CINCINNATI - The University of Cincinnati women's basketball team continues to reach new heights. Following last night's 76-53 win over visiting ECU on Senior Night, the Bearcats finished 11-5 in the American Athletic Conference to share second place in the league standings, their highest finish in the seven-year history of the conference and tied for the second-best finish ever in program history. Based on the final standings, the Bearcats will be the #3 seed in this weekend's American Women's Basketball Championship in Uncasville, Conn.
// HISTORY MADE
Dating back to the start of the American in the 2013-14 season, the Bearcats' best finish came last year when the team was third in the conference standings and earned the #3 seed in the tournament. By finishing tied for second this year, the Bearcats earned their highest AAC regular season finish and improved their standing for the fourth year in a row, going from tied for ninth in 2015-16 to tied for fifth, fourth, third and now tied for second. Additionally, the #3 seed received ties for their highest seeding with last year's position.
But the second place finish this year is not just the best in recent history; it also ranks among the best in program history. Dating back to the 1983-84 season in which the Bearcats began play in the Metro Conference, only one team has finished better in league standings then this year's squad: the 1998-99 team that tied for first in Conference USA. This year's showing ties for the second-best finish in program history with both the 2001-02 and 2002-03 teams that placed second in the CUSA standings.
// FAST START
Under Head Coach Michelle Clark-Heard, the Bearcats have climbed to new heights in her two seasons at the helm. The first coach in program history to lead her team to back-to-back 20 win seasons in her first two years with the program, Clark-Heard has seen her Bearcats accumulate 44 victories so far, leaving her one shy of tying the record for most wins in the first two seasons guiding the program (Ceal Barry, 45, 1979-80 and 1980-81). The team also has posted 12 league wins last year to tie for the most in a single season while the 11 earned this year stands as the third-most ever in a campaign.
// TOURNAMENT HISTORY
For the fourth year in a row, the Bearcats played their way to a first-round bye in the AAC tournament as they will join the competition starting Saturday in the quarterfinals. This year marks the second in a row in which the Bearcats enter the American tournament as the #3 seed, tying for their best seeding in AAC play. Prior to that, UC was the #4 seed in 2018 after being either the #7 (2014 and 2017) or #9 (2015 and 2016) seeds.
// UP NEXT
As the #3 seed, the Bearcats will play in the final game of the quarterfinals Saturday, March 7, at approximately 8 p.m. and will face the winner of the first-round game between #6 SMU and #11 Memphis. The game will be streamed live on ESPN3. The tournament will once again be held inside the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn. Tickets can be purchased by clicking on this link: https://cpaw.io/wbb20_aactourney.
// GET CONNECTED
Stay up to date with the team by following the Bearcats on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook at @GoBearcatsWBB.
Bearcats Finish Second in 2020 American Standings
The University of Cincinnati women's basketball team continues to reach new heights. Following last night's 76-53 win over visiting ECU on Senior Night, the Bearcats finished 11-5 in the American Athletic Conference to share second place in the league standings, their highest finish in the seven-year history of the conference and tied for the second-best finish ever in program history.
