Women's Basketball Plays Host to UCF on Saturday

UCF (9-2, 7-1 AAC) 
at CINCINNATI (3-12, 2-9 AAC)
Saturday, Feb. 13 // 1 p.m. ET
Fifth Third Arena // Cincinnati, Ohio
SERIES INFO: 18th Meeting; Cincinnati leads 9-8 overall; UC leads 4-2 in Cincinnati and 3-1 at neutral sites;
UCF leads 4-3 in Orlando, Fla.
LAST MEETING: UCF won 57-41 on Jan. 17, 2021 in Orlando, Fla.
STREAK: UCF - 1
COACHES: Michelle Clark-Heard is in her third season at Cincinnati (50-33); 11th season overall (228-113)
Katie Abrahamson-Henderson is in her fifth season at UCF (98-42); 15th season overall (339-150)
AP/USA TODAY RANKINGS: Cincinnati (--/--); UCF (--/--)
TV: ESPN+; Matt Noonan and Sam Rodgers
JOIN THE CONVERSATION (TWITTER, FACEBOOK & INSTAGRAM): @GoBearcatsWBB

GAME PREVIEW 

• Cincinnati (4-12, 3-9 American) plays host to UCF (9-2, 7-1) on Saturday at Fifth Third Arena. Tipoff is 1 p.m. ET on ESPN+.  
• The Bearcats ended a five-game losing streak by rallying for a 73-62 win at Memphis on Wednesday. IImar'I Thomas scored a game-best 23 points with seven assists. Caitlyn Wilson scored 20 points with six 3-pointers. 
• UCF hasn't played since defeating East Carolina at home 52-47 on Jan. 27. Brittney Smith scored a team-best 11 points while Courtajia Sanders posted a double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds. 
• UC holds a 9-8 advantage in the series. UCF earned a 57-41 victory over the Bearcats on Jan. 17 in Orlando. 
• The Bearcats will wear pink uniforms on Saturday to help promote cancer awareness. 
• UP NEXT: UC plays at USF on Wednesday, Feb. 17. Tipoff is 7 p.m. ET on ESPN+. 

CINCINNATI HEADLINES

• IImar'I Thomas moved into elite company in UC women's basketball history after scoring 23 points at Memphis on Wednesday, becoming only the third player to eclipse 1,700 career points and 800 career rebounds along with Linda Norwell (1,799 points and 1,309 rebounds from 1974-77) and Bev Obringer (1,700 points and 977 rebounds from 1985-89).
• Thomas has been named one of 30 candidates for the 2020-21 Senior CLASS Award, given annually to a women's basketball student-athlete who excels both on and off the court. She also was named a semifinalist for the Becky Hammon Player of the Year award this week. 
• Caitlyn Wilson is leading the Bearcats in scoring over the last three games, averaging 21.0 points with 17 3-pointers. She has scored 20 or more points in each game - all starts. 
• She enters the weekend ranked among AAC leaders in 3-pointers made (4th at 2.1) and 3-point shooting percentage (7th at .305).
• 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 THOMAS

• NATIONAL NUMBERS: Thomas entered Thursday ranked 16th in the nation in scoring at 22.3 points per game.
• Thomas also ranked among the nation's leaders in: minutes played per game (2nd at 39.0), field goals made (13th  at 134), total points (17th at 356), free throws made (18th at 82), free throws attempted (25th at 99), and field goal percentage (35th at .532). 
• AAC NUMBERS: Thomas entered Tuesday ranked among the AAC leaders in 10 categories: scoring (1st at 22.3), field goal percentage (1st at .532), minutes played (1st at 38.9), free throw percentage (1st at .828), rebounds (3rd at 7.8), defensive rebounds (5th at 5.3), offensive rebounds (7th at 2.6), assists (8th at 3.6), assist-to-turnover ratio (10th at 1.7) and blocks (15th at 0.9).
• MILESTONE MOMENT: When Thomas scored 23 points at Memphis (2/10) she moved into elite company in UC women's basketball history, becoming only the third player to eclipse 1,700 career points and 800 career rebounds along with Linda Norwell (1,799 points and 1,309 rebounds from 1974-77) and Bev Obringer (1,700 points and 977 rebounds from 1985-89).

BEARCATS TIP-INS

• WILSON SCORES 20 IN THREE CONSECUTIVE GAMES: Caitlyn Wilson has made the most of her first three career starts, scoring 20 or more points in each game. She hit five 3-pointers and tallied a career-high 23 points in UC's 69-53 home setback to Temple (2/3) then followed that up by making six 3-pointers and scoring 20 points at Tulane (2/6). Wednesday in Memphis she posted 20 points with six 3-pointers.  
• She enters the weekend ranked among AAC leaders in 3-pointers made (4th at 2.1) and 3-point shooting percentage (7th at .305).
• HAYES NAMED TO AAC WEEKLY HONOR ROLL: Freshman Jillian Hayes was named to the AAC Weekly Honor Roll last week.
• 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 (1/27).
• Hayes leads the team in blocks (1.1), ranks second in points (8.0) and assists (2.1 and third in rebounds (4.9) this season. She has scored in double figures in four of her last eight games. She posted a season-high 20 points on 9-of-16 shooting at Temple (1/13). 
• BLOCK PARTY: UC ranks atop the AAC in blocks per game at 4.4. Arame Niang (T9th at 1.1), Jillian Hayes (T9th at 1.1) and IImar'I Thomas (15th at 0.9) rank among AAC leaders. 
• AMONG AAC LEADERS (ALL GAMES): UC also ranks among AAC team leaders in free throw percentage (3rd at .693), assist (6th at 13.5) and field goal percentage (5th at .398). 
• COVID-19 SCHEDULE CHANGES: UC has canceled three games (vs. Louisville [11/28], at SMU [12/30] and vs. SMU [3/2) and postponed three others (vs. Xavier [12/10], at Houston [12/16] and at USF [1/30]) this season due to COVID-19 protocol issues.  

SCOUTING UCF

• UCF has won its last four games, including a 57-41 win over UC on Jan. 17 in Orlando. 
• Three players average nine or more points: Courtajia Sanders (11.2 points, 5.0 rebounds, 2.0 steals), Diamond Battles (10.5 points, 4.0 rebounds and 3.8 assists) and Brittney Smith (9.8 points, 5.4 rebounds and 54.3 FG%).