, Dec. 21, when it hosts Howard for a 7 p.m. tipoff at Fifth Third Arena.
// TICKETS
General admission tickets to the game are only $5, while tickets inside the Champions Club are just $7. Discounts for youth (ages 4-12) and seniors (ages 65+) include $3 general admission tickets and $5 Champions Club tickets. Tickets can be purchased by either calling 1-877-CATS-TIX, logging onto GoBEARCATS.com/Tickets, or by visiting the Fifth Third Arena ticket office on gameday.
// PARKING
Cash parking will be available at Corry Garage on campus for $5.
// GOING LIVE
A live video stream will be available – for free – on Bearcats TV, while live stats can be accessed here.
// GAME PROMOTIONS
In celebration of National Ugly Christmas Sweater Day, fans are encouraged to wear their best ugly holiday sweater. Those who participate in the sweater challenge can purchase tickets for just $2 at the on-site ticket office. Fans will also have the opportunity create their own ugly holiday t-shirt at the Fans First Center on the east concourse of Fifth Third Arena. In addition, there will be the regular autograph session with the Bearcats following the game.
// THE SERIES
The Bearcats hold a 2-1 all-time series advantage, including two-straight victories. UC and HU have played each of the past two seasons with the Red & Black coming away victorious, most recently, with an 87-53 home triumph last year. In the win, guard Nikira Goings (Marietta, Ga./Osborne) was on fire from the field with a game-best and then-career-high 25 points. UC is 2-0 all-time against the Bison in Cincinnati.
// LAST TIME OUT
Sophomore forward IImar'I Thomas (Oakland, Calif./Sacred Heart Cathedral Prep) paced five Bearcats (7-5) in double-figures with a career-high-tying 20 points -- as well as a career-best 18 rebounds – in a 79-61 victory over the Xavier Musketeers on Sunday afternoon at Fifth Third Arena in the 2018 edition of the Skyline Chili Crosstown Shootout. Following an even first half, the Bearcats turned it on in the second, outscoring the Musketeers, 38-20, to take back the Kendle Cup – the traveling trophy in the rivalry. The win for UC also snapped a four-game losing streak to XU and marked its first home Shootout win since 2008. Thomas was joined in double-figure scoring by junior guards Sam Rodgers (Cincinnati, Ohio/Lakota East), Antoinette Miller (Detroit, Mich./Southfield-Lathrup), and Florence Sifa (Bujumbura, Burundi/Jacksonville College) who posted 14, 13, and 10 points, respectively, while sophomore forward Andeija Puckett (Griffin, Ga./Griffin) added a career-high-tying 11 points. Furthermore, Thomas' four assists also tied a career best, while Miller's eight rebounds set a new career mark.
// SCOUTING THE BEARCATS
Following her career day against Xavier, Thomas earned a pair of honors this week. On Monday, the sophomore was named American Athletic Conference Player of the Week. A few days later, the forward was recognized by the NCAA as a pick for the weekly Starting Five which is a starting lineup of players from around the country who enjoyed standout performances for that week. On the season, Thomas is averaging team highs of 11.1 points and 6.7 rebounds in 25 minutes each contest. In her last three games, the forward averaged 17.3 points and 10.3 rebounds. She ranks second in the AAC in field goal percentage at 65 percent on the year. In addition, the forward is 11th in rebounding and 23rd in scoring.
Not a frequent visitor to the charity stripe, but incredibly efficient from there, Rodgers has missed just two free throws in her career and is shooting an American-best 91 percent this season. The junior is 21-of-23 from the line in 2018 and knocked down a career-high five against VCU on Dec. 7. The guard was perfect from the stripe in her first two seasons: 4-for-4 as a freshman and 24-of-24 as a sophomore.
Senior guard Nikira Goings (Marietta, Ga./Osborne) has shown a steady progression throughout her Bearcats career and is really stepping up in her senior season. After averaging 2.7 points per game as a freshman, 6.1 as a sophomore, and a team-best 11.2 as a junior, the guard is averaging 10.8 points each contest in 2018-19. Goings is also continuing to shoot the ball well from deep, having knocked down at least one 3-pointer in 17-straight games, dating back to last season.
