TicketsTAMPA, Fla. – University of Cincinnati women's basketball will look to win its fifth-consecutive game Wednesday when it visits the USF Bulls for a 7 p.m. ET tipoff at Yuengling Center.
// GOING LIVE
A live video stream will be available on the American Digital Netowrk. A live audio stream will be available on Bearcats TV, while live stats can be accessed here.
// THE SERIES
The Bearcats trail the Bulls in the all-time series, 14-18. UC last beat USF in 2011 when both schools were members of the BIG EAST Conference. The Red & Black also trails in the series, 5-10, in games played in Tampa. In the last road meeting with the Bulls, the Bearcats fell, 65-84, last season. In the loss, guard Antoinette Miller (Detroit, Mich./Southfield-Lathrup) totaled 14 points and six rebounds, while guard Nikira Goings (Marietta, Ga./Osborne) added 12 points. Previously, forward Angel Rizor (Zebulon, N.C./East Wake) scored 13 points against USF in last season's American Athletic Conference home opener.
// LAST TIME OUT
Behind six double-figure scorers, UC overpowered the Memphis Tigers, 80-56, on Saturday afternoon at Fifth Third Arena. The Bearcats (13-7, 5-2 AAC) had the upper hand each quarter, but really took it to the Tigers in the second and fourth quarters with a combined 39-22 scoring advantage. Sophomore forward IImar'I Thomas (Oakland, Calif./Sacred Heart Cathedral Prep) led the way with 19 points on 9-of-9 shooting from the field. Thomas was joined in double figures by junior guard Sam Rodgers (Cincinnati, Ohio/Lakota East) who scored 14 points, sophomore forward Andeija Puckett (Grffin, Ga./Griffin) who added 12 points off the bench, Miller who chipped in 11 points, while Rizor and Florence Sifa (Bujumbura, Burundi/Jacksonville College) both contributed 10 points. In addition, Rodgers notched six rebounds and five assists, Miller dished out a career-high 12 assists, and Sifa recorded four rebounds and three assists.
// 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 11.7 points, 5.6 assists, 4.9 rebounds, and 2.1 steals per game so far in 2018-19. Her assists per game mark (5.6) ranks second in the AAC and 23rd in the country, while her steals total (42) ranks fourth in the league. Additionally, her assist-to-turnover ratio (2.2) is 43rd-best in NCAA Division I. Miller earned her first-career AAC Weekly Honor Roll distinction Monday after averaging 16.0 points, 8.0 assists, and 5.5 rebounds as the Bearcats tallied two victories last week.
Thomas has been a fixture on The American's weekly honor list with recognition four times this season. On Jan. 21, the sophomore was named Player of the Week for the second time in 2018-19 after averaging 20.0 points, 10.0 rebounds, 2.5 blocks, 2.0 assists, and 1.5 steals as the Bearcats picked up a pair of wins. 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 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 66.7 percent from the field.
Rodgers 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 28-of-35 from the free-throw line this season. Her seven misses this year are her only career misses after going 4-for-4 as a freshman and 24-of-24 as a sophomore.
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 8.4 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.
Puckett has emerged as a legitimate post presence off the bench for the Bearcats. She was a force against Temple on Jan. 16 with a career-best 15 points to go along with eight rebounds and two blocks. Against Memphis, she again came off the pine strong to add 12 points and four rebounds. In conference play, the Georgia native is averaging 5.9 points, 3.6 rebounds, and 1.7 blocks in just 12 minutes per game.
Sifa 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 7.3 points and 2.5 rebounds per game through 18 contests.
The Bearcats have created a formidable home-court advantage inside newly-renovated Fifth Third Arena this season with an 11-1 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 nine-consecutive victories. In total, the Red & Black boasts a 73-percent (35-13) 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). Nelson and Tuff were both recently nominated for selection for the 2019 McDonald's All American Game. 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 BULLS
USF (11-9, 2-4 AAC) dropped its third-straight game Saturday with a 46-44 setback at SMU. Sophomore post Tamara Henshaw recorded 15 rebounds and 13 points, while freshman guard Sydni Harvey scored a team-best 17 points. USF is without senior superstar Kitija Laksa, freshman Beatriz Jordao and freshman Silvia Serrat due to season-ending injuries. Senior and leading scorer Laura Ferreira is out indefinitely with illness, and junior Alyssa Rader is out temporarily. USF currently relies on eight healthy players including five freshman to battle through conference play. On the season, Harvey averages 13.2 points per game, while freshman guard Enna Pehadzic chips in 8.7 each outing. Sophomore center Shae Leverett leads the team with 7.5 rebounds a contest, to go along with 7.2 points. In the preseason, USF was picked to finish second in the league with Laksa a First Team selection and Ferreira, Second Team.
