Women's Basketball Plays at UCF on Sunday

CINCINNATI (3-7, 2-4 AAC)
at UCF (6-2, 4-1 AAC)
Sunday, Jan. 17 // Noon ET
Addition Financial Arena // Orlando, Fla.
SERIES INFO: 17th Meeting; Cincinnati leads 9-7 overall; UCF leads 4-2 in Orlando, Fla.; 
UC leads 4-2 in Cincinnati and 3-1 at neutral sites
LAST SEASON'S MEETINGS: UC won 81-64 on Jan. 12, 2020 in Cincinnati; UCF won 49-42 on Feb. 15, 2020 in Orlando;
UC won 57-51 on Mar. 8, 2020 in the semifinals of the AAC Championship in Uncasville, Conn. 
STREAK: Cincinnati - 1
COACHES: Michelle Clark-Heard is in her third season at Cincinnati (49-28); 11th season overall (227-108)
Katie Abrahamson-Henderson is in her fifth season at UCF (95-42); 15th season overall (336-150)
AP/USA TODAY RANKINGS: Cincinnati (--/--); UCF (--/--)
TV: ESPNU; Brenda VanLengen and Holly Warlick
JOIN THE CONVERSATION (TWITTER, FACEBOOK & INSTAGRAM): @GoBearcatsWBB or GoBearcatsWBB

GAME PREVIEW 

• Cincinnati (3-7, 2-4 AAC) plays at UCF (6-2, 4-1) on Sunday, Jan. 17. Tipoff is noon ET on ESPNU. 
• UC earned a 71-65 road win at previous league unbeaten Temple on Wednesday. IImar'I Thomas registered her third double-double in four games with a game-best 24 points and 12 rebounds. Jillian Hayes poured in a career-best 20 points. Destiny Haymer added 11 points and career-high eight assists. 
• UCF earned a 58-51 win at East Carolina on Wednesday. Five players scored in double figures led by Alisha Lewis'  12 points, five rebounds, four assists and three steals. 
• UC won two of three meetings with UCF last season, including a 57-51 decision in the AAC Tournament semifinals in Uncasville, Conn. on Mar. 8, 2020.
• UP NEXT: The Bearcats return home to host Memphis on Wednesday, Jan. 20. Tipoff is 6 p.m. ET on ESPN+. 

CINCINNATI STORYLINES

• Senior forward IImar'I Thomas has posted double-doubles in three of UC's last four games and ranks among the nation's leaders in seven categories entering Friday: field goals made (4th at 93), points per game (5th at 25.0), minutes played per game (6th at 38.89), total points (6th at 250), free throws made (7th at 63), free throws attempted (14th at 74) and total minutes played (15th at 389).
• Freshman guard Jillian Hayes is coming off back-to-back double-digit scoring performances. She registered a career-high 20 points, including 10 in the fourth quarter in UC's win at league unbeaten Temple on Wednesday. She posted 16 points with eight rebounds against Tulane (1/9). 
• Junior guard Destiny Haymer has scored in double figures in two of the last three games highlighted by Wednesday's performance at Temple. Haymer poured in 11 points to go with a game-best eight assists and seven rebounds.
• Cincinnati is coming off back-to-back 20-win seasons for the first time since stringing together three consecutive 20-win campaigns from 2001-03.
• The Bearcats tied for second in the AAC regular-season standings a year ago with an 11-5 mark, the school's best finish in The American and its best league result since placing second in the Conference USA standings in 2004. 
• UC reached the championship game of the 2019 AAC Women's Championship, rallying from a 15-point deficit to post a 57-51 win over UCF. The effort resulted in the Bearcats first conference tournament championship game appearance since 2003 (Conference USA).
• Michelle Clark-Heard won more games (46) during her first two seasons at Cincinnati than any other head coach in program history. She is also the first coach in UC history to record 20-win seasons in each of her first two seasons on the job.