Miller is being leaned on to step up this year after the graduation of point guard Ana Owens who scored 1.469 points and dished out 404 assists in her UC career. She has responded by impacting the game in a variety of ways with 10.4 points, 5.1 assists, 4.8 rebounds, and 2.3 steals per game so far in 2018-19. Her total assists mark (61) ranks first in the AAC and 21st in the country, while her steals total (27) ranks third in the league and 45th nationally. Additionally, her assist-to-turnover ratio (2.54) is 38th-best in NCAA Division I.
Puckett who was previously used sparingly off the bench, got the start on Nov. 18 at St. Louis and delivered. In her first-career appearance in the starting lineup, the sophomore impressed with a game and career-high 10 rebounds to go along with four points, three steals, and two blocks in 23 minutes of play. Puckett followed with a career-best 11 points, five rebounds, two steals, and two blocks off the bench at Ball State on Nov. 28. She matched her career-high in scoring vs. Xavier with 11 points. The sophomore has proven to be a valuable post tool off the pine for the Bearcats.
Sifa had a long, winding journey to NCAA Division I basketball, but is thriving early on at UC. Having experienced civil war and political unrest in her east African home country of Burundi, Sifa followed her basketball dream to junior college in Jacksonville, Texas and now to Cincinnati. An athletic guard, she has already proven to be a great, late addition to the Bearcats roster with 8.0 points and 2.7 rebounds per game through 12 contests.
UC signed a talented, six-member recruiting class for the 2019-20 season on Nov. 11. Stretching from the Mid-Atlantic to the Southeast and all the way to Africa, head coach Michelle Clark-Heard's inaugural Bearcats signing class features players who are tenacious, versatile, and true winners. Signees include: 6-foot-2 forward Jana Abdullah (Alexandria, Egypt/King Integrated American School), 5-foot-6 point guard Aleah Nelson (Nottingham, Md./McDonogh High School), 6-foot-1 wing Jada Scott (Townsend, Ga./Frederica Academy), 6-foot-1 forward Jadyn Scott (Townsend, Ga./Frederica Academy), 5-foot-8 guard Jordan Tuff (Kernersville, N.C./Connections Academy), and 5-foot-8 guard Chellia Watson (Winder, Ga./Window-Barrow High School). The Scott twins' brother, Trevon, is a redshirt junior forward on the UC men's basketball team.
UC returns three starters in 2018-19 from a team that won 19 games last year -- its best season in 15 years – and advanced to the semifinals of the American Athletic Conference Championship. With 68 percent of their scoring and 66 percent of their rebounding back, the Bearcats also boast the league's reigning Freshman of the Year in Thomas. UC's leading returning scorer from a year ago, Goings, is also back after averaging 11.2 points per game in 2017-18.
Leading UC this year will be head coach Michelle Clark-Heard who was an assistant at UC from 2002-05 and spent the previous six seasons as the head coach at Western Kentucky. In six seasons at WKU, Clark-Heard reached four NCAA Tournaments, won four conference tournament championships and two regular season conference titles while posting 154 wins, becoming the second-fastest Lady Topper coach to reach 100 victories with the program. She amassed a 154-48 (.762) record at WKU and a 178-80 (.690) career mark. Clark-Heard has led her teams to six-consecutive 20-win seasons and six-straight appearances in the postseason (four NCAA, two WNIT).
At American Athletic Conference Basketball Media Day on Oct. 15, UC was selected to finish fifth in the 12-team league. Chosen by the league's head coaches, the pick is the highest the Bearcats have ever been selected in their six years in the AAC. Five-time The American champion and 2018 NCAA Final Four participant UConn was, again, picked to win the conference title. USF earned one first-place vote and was chosen second. Houston followed in third ahead of UCF, Cincinnati, Temple, SMU, ECU, Tulane, Wichita State, Memphis, and Tulsa to round out the poll.
