TicketsTULSA, Okla. – University of Cincinnati women's basketball will hit the road for the third time in its last four games when it visits Tulsa on Saturday, Jan. 19, for a 3 p.m. ET tipoff at Reynolds Center.
// GOING LIVE
The game will broadcast live on TulsaHurricane.com (subscription required). A live audio stream will be available for free on Bearcats TV, while live stats can be accessed here.
// THE SERIES
The Bearcats trail the Golden Hurricane in the all-time series, 5-3, with TU also holding a 2-1 edge in games played in Tulsa. The Red & Black has won the last two matchups -- both last season – including, most recently, a last-second, 66-65 victory in the 2018 American Athletic Conference Championship Quarterfinals. Guard Ana Owens hit the game-winning layup with 4.6 seconds left on the clock to propel UC to victory. In the win, forward Angel Rizor (Zebulon, N.C./East Wake) had 15 points, while guard Nikira Goings (Marietta, Ga./Osborne) and forward IImar'I Thomas (Oakland, Calif./Sacred Heart Cathedral Prep) each chipped in 10 points. In the last meeting in Tulsa – also last season – the Bearcats dropped a 64-51 decision. Rizor scored 10 points in the loss.
// LAST TIME OUT
UC kept its home winning streak going Wednesday night with a 72-52 victory over the Temple Owls to give it its seventh-straight victory inside Fifth Third Arena. Facing a 45-37 deficit with 3:05 left in the third quarter, the Bearcats (10-7, 2-2 AAC) ended the game on a 35-7 run to notch their largest-ever margin of victory against the Owls (4-12, 0-4 AAC). Thomas recorded her fourth double-double of the season with game highs of 22 points and 10 rebounds. Fellow sophomore forward Andeija Puckett (Griffin, Ga./Griffin) was a force off the bench with a career-best 15 points to go along with eight rebounds and two blocks. Junior guard Antoinette Miller (Detroit, Mich./Southfield-Lathrup) continued her stellar guard play with her first-career double-double with 12 points and a career-high 10 assists, as well as seven rebounds. In addition, sophomore post I'Liyah Green (Louisville, Ky./Male), too, had a career night with eight points and four rebounds.
// SCOUTING THE BEARCATS
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 10.9 points, 5.4 assists, 4.5 rebounds, and 2.3 steals per game so far in 2018-19. Her assists per game mark (5.4) ranks first in the AAC and 33rd in the country, while her steals total (38) ranks third in the league. Additionally, her assist-to-turnover ratio (2.09) is 59th-best in NCAA Division I.
Junior Sam Rodgers (Cincinnati, Ohio/Lakota East) picked up her first AAC Weekly Honor Roll distinction on Jan.7 after recording a career performance on Jan. 6 in UC's AAC-opening, 69-57 home victory over SMU. The Cincinnati native scored a career-best 20 points – 17 of which came in the first half – including a career-high five 3-pointers. The guard was a catalyst in a game-changing, late-second-quarter 15-0 Bearcats run with three triples. In addition, she tallied another career mark with two blocks. She is 26-of-31 from the free-throw line this season. Her five misses this year are her only career misses after going 4-for-4 as a freshman and 24-of-24 as a sophomore.
Thomas was a fixture on The American's Weekly Honor list with recognition three-straight weeks. On Dec. 24, the sophomore landed on the Honor Roll after totaling 23 points, 17 rebounds, six assists and three steals against Howard on Dec. 21. The points, assists, and steals totals were each career marks. The week prior, she was named AAC Player of the Week and earned a spot on the NCAA's prestigious Weekly Starting Five following scoring 20 points and grabbing a career-high 18 rebounds in the annual Crosstown Shootout vs. Xavier on Dec. 16. Previously, the forward was picked for the Honor Roll on Dec. 10 after averaging 16.0 points and 6.5 rebounds in a pair of contests for the week ending Dec. 9. On the year, she is sixth in the country in field-goal percentage at 64.8 percent from the field.
Goings has shown a steady progression throughout her Bearcats career and is 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 9.2 points each contest in 2018-19. After suffering a sprained ankle at UConn on Jan. 9, the senior scored 11 points at UCF the following game with three made 3-pointers. Goings' streak of 18-straight games with a made 3-pointer was snapped against SMU on Jan. 6.
Junior guard Florence Sifa (Bujumbura, Burundi/Jacksonville College) had a long, winding journey to NCAA Division I basketball, but is thriving 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 6.9 points and 2.3 rebounds per game through 15 contests.
The Bearcats have created a formidable home-court advantage inside newly-renovated Fifth Third Arena this season with a 9-1 record in 2018-19. A 76-72 setback to Old Dominion on Nov. 12 snapped a five-game winning streak at home dating back to last season. UC has responded by reeling off seven-consecutive victories. In total, the Red & Black boast a 72-percent (33-13) winning percentage on their home court over the last three years.
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 HURRICANE
Tulsa (9-8, 3-1 AAC) had its four-game win streak snapped Wednesday with a 60-44 loss at UCF. Crystal Polk and Alexis Gaulden each had a team-best 13 points, while Desiree Lewis tallied seven points. Lewis and Polk both also had a team-leading six rebounds. On the season, Polk leads the Hurricane with 13.9 points and 7.7 rebounds per game. Gaulden chips in with 12.9 points and 4.3 assists each contest. As a team, TU scores 60.5 points per, but gives up 62.9. In the preseason, the Hurricane was picked to finish last in the 12-team AAC.