TOUTING IIMAR'I THOMAS

• NATIONAL NUMBERS: Thomas entered Friday ranked fifth in the nation in scoring at 25.0 points per game.
• Thomas also entered Friday ranked among the nation's leaders in seven categories: field goals made (4th at 93), points per game (5th at 25.0), minutes played per game (6th at 38.89), total points (6th at 250), free throws made (7th at 63), free throws attempted (14th at 74) and total minutes played (15th at 389).
• AAC NUMBERS: Thomas enters the weekend ranked among the AAC leaders in nine categories: scoring (1st at 25.0), field goal percentage (1st at .550), minutes played (1st at 38.8), free throw percentage (1st at .851), rebounds (5th at 8.4), offensive rebounds (5th at 2.9) and defensive rebounds (6th at 5.5), assists (10th at 3.1), blocks (12th at 1.0). 
• THREE DOUBLE-DOUBLES: Thomas has registered three double-doubles in the past four games: 24 points and a career-high 17 rebounds at Wichita State (1/2); 24 points and 12 rebounds vs. Tulsa (1/6); and 24 points and 12 rebounds (1/13). Thomas has 19 double-doubles for her career, including 12 in AAC play. 
• CHART CHASER: The name IImar'I Thomas is peppered throughout the UC record book and her climb up the charts will be a storyline during the 2020-21 campaign.
• Thomas enters the 11th game of the season ranked among UC's best in multiple categories: field goal percentage (1st at .590), blocks (3rd at 112), rebounds (4th at 778), points (8th at 1,606) and rebound average (T8th at 7.1).  

BEARCATS TIPINS

• BLOCK PARTY: UC leads the AAC and ranks 51st in the nation in blocks, averaging 4.6 per game. UC's 46 blocks this season ranked 32nd in the nation entering Friday. Arame Niang (4th at 1.3), IImar'I Thomas (12th at 1.0) and Jillian Hayes (T14th at 0.9) rank among AAC leaders entering the weekend.
• Since the start of league play, Niang ranks second in the AAC, averaging 1.7 blocks. She has at least one block in eight of 10 games this season. 
• Niang posted a career-high four blocks against Tulsa (1/6) while Thomas and Niang recorded three blocks each at Wichita State (1/2).   
• AMONG AAC LEADERS (ALL GAMES): UC also ranks among AAC team leaders in field goal percentage (3rd at .419) and free throw percentage (3rd at .700) for all games. 
• HAYES' IMPACT INCREASING: Freshman Jillian Hayes is coming off back-to-back double-digit scoring performances. She registered a career-high 20 points, including 10 in the fourth quarter in UC's win at league unbeaten Temple on Wednesday. She posted 16 points with eight rebounds against Tulane (1/9). 
• She pulled down a season-best nine boards against Tulsa (1/6) and has grabbed at least four rebounds in nine of 10 games this season. 
• In AAC games only, Hayes ranks among league leaders in defensive rebounds (8th at 4.8), rebounds per game (T13th at 5.7) and minutes played (11th at 33.8).
• HAYMER'S BIG EFFORT IN PHILLY: Junior guard Destiny Haymer has scored in double figures in two of the last three games highlighted by Wednesday's performance at Temple. Haymer poured in 11 points to go with a game-best eight assists and seven rebounds. 
• JADYN SCOTT IN DOUBLE FIGURES: Jadyn Scott reached double figures in scoring for the second time this season, posting 10 points on 3-of-4 shooting to go with a season-best seven rebounds vs. Tulane (1/9). She tallied a season-high 11 points on 5-of-7 shooting against East Carolina (12/20).

SCOUTING UCF

• UCF has won two of its last three games to start January. The Knights were picked to finish second by AAC coaches in the preseason are tied with Temple for second place entering the weekend. 
• Three players average double figures: Courtajia Sanders (12.8 points, 4.8 rebounds, 2.5 steals), Diamond Battle (11.0 points, 4.3 rebounds and 3.9 assists) and Brittney Smith (10.1 points, 5.1 rebounds and 55.9 FG%).