UC welcomes three newcomers in 2018-19 in transfer guards Addaya Moore (Granite City, Ill./Granite City/Illinois), Monique Thompson (Long Beach, Calif./St. Anthony/Northwest Christian), and Sifa. Moore transferred to UC from Illinois and will sit out this season due to NCAA transfer rules with three seasons of eligibility remaining in Clifton, beginning with the 2019-20 season. Thompson is a graduate transfer from NAIA Northwest Christian in Eugene, Oregon and is eligible to play this season. Sifa comes to UC from the JuCo ranks at Jacksonville College in Jacksonville, Texas and will be an important contributor for the Bearcats in 2018-19.
The Bearcats' home schedule features 16 regular-season home games, highlighted by the annual Skyline Chili Crosstown Shootout against Xavier on Sunday, Dec. 16 and a matchup with perennial national power UConn on Saturday, Feb. 2. View the complete 2018-19 schedule here.
// SCOUTING THE BISON
Howard dropped to 7-4 on the season Tuesday with an 85-70 home loss to Mercer. Jayla Thornton led the Bison with 20 points on 6-of-15 shooting, including 4-of-8 from behind the arc. Junior Ayonna Williams added 14 points and seven rebounds. The loss snapped a two-game winning streak by Howard which included road wins at Campbell and FIU. On the season, Sarah Edmond leads the team with 17.3 points per game, while Thornton and Krislyn Marsh chip in 14.6 and 11.3 points, respectively, each contest. Marsh also grabs a Bisons-best 8.3 rebounds a game. In the preseason, Howard was picked to finish fourth in the 12-team Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) with Edmond a Second Team All-MEAC selection and Williams a Third Team pick.
// FIFTH THIRD ARENA REOPENS
After a 20-month, privately funded, $87-million renovation, Fifth Third Arena reopens in 2018-19. With the arena under renovation, the Bearcats played the 2017-18 season off campus at both Saint Ursula Academy (16 games) and Cincinnati State (two games). UC posted a 12-6 home mark last year.
// SEASON TICKET INFO
Catch the exciting start of Clark-Heard era and the reopening of Fifth Third Arena by purchasing your 2018-19 University of Cincinnati women's basketball season tickets now! The prices for standard Bearcats season tickets are $65 for adults and $50 for youth, seniors, UC faculty and staff and current or former military members. Courtside season tickets are on sale for $100. Click here for more information on season tickets. Click here to purchase today.
// TICKETS
General admission tickets to the game are only $5, while tickets inside the Champions Club are just $7. Discounts for youth (ages 4-12) and seniors (ages 65+) include $3 general admission tickets and $5 Champions Club tickets. Tickets can be purchased by either calling 1-877-CATS-TIX, logging onto GoBEARCATS.com/Tickets, or by visiting the Fifth Third Arena ticket office on gameday.
// PARKING
Cash parking will be available at Corry Garage on campus for $5.
// GOING LIVE
A live video stream will be available – for free – on Bearcats TV, while live stats can be accessed here.
// GAME PROMOTIONS
In celebration of National Ugly Christmas Sweater Day, fans are encouraged to wear their best ugly holiday sweater. Those who participate in the sweater challenge can purchase tickets for just $2 at the on-site ticket office. Fans will also have the opportunity create their own ugly holiday t-shirt at the Fans First Center on the east concourse of Fifth Third Arena. In addition, there will be the regular autograph session with the Bearcats following the game.
// THE SERIES
The Bearcats hold a 2-1 all-time series advantage, including two-straight victories. UC and HU have played each of the past two seasons with the Red & Black coming away victorious, most recently, with an 87-53 home triumph last year. In the win, guard Nikira Goings (Marietta, Ga./Osborne) was on fire from the field with a game-best and then-career-high 25 points. UC is 2-0 all-time against the Bison in Cincinnati.
// LAST TIME OUT
Sophomore forward IImar'I Thomas (Oakland, Calif./Sacred Heart Cathedral Prep) paced five Bearcats (7-5) in double-figures with a career-high-tying 20 points -- as well as a career-best 18 rebounds – in a 79-61 victory over the Xavier Musketeers on Sunday afternoon at Fifth Third Arena in the 2018 edition of the Skyline Chili Crosstown Shootout. Following an even first half, the Bearcats turned it on in the second, outscoring the Musketeers, 38-20, to take back the Kendle Cup – the traveling trophy in the rivalry. The win for UC also snapped a four-game losing streak to XU and marked its first home Shootout win since 2008. Thomas was joined in double-figure scoring by junior guards Sam Rodgers (Cincinnati, Ohio/Lakota East), Antoinette Miller (Detroit, Mich./Southfield-Lathrup), and Florence Sifa (Bujumbura, Burundi/Jacksonville College) who posted 14, 13, and 10 points, respectively, while sophomore forward Andeija Puckett (Griffin, Ga./Griffin) added a career-high-tying 11 points. Furthermore, Thomas' four assists also tied a career best, while Miller's eight rebounds set a new career mark.