// 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
A live video stream will be available on the American Digital Netowrk. A live audio stream will be available on Bearcats TV, while live stats can be accessed here.
// THE SERIES
The Bearcats trail the Bulls in the all-time series, 14-18. UC last beat USF in 2011 when both schools were members of the BIG EAST Conference. The Red & Black also trails in the series, 5-10, in games played in Tampa. In the last road meeting with the Bulls, the Bearcats fell, 65-84, last season. In the loss, guard Antoinette Miller (Detroit, Mich./Southfield-Lathrup) totaled 14 points and six rebounds, while guard Nikira Goings (Marietta, Ga./Osborne) added 12 points. Previously, forward Angel Rizor (Zebulon, N.C./East Wake) scored 13 points against USF in last season's American Athletic Conference home opener.
// LAST TIME OUT
Behind six double-figure scorers, UC overpowered the Memphis Tigers, 80-56, on Saturday afternoon at Fifth Third Arena. The Bearcats (13-7, 5-2 AAC) had the upper hand each quarter, but really took it to the Tigers in the second and fourth quarters with a combined 39-22 scoring advantage. Sophomore forward IImar'I Thomas (Oakland, Calif./Sacred Heart Cathedral Prep) led the way with 19 points on 9-of-9 shooting from the field. Thomas was joined in double figures by junior guard Sam Rodgers (Cincinnati, Ohio/Lakota East) who scored 14 points, sophomore forward Andeija Puckett (Grffin, Ga./Griffin) who added 12 points off the bench, Miller who chipped in 11 points, while Rizor and Florence Sifa (Bujumbura, Burundi/Jacksonville College) both contributed 10 points. In addition, Rodgers notched six rebounds and five assists, Miller dished out a career-high 12 assists, and Sifa recorded four rebounds and three assists.
// 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 11.7 points, 5.6 assists, 4.9 rebounds, and 2.1 steals per game so far in 2018-19. Her assists per game mark (5.6) ranks second in the AAC and 23rd in the country, while her steals total (42) ranks fourth in the league. Additionally, her assist-to-turnover ratio (2.2) is 43rd-best in NCAA Division I. Miller earned her first-career AAC Weekly Honor Roll distinction Monday after averaging 16.0 points, 8.0 assists, and 5.5 rebounds as the Bearcats tallied two victories last week.
Thomas has been a fixture on The American's weekly honor list with recognition four times this season. On Jan. 21, the sophomore was named Player of the Week for the second time in 2018-19 after averaging 20.0 points, 10.0 rebounds, 2.5 blocks, 2.0 assists, and 1.5 steals as the Bearcats picked up a pair of wins. 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 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 66.7 percent from the field.
Rodgers 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 28-of-35 from the free-throw line this season. Her seven misses this year are her only career misses after going 4-for-4 as a freshman and 24-of-24 as a sophomore.
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 8.4 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.
Puckett has emerged as a legitimate post presence off the bench for the Bearcats. She was a force against Temple on Jan. 16 with a career-best 15 points to go along with eight rebounds and two blocks. Against Memphis, she again came off the pine strong to add 12 points and four rebounds. In conference play, the Georgia native is averaging 5.9 points, 3.6 rebounds, and 1.7 blocks in just 12 minutes per game.
Sifa 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 7.3 points and 2.5 rebounds per game through 18 contests.
The Bearcats have created a formidable home-court advantage inside newly-renovated Fifth Third Arena this season with an 11-1 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 nine-consecutive victories. In total, the Red & Black boasts a 73-percent (35-13) 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). Nelson and Tuff were both recently nominated for selection for the 2019 McDonald's All American Game. 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 BULLS
USF (11-9, 2-4 AAC) dropped its third-straight game Saturday with a 46-44 setback at SMU. Sophomore post Tamara Henshaw recorded 15 rebounds and 13 points, while freshman guard Sydni Harvey scored a team-best 17 points. USF is without senior superstar Kitija Laksa, freshman Beatriz Jordao and freshman Silvia Serrat due to season-ending injuries. Senior and leading scorer Laura Ferreira is out indefinitely with illness, and junior Alyssa Rader is out temporarily. USF currently relies on eight healthy players including five freshman to battle through conference play. On the season, Harvey averages 13.2 points per game, while freshman guard Enna Pehadzic chips in 8.7 each outing. Sophomore center Shae Leverett leads the team with 7.5 rebounds a contest, to go along with 7.2 points. In the preseason, USF was picked to finish second in the league with Laksa a First Team selection and Ferreira, Second Team.
// 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.