Women's Basketball Plays at East Carolina on Wednesday

CINCINNATI (4-15, 3-12 AAC)
at  EAST CAROLINA (7-11, 5-8 AAC) 
Wednesday, Feb. 24 // 6 p.m. ET
Minges Coliseum // Greenville, N.C.
SERIES INFO: 19th meeting; East Carolina leads 10-8 overall; East Carolina leads 5-3 in Greenville, N.C.;
East Carolina leads 1-0 at neutral sites; UC leads 5-4 in Cincinnati;  
LAST MEETING: East Carolina won 74-67 on Dec. 19 at Fifth Third Arena
STREAK: East Carolina - 1
COACHES: Michelle Clark-Heard is in her third season at Cincinnati (50-36); 11th season overall (228-116)
Kim McNeil is in her second season at East Carolina (15-31); fifth season overall (74-69)
AP/USA TODAY RANKINGS: Cincinnati (--/--); East Carolina (--/--)
TV: ESPN+; Chris Edwards and Mack McCarthy
JOIN THE CONVERSATION (TWITTER, FACEBOOK & INSTAGRAM): @GoBearcatsWBB

GAME PREVIEW 

• Cincinnati (4-15, 3-12 American) plays its final three games of the regular season on the road beginning Wednesday at East Carolina (7-11, 5-8). Tipoff is 6 p.m. ET on ESPN+. 
• UC is coming off a 75-66 home loss to Houston on Senior Day Saturday at Fifth Third Arena. IImar'I Thomas scored a team-high 16 points with six rebounds and three blocks. Caitlyn Wilson hit four 3-pointers and finished with 14 points. Jillian Hayes totaled 11 points with four rebounds. 
• East Carolina posted a 74-59 Senior Day home win over Wichita State on Saturday. Lashonda Monk made four 3-pointers and tallied a team-high 18 points and five steals.  
• The Pirates earned a 74-67 win over the Bearcats earlier this season (12/20) at Fifth Third Arena. Monk scored 32 points for ECU in the win. Thomas led UC with 23 points. 
• ECU holds a slight 10-8 lead in the series with Cincinnati.  
• UP NEXT: UC plays at Tulsa on Saturday at 2 p.m. ET on ESPN+. 

CINCINNATI STORYLINES

• IImar'I Thomas has been named a finalist for the Senior CLASS Award, given to a women's basketball student-athlete who excels both on and off the court. She is the first UC women's basketball player selected as a finalist for the award since its inception in 2002. Fans can vote for Thomas at http://cpaw.me/voteiimari. 
• The AAC Co-Preseason Player of the Year and a semifinalist for the Becky Hammon Mid-Major Player of the Year award, Thomas entered the week ranked among the nation's best in minutes played per game (2nd at 39.35), field goals made (12th at 157), points per game (17th at 21.9), total points (17th at 417), free throws made (24th at 94) and free throws attempted (28th at 116).
• Caitlyn Wilson is averaging 16.3 points with a team-best 24 3-pointers over the last six games as a starter. She entered the week ranked among AAC leaders in 3-pointers made (4th at 2.1) and 3-point shooting percentage (10th at .288).
• 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 Monday ranked among the nation's best in several categories for 2020-21, including minutes played per game (2nd at 39.35), field goals made (12th at 157), points per game (17th at 21.9), total points (17th at 417), free throws made (24th at 94) and free throws attempted (28th at 116).
• AAC NUMBERS: Thomas lists among the AAC's leaders in 10 statistical categories entering the week, including points per game (1st at 21.9), field goal percentage (1st at .525), minutes played (1st at 39.3), free throw percentage (3rd at .810), rebounds (5th at 7.4), defensive rebounds (5th at 5.1), assists (7th at 3.5), assist-to-turnover ratio (9th at 1.6), offensive rebounds (9th at 2.3) and blocks (T12th at 1.0).
• MILESTONE MOMENTS: Thomas became only the third player in program history to achieve 1,700 career points and 800 rebounds when she scored 23 points at Memphis (2/10). She joins Linda Norwell (1,799 points and 1,309 rebounds from 1974-77) and Bev Obringer (1,700 points and 977 rebounds from 1985-89) on the elite list. 
• Thomas also moved into fifth place on UC's scoring list after scoring 22 against UCF (2/13). 
• CHART CHASING: Thomas enters the 20th game of the season ranked among UC's best in multiple categories: field goal percentage (1st at .580), blocks (2nd at 121), rebounds (4th at 834), points (5th at 1,773) and rebound average (T8th at 7.1).

BEARCATS TIP-INS

• WILSON STEPPING UP AS A STARTER: Caitlyn Wilson has made the most of moving into the starting lineup over the past six games. During the stretch, she is averaging 16.3 points with a team-best 24 3-pointers. She posted 20 or more points in each of her first three games as a starter. 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). She posted 20 points with six 3-pointers against Memphis (2/10). She enters the week ranked among AAC leaders in 3-pointers made (4th at 2.1) and 3-point shooting percentage (10th at .288).
• AMONG AAC LEADERS (ALL GAMES): UC ranks among AAC team leaders in blocks (1st at 4.3), free throw percentage (1st at .708), assists (4th at 14.1) and assist-to-turnover ratio  (4th at 0.8). 

SCOUTING EAST CAROLINA

• ECU has won two of its last three games this month while having three other contests either postponed or canceled due to COVID-19 protocols. 
• Four Pirates are averaging nine or more points led by Lashonda Monk (14.3 points, 4.8 rebounds, 2.9 steals, 2.8 assists and a team-high 28 3-pointers) and Taniyah Thompson (11.3 points with 20 3-pointers). 
• Monk was named the AAC Defensive Player of the Year and earned Second Team All-AAC accolades a year ago. She ranked third in the NCAA in both steals (121) and steals per game (4.17).