// SCOUTING THE BEARCATS
Following her career day against Xavier, Thomas earned a pair of honors this week. On Monday, the sophomore was named American Athletic Conference Player of the Week. A few days later, the forward was recognized by the NCAA as a pick for the weekly Starting Five which is a starting lineup of players from around the country who enjoyed standout performances for that week. On the season, Thomas is averaging team highs of 11.1 points and 6.7 rebounds in 25 minutes each contest. In her last three games, the forward averaged 17.3 points and 10.3 rebounds. She ranks second in the AAC in field goal percentage at 65 percent on the year. In addition, the forward is 11th in rebounding and 23rd in scoring.
Not a frequent visitor to the charity stripe, but incredibly efficient from there, Rodgers has missed just two free throws in her career and is shooting an American-best 91 percent this season. The junior is 21-of-23 from the line in 2018 and knocked down a career-high five against VCU on Dec. 7. The guard was perfect from the stripe in her first two seasons: 4-for-4 as a freshman and 24-of-24 as a sophomore.
Senior guard Nikira Goings (Marietta, Ga./Osborne) has shown a steady progression throughout her Bearcats career and is really stepping up in her senior season. After averaging 2.7 points per game as a freshman, 6.1 as a sophomore, and a team-best 11.2 as a junior, the guard is averaging 10.8 points each contest in 2018-19. Goings is also continuing to shoot the ball well from deep, having knocked down at least one 3-pointer in 17-straight games, dating back to last season.
Miller is being leaned on to step up this year after the graduation of point guard Ana Owens who scored 1.469 points and dished out 404 assists in her UC career. She has responded by impacting the game in a variety of ways with 10.4 points, 5.1 assists, 4.8 rebounds, and 2.3 steals per game so far in 2018-19. Her total assists mark (61) ranks first in the AAC and 21st in the country, while her steals total (27) ranks third in the league and 45th nationally. Additionally, her assist-to-turnover ratio (2.54) is 38th-best in NCAA Division I.
Puckett who was previously used sparingly off the bench, got the start on Nov. 18 at St. Louis and delivered. In her first-career appearance in the starting lineup, the sophomore impressed with a game and career-high 10 rebounds to go along with four points, three steals, and two blocks in 23 minutes of play. Puckett followed with a career-best 11 points, five rebounds, two steals, and two blocks off the bench at Ball State on Nov. 28. She matched her career-high in scoring vs. Xavier with 11 points. The sophomore has proven to be a valuable post tool off the pine for the Bearcats.
Sifa had a long, winding journey to NCAA Division I basketball, but is thriving early on at UC. Having experienced civil war and political unrest in her east African home country of Burundi, Sifa followed her basketball dream to junior college in Jacksonville, Texas and now to Cincinnati. An athletic guard, she has already proven to be a great, late addition to the Bearcats roster with 8.0 points and 2.7 rebounds per game through 12 contests.
UC signed a talented, six-member recruiting class for the 2019-20 season on Nov. 11. Stretching from the Mid-Atlantic to the Southeast and all the way to Africa, head coach Michelle Clark-Heard's inaugural Bearcats signing class features players who are tenacious, versatile, and true winners. Signees include: 6-foot-2 forward Jana Abdullah (Alexandria, Egypt/King Integrated American School), 5-foot-6 point guard Aleah Nelson (Nottingham, Md./McDonogh High School), 6-foot-1 wing Jada Scott (Townsend, Ga./Frederica Academy), 6-foot-1 forward Jadyn Scott (Townsend, Ga./Frederica Academy), 5-foot-8 guard Jordan Tuff (Kernersville, N.C./Connections Academy), and 5-foot-8 guard Chellia Watson (Winder, Ga./Window-Barrow High School). The Scott twins' brother, Trevon, is a redshirt junior forward on the UC men's basketball team.