// 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.
// GOING LIVE
The game will broadcast live on TulsaHurricane.com (subscription required). A live audio stream will be available for free on Bearcats TV, while live stats can be accessed here.
// THE SERIES
The Bearcats trail the Golden Hurricane in the all-time series, 5-3, with TU also holding a 2-1 edge in games played in Tulsa. The Red & Black has won the last two matchups -- both last season – including, most recently, a last-second, 66-65 victory in the 2018 American Athletic Conference Championship Quarterfinals. Guard Ana Owens hit the game-winning layup with 4.6 seconds left on the clock to propel UC to victory. In the win, forward Angel Rizor (Zebulon, N.C./East Wake) had 15 points, while guard Nikira Goings (Marietta, Ga./Osborne) and forward IImar'I Thomas (Oakland, Calif./Sacred Heart Cathedral Prep) each chipped in 10 points. In the last meeting in Tulsa – also last season – the Bearcats dropped a 64-51 decision. Rizor scored 10 points in the loss.
// LAST TIME OUT
UC kept its home winning streak going Wednesday night with a 72-52 victory over the Temple Owls to give it its seventh-straight victory inside Fifth Third Arena. Facing a 45-37 deficit with 3:05 left in the third quarter, the Bearcats (10-7, 2-2 AAC) ended the game on a 35-7 run to notch their largest-ever margin of victory against the Owls (4-12, 0-4 AAC). Thomas recorded her fourth double-double of the season with game highs of 22 points and 10 rebounds. Fellow sophomore forward Andeija Puckett (Griffin, Ga./Griffin) was a force off the bench with a career-best 15 points to go along with eight rebounds and two blocks. Junior guard Antoinette Miller (Detroit, Mich./Southfield-Lathrup) continued her stellar guard play with her first-career double-double with 12 points and a career-high 10 assists, as well as seven rebounds. In addition, sophomore post I'Liyah Green (Louisville, Ky./Male), too, had a career night with eight points and four rebounds.
// SCOUTING THE BEARCATS
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 10.9 points, 5.4 assists, 4.5 rebounds, and 2.3 steals per game so far in 2018-19. Her assists per game mark (5.4) ranks first in the AAC and 33rd in the country, while her steals total (38) ranks third in the league. Additionally, her assist-to-turnover ratio (2.09) is 59th-best in NCAA Division I.
Junior Sam Rodgers (Cincinnati, Ohio/Lakota East) picked up her first AAC Weekly Honor Roll distinction on Jan.7 after recording a career performance on Jan. 6 in UC's AAC-opening, 69-57 home victory over SMU. The Cincinnati native scored a career-best 20 points – 17 of which came in the first half – including a career-high five 3-pointers. The guard was a catalyst in a game-changing, late-second-quarter 15-0 Bearcats run with three triples. In addition, she tallied another career mark with two blocks. She is 26-of-31 from the free-throw line this season. Her five misses this year are her only career misses after going 4-for-4 as a freshman and 24-of-24 as a sophomore.
Thomas was a fixture on The American's Weekly Honor list with recognition three-straight weeks. On Dec. 24, the sophomore landed on the Honor Roll after totaling 23 points, 17 rebounds, six assists and three steals against Howard on Dec. 21. The points, assists, and steals totals were each career marks. The week prior, she was named AAC Player of the Week and earned a spot on the NCAA's prestigious Weekly Starting Five following scoring 20 points and grabbing a career-high 18 rebounds in the annual Crosstown Shootout vs. Xavier on Dec. 16. Previously, the forward was picked for the Honor Roll on Dec. 10 after averaging 16.0 points and 6.5 rebounds in a pair of contests for the week ending Dec. 9. On the year, she is sixth in the country in field-goal percentage at 64.8 percent from the field.
Goings has shown a steady progression throughout her Bearcats career and is 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 9.2 points each contest in 2018-19. After suffering a sprained ankle at UConn on Jan. 9, the senior scored 11 points at UCF the following game with three made 3-pointers. Goings' streak of 18-straight games with a made 3-pointer was snapped against SMU on Jan. 6.
Junior guard Florence Sifa (Bujumbura, Burundi/Jacksonville College) had a long, winding journey to NCAA Division I basketball, but is thriving 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 6.9 points and 2.3 rebounds per game through 15 contests.
The Bearcats have created a formidable home-court advantage inside newly-renovated Fifth Third Arena this season with a 9-1 record in 2018-19. A 76-72 setback to Old Dominion on Nov. 12 snapped a five-game winning streak at home dating back to last season. UC has responded by reeling off seven-consecutive victories. In total, the Red & Black boast a 72-percent (33-13) winning percentage on their home court over the last three years.
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 HURRICANE
Tulsa (9-8, 3-1 AAC) had its four-game win streak snapped Wednesday with a 60-44 loss at UCF. Crystal Polk and Alexis Gaulden each had a team-best 13 points, while Desiree Lewis tallied seven points. Lewis and Polk both also had a team-leading six rebounds. On the season, Polk leads the Hurricane with 13.9 points and 7.7 rebounds per game. Gaulden chips in with 12.9 points and 4.3 assists each contest. As a team, TU scores 60.5 points per, but gives up 62.9. In the preseason, the Hurricane was picked to finish last in the 12-team AAC.
// 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.