Women's Basketball Plays at Houston Tuesday

CINCINNATI (6-15, 5-12 AAC)
at  HOUSTON (15-5, 12-4 AAC) 
Tuesday, Mar. 2 // 7 p.m. ET
Fertitta Center // Houston, Texas
SERIES INFO: 29th meeting; Cincinnati leads 21-7 overall; UC leads 8-2 at Houston; UC leads 10-3 in Cincinnati;
UC leads 3-2 at neutral sites
LAST MEETING: Houston won 75-66 on Feb. 20, 2021 in Cincinnati
STREAK: Houston - 1
COACHES: Michelle Clark-Heard is in her third season at Cincinnati (52-36); 11th season overall (230-116)
Ronald Hughey is in his seventh season at Houston (86-119); seventh season overall (86-119)
AP/USA TODAY RANKINGS: Cincinnati (--/--); Houston (--/--)
TV: ESPN+; Matt Pendersen and Da'Yon Dunlap
JOIN THE CONVERSATION (TWITTER, FACEBOOK & INSTAGRAM): @GoBearcatsWBB

GAME PREVIEW 

• Cincinnati (6-15, 4-12 American) wraps up regular-season action Tuesday at Houston (15-5, 7-2). Tipoff is 7 p.m. ET on ESPN+. 
• The Bearcats won their second consecutive game Saturday with a 71-58 win at Tulsa. IImar'I Thomas scored a game-high 28 points and Caitlyn Wilson added 20 points with six 3-pointers. 
• Houston upset No. 13 USF 67-49 in Houston on Saturday. Laila Blair scored a team-high 15 points for the Cougars. 
• Houston claimed a 76-66 win over the Bearcats on Feb. 20 at Fifth Third Arena. Dymond Gladney led UH with 23 points with a trio of threes. Thomas scored 16 points to lead UC. 
• UC leads the series overall 21-7. 
• UP NEXT: UC begins play at the 2021 American Women's Championship Mar. 8-11 at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Texas. The date and opponent will be announced later this week. 

CINCINNATI HEADLINES 

• IImar'I Thomas was named the AAC Player of the Week for a league-high third time this season on Monday. She scored a school and AAC record scoring 51 points to go with 12 rebounds at East Carolina (2/24). The point total is highest by a Division I men's or women's basketball player this season. She also scored a game-high 28 points at Tulsa (2/27).
• Thomas also 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 SeniorCLASSaward.com. 
• Caitlyn Wilson  is averaging 16.0 points with a team-best 33 3-pointers over the past eight games. She enters the week ranked among AAC leaders in 3-pointers made (T1st at 2.4) and 3-point shooting percentage (7th at .318).

TOUTING THOMAS

• NATIONAL NUMBERS: Thomas enters the week ranked among the nation's Top 30 in seven categories for 2020-21, including minutes played per game (2nd at 39.3), field goals made (5th at 185), total points (7th at 496), points per game (7th at 23.6), free throws made (10th at 117), free throws attempted (15th at 144), field goal percentage (25th at .544) and field goal attempts (28th at 340).
• AAC NUMBERS: Thomas lists among the AAC's leaders in 10 statistical categories entering the week, including points per game (1st at 23.6), field goal percentage (1st at .544), minutes played (1st at 39.3), free throw percentage (3rd at .813), rebounds (4th at 7.7), offensive rebounds (5th at 2.8), defensive rebounds (6th at 4.9), assists (8th at 3.4), assist-to-turnover ratio (10th at 1.5) and blocks (10th at 1.0).
• 51-POINT PERFORMANCE: Thomas scored a school- and AAC-record 51 points to go with 12 rebounds at East Carolina (2/24). The standout performance marked the most points scored by a Division I men's or women's basketball player this season. She becomes only the second player in UC history, along with the legendary Oscar Robertson to score 50-plus points in a game. Robertson did it six times, last scoring 62 against North Texas (2/22/60). 
• With the outing, she becomes the only player in UC history to achieve 1,800 career points and 800 rebounds. 
• CHART CHASER: The name IImar'I Thomas is peppered throughout the UC record book and her climb up the charts has been a storyline during the 2020-21 campaign.
• Thomas enters the regular-season finale ranked among UC's best in multiple categories: field goal percentage (1st at .583), blocks (2nd at 124), points (3rd at 1,852), rebounds (4th at 855) 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 eight games. During the stretch, she is averaging 16.0 points with a team-best 33 3-pointers. She has scored in double figures in seven of the eight games, scoring 20 or more points four times. She hit five 3-pointers and tallied a career-high 23 points vs Temple (2/3). She made six 3-pointers at Tulane (2/7), at Memphis (2/10) and at Tulsa (2/27). She enters the week ranked among AAC leaders in 3-pointers made (T1st at 2.4) and 3-point shooting percentage (7th at .318).
• HAYES NAMED TO AAC WEEKLY HONOR ROLL: Freshman Jillian Hayes was named to the AAC Weekly Honor Roll (2/1). 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). She posted a season-high 20 points on 9-of-16 shooting at Temple (1/13). 
• AMONG AAC LEADERS (ALL GAMES): UC ranks among AAC team leaders in blocks (1st at 4.3), free throw percentage (1st at .708), assists (2nd at 14.7), field goal percentage (3rd at .409) and assist-to-turnover ratio (4th at 0.8).  

SCOUTING HOUSTON

• Houston has won seven in a row after earning a 67-49 home win over No. 13 USF on Saturday. 
• Five Houston players average eight or more points led by Britney Onyeje (10.6 points, 2.3 3-pointers, 2.1 steals), Mya Crump (10.4 points, 4.9 rebounds) and Dymond Gladney (9.8 points, 3.1 assists).