UC returns three starters in 2018-19 from a team that won 19 games last year -- its best season in 15 years – and advanced to the semifinals of the American Athletic Conference Championship. With 68 percent of their scoring and 66 percent of their rebounding back, the Bearcats also boast the league's reigning Freshman of the Year in Thomas. UC's leading returning scorer from a year ago, Goings, is also back after averaging 11.2 points per game in 2017-18.
Leading UC this year will be head coach Michelle Clark-Heard who was an assistant at UC from 2002-05 and spent the previous six seasons as the head coach at Western Kentucky. In six seasons at WKU, Clark-Heard reached four NCAA Tournaments, won four conference tournament championships and two regular season conference titles while posting 154 wins, becoming the second-fastest Lady Topper coach to reach 100 victories with the program. She amassed a 154-48 (.762) record at WKU and a 178-80 (.690) career mark. Clark-Heard has led her teams to six-consecutive 20-win seasons and six-straight appearances in the postseason (four NCAA, two WNIT).
At American Athletic Conference Basketball Media Day on Oct. 15, UC was selected to finish fifth in the 12-team league. Chosen by the league's head coaches, the pick is the highest the Bearcats have ever been selected in their six years in the AAC. Five-time The American champion and 2018 NCAA Final Four participant UConn was, again, picked to win the conference title. USF earned one first-place vote and was chosen second. Houston followed in third ahead of UCF, Cincinnati, Temple, SMU, ECU, Tulane, Wichita State, Memphis, and Tulsa to round out the poll.
UC welcomes three newcomers in 2018-19 in transfer guards Addaya Moore (Granite City, Ill./Granite City/Illinois), Monique Thompson (Long Beach, Calif./St. Anthony/Northwest Christian), and Sifa. Moore transferred to UC from Illinois and will sit out this season due to NCAA transfer rules with three seasons of eligibility remaining in Clifton, beginning with the 2019-20 season. Thompson is a graduate transfer from NAIA Northwest Christian in Eugene, Oregon and is eligible to play this season. Sifa comes to UC from the JuCo ranks at Jacksonville College in Jacksonville, Texas and will be an important contributor for the Bearcats in 2018-19.
The Bearcats' home schedule features 16 regular-season home games, highlighted by the annual Skyline Chili Crosstown Shootout against Xavier on Sunday, Dec. 16 and a matchup with perennial national power UConn on Saturday, Feb. 2. View the complete 2018-19 schedule here.
// SCOUTING THE BISON
Howard dropped to 7-4 on the season Tuesday with an 85-70 home loss to Mercer. Jayla Thornton led the Bison with 20 points on 6-of-15 shooting, including 4-of-8 from behind the arc. Junior Ayonna Williams added 14 points and seven rebounds. The loss snapped a two-game winning streak by Howard which included road wins at Campbell and FIU. On the season, Sarah Edmond leads the team with 17.3 points per game, while Thornton and Krislyn Marsh chip in 14.6 and 11.3 points, respectively, each contest. Marsh also grabs a Bisons-best 8.3 rebounds a game. In the preseason, Howard was picked to finish fourth in the 12-team Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) with Edmond a Second Team All-MEAC selection and Williams a Third Team pick.
// FIFTH THIRD ARENA REOPENS
After a 20-month, privately funded, $87-million renovation, Fifth Third Arena reopens in 2018-19. With the arena under renovation, the Bearcats played the 2017-18 season off campus at both Saint Ursula Academy (16 games) and Cincinnati State (two games). UC posted a 12-6 home mark last year.
// SEASON TICKET INFO
Catch the exciting start of Clark-Heard era and the reopening of Fifth Third Arena by purchasing your 2018-19 University of Cincinnati women's basketball season tickets now! The prices for standard Bearcats season tickets are $65 for adults and $50 for youth, seniors, UC faculty and staff and current or former military members. Courtside season tickets are on sale for $100. Click here for more information on season tickets. Click here to purchase today.