TicketsFORT WORTH, Texas – No. 11 seed Cincinnati opens its 2023 American Athletic Conference Championship run in the first round with No. 6 seed Tulane inside Dickies Arena on Monday at 6:00 p.m. ET on ESPN+.
Attached is the complete 2023 American Athletic Conference Championship bracket.
Cincinnati has the fourth-most AAC Tournament wins with seven, trailing only UCONN, South Florida and UCF. The Bearcats are 4-4 in the AAC Tournament under head coach Michelle Clark-Heard, who led the program to an appearance in the finals as a No. 3 seed in 2020.
This marks the first meeting between the Bearcats and Green Wave in the AAC Tournament. Cincinnati is 3-3 in the first round and 0-1 both as a No. 11 seed and against a No. 6 seed after falling to No. 6-seed Houston 67-45 in 2022. The Bearcats are 5-1 as a higher seed compared to 2-8 as a lower seed in the AAC Tournament.
Monday will be the 40th overall meeting and the third of the season between the two teams. Tulane leads the all-time series 20-19. The Bearcats are looking to take the season series after a split in the earlier two matchups.
Junior guard Jillian Hayes finished with her 10th double double and third in the last five games with 20 points and 10 rebounds against No. 25 South Florida last time out on March 1. The 10 double-doubles on the season are the most by a Bearcat since Shanice Johnson recorded 13 in 2016-17. The season count also extends her career total to 12 and triples her total of three in the previous two seasons combined.
Hayes' 8.7 rebounds per game leads all conference juniors and her 13.0 points per game ranks third.
Junior forward/center Malea Williams leads the conference and ranks 48th nationally with 44 blocks as of March 3. She has posted 30 blocks in 16 conference games and has 10 multi-block contests this season. Williams has provided huge contributions as of late, increasing her averages to 9.7 points, 6.3 rebounds and 2.7 blocks in 23.1 minutes per game over the last three contests.
Cincinnati benefits from a deep rotation with 10 of 13 Bearcats are currently averaging double-digit minutes per game. The Bearcats average 20.1 points per game and have had 17 double-digit scoring efforts off its bench this season.
The Tulane Green Wave are 17-12 overall, 7-9 in the AAC in their 29th season under head coach Lisa Stockton. Graduate guard Dynah Jones leads the team with 12.4 points per game. She is one of three players averaging double figures with graduate guard/forward Marta Galic averaging 12.2 points and redshirt sophomore guard Kyren Whittington adding 11.4 points per game. Graduate guard Rachel Hakes leads the conference and ranks 37th nationally with 4.9 assists per game.
Tulane leads the conference and ranking 23rd nationally with a 36.3 percent field-goal percentage defense. The Green Wave also are third in the conference and 20th nationally with a 27.1 percent three-point field-goal percentage defense.
FOLLOW THE BEARCATS
For all the latest information on Cincinnati women's basketball, visit GoBEARCATS.com and follow @GoBearcatsWBB on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.
Attached is the complete 2023 American Athletic Conference Championship bracket.
Cincinnati has the fourth-most AAC Tournament wins with seven, trailing only UCONN, South Florida and UCF. The Bearcats are 4-4 in the AAC Tournament under head coach Michelle Clark-Heard, who led the program to an appearance in the finals as a No. 3 seed in 2020.
This marks the first meeting between the Bearcats and Green Wave in the AAC Tournament. Cincinnati is 3-3 in the first round and 0-1 both as a No. 11 seed and against a No. 6 seed after falling to No. 6-seed Houston 67-45 in 2022. The Bearcats are 5-1 as a higher seed compared to 2-8 as a lower seed in the AAC Tournament.
Monday will be the 40th overall meeting and the third of the season between the two teams. Tulane leads the all-time series 20-19. The Bearcats are looking to take the season series after a split in the earlier two matchups.
Junior guard Jillian Hayes finished with her 10th double double and third in the last five games with 20 points and 10 rebounds against No. 25 South Florida last time out on March 1. The 10 double-doubles on the season are the most by a Bearcat since Shanice Johnson recorded 13 in 2016-17. The season count also extends her career total to 12 and triples her total of three in the previous two seasons combined.
Hayes' 8.7 rebounds per game leads all conference juniors and her 13.0 points per game ranks third.
Junior forward/center Malea Williams leads the conference and ranks 48th nationally with 44 blocks as of March 3. She has posted 30 blocks in 16 conference games and has 10 multi-block contests this season. Williams has provided huge contributions as of late, increasing her averages to 9.7 points, 6.3 rebounds and 2.7 blocks in 23.1 minutes per game over the last three contests.
Cincinnati benefits from a deep rotation with 10 of 13 Bearcats are currently averaging double-digit minutes per game. The Bearcats average 20.1 points per game and have had 17 double-digit scoring efforts off its bench this season.
The Tulane Green Wave are 17-12 overall, 7-9 in the AAC in their 29th season under head coach Lisa Stockton. Graduate guard Dynah Jones leads the team with 12.4 points per game. She is one of three players averaging double figures with graduate guard/forward Marta Galic averaging 12.2 points and redshirt sophomore guard Kyren Whittington adding 11.4 points per game. Graduate guard Rachel Hakes leads the conference and ranks 37th nationally with 4.9 assists per game.
Tulane leads the conference and ranking 23rd nationally with a 36.3 percent field-goal percentage defense. The Green Wave also are third in the conference and 20th nationally with a 27.1 percent three-point field-goal percentage defense.
FOLLOW THE BEARCATS
For all the latest information on Cincinnati women's basketball, visit GoBEARCATS.com and follow @GoBearcatsWBB on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.