Women's Basketball Battles Temple on Wednesday

TEMPLE (5-7, 5-4 AAC)
at  CINCINNATI (3-10, 2-7 AAC)
Wednesday, Feb. 3 // 6 p.m. ET
Fifth Third Arena // Cincinnati, Ohio
SERIES INFO: 14th Meeting; Temple leads 7-6 overall; UC leads 3-2 in Cincinnati; Temple leads 5-3 in Philadelphia
LAST MEETING: Cincinnati won 71-65 on Jan. 13, 2021 in Philadelphia
STREAK: Cincinnati - 2
COACHES: Michelle Clark-Heard is in her third season at Cincinnati (49-31); 11th season overall (227-111)
Tonya Cardoza is in her 13th season at Temple (232-169); 13th season overall (232-169)
AP/USA TODAY RANKINGS: Cincinnati (--/--); Temple (--/--)
TV: ESPN+; Matt Noonan and Sam Rodgers
JOIN THE CONVERSATION (TWITTER, FACEBOOK & INSTAGRAM): @GoBearcatsWBB or GoBearcatsWBB

GAME PREVIEW 

• Cincinnati (3-10, 2-7 American) plays host to Temple (5-7, 5-4) on Wednesday, Feb. 3 at Fifth Third Arena. Tipoff is 6 p.m. ET on ESPN+.
• The Bearcats fell short to Wichita State, 60-52, on Wednesday, Jan. 27. Jillian Hayes led all scorers with 17 points with a pair of threes, four assists and two blocks. IImar'I Thomas and Arame Niang added 13 points each. Niang also grabbed nine rebounds with three steals. 
• Temple lost a pair of games at Tulane over the weekend, falling 80-44 on Saturday and 71-69 on Sunday. Mia Davis led the Owls in both games, scoring 14 points with four steals on Saturday and a game-high 22 points with three steals on Sunday.
• UP NEXT: UC plays at Tulane on Sunday, Feb. 7. Tipoff is 3 p.m. ET on ESPN+. 

TOUTING THOMAS

• NATIONAL NUMBERS: Thomas entered Monday ranked 12th in the nation in scoring at 23.1 points per game.
• Thomas also entered the week ranked among the nation's leaders in: minutes played per game (2nd at 38.8), free throws made (14th at 77), field goals made (21st at 110), free throws attempted (23rd at 92), total points (24th at 300) and field goal percentage (40th at .529). 
• AAC NUMBERS: Thomas enters the week ranked among the AAC leaders in 10 categories: scoring (1st at 23.1),  field goal percentage (1st at .529), minutes played (1st at 38.7), free throw percentage (2nd at .837), rebounds (3rd at 8.3), offensive rebounds (4th at 3.0), defensive rebounds (5th at 5.3), assist-to-turnover ratio (8th at 1.8), blocks (T9th at 1.0) and assists (T10th at 3.2).
• 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 14th game of the season ranked among UC's best in multiple categories: field goal percentage (1st at .585), blocks (3rd at 115), rebounds (4th at 802), points (8th at 1,656) and rebound average (8th at 7.2).   

BEARCATS TIP-INS

• HAYES NAMED TO AAC WEEKLY HONOR ROLL: Freshman Jillian Hayes was named to the AAC Weekly Honor Roll on Monday. 
• Hayes scored a game-high 17 points with a pair of 3-pointers, four assists and two blocks in UC's 60-52 setback to Wichita State on Wednesday, Jan. 27.
• Hayes ranks second on the team in points (8.3) and third in rebounds (5.2), assists (1.5) and blocks (0.9) this season. She has scored in double figures in four of her last five games, averaging 13.0 points and 2.4 assists during the stretch. She posted a season-high 20 points on 9-of-16 shooting at Temple on Jan. 13. 
• Since the start of league play, Hayes ranks among AAC leaders in minutes played (eighth at 34.4), defensive rebounds (ninth at 4.4) and points (tied for 23rd at 9.9).
• BLOCK PARTY: UC ranks atop the AAC in blocks per game at 4.3. Arame Niang (T9th at 1.0), IImar'I Thomas (T9th at 1.0) and Jillian Hayes (T12th at 0.9) rank among AAC leaders entering the week. 
• AMONG AAC LEADERS (ALL GAMES): UC also ranks among AAC team leaders in free throw percentage (3rd at .701), assist-to-turnover (4th at 0.8), field goal percentage (5th at .395) for all games. 

SCOUTING TEMPLE

• Temple has lost three of four since falling to the Bearcats 71-65 on Jan. 13 in Philadelphia.
• AAC Co-Preseason Player of the Year Mia Davis leads the Owls, averaging 18.8 points and 8.0 rebounds while shooting 47.3 percent (80 of 169) from the field.  
• Jasha Clinton (12.7) and Alexa Williamson (10.8) also average double figures for Temple. 

CINCINNATI HEADLINES

• IImar'I Thomas enters the week ranked among the nation's Top 25 leaders in six categories: minutes played per game (2nd at 38.8), points (12th at 23.1) free throws made (14th at 77), field goals made (21st at 110), free throws attempted (23rd at 92) and total points (24th at 300).  
• The senior ranks among UC's all-time best in multiple categories: field goal percentage (1st at .585), blocks (3rd at 115), rebounds (4th at 802), points (8th at 1,656) and rebound average (8th at 7.2). 
• Freshman guard Jillian Hayes was named to the AAC Weekly Honor Roll on Monday. 
• Hayes scored a game-high 17 points with a pair of 3-pointers, four assists and two blocks in UC's 60-52 setback to Wichita State on Wednesday, Jan. 27.
• Hayes ranks second on the team in points (8.3) and third in rebounds (5.2), assists (1.5) and blocks (0.9) this season. She has scored in double figures in four of her last five games, averaging 13.0 points and 2.4 assists during the stretch. She posted a season-high 20 points on 9-of-16 shooting at Temple on Jan. 13.
• 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.