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Cincinnati Opens Big 12 Play Sunday at #13 Kansas State

The University of Cincinnati women's basketball team begins Big 12 Conference play on the road, taking on 13th-ranked Kansas State on Sunday. Tip-off is scheduled for 2 p.m. ET in Manhattan, Kan.

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Cincinnati Opens Big 12 Play Sunday at #13 Kansas StateCincinnati Opens Big 12 Play Sunday at #13 Kansas State
CINCINNATI – The University of Cincinnati women's basketball team begins Big 12 Conference play on the road, taking on 13th-ranked Kansas State on Sunday. Tip-off is scheduled for 2 p.m. ET in Manhattan, Kan.
 
THE RUNDOWN
  • Cincinnati opens its second year in the Big 12 on Sunday, facing the 13th-ranked Kansas State Wildcats at 2 p.m. ET in Manhattan, Kan. The Bearcats were picked 13th in the league's preseason poll, while Kansas State enters as the preseason favorite.
  • This season marks the Big 12's expansion to 16 member institutions. Cincinnati will face three league opponents twice while playing the remaining 12 teams either at home or on the road to complete its conference schedule.
  • Cincinnati closed out non-conference play with a 67-64 win over Marshall on Wednesday night in Fifth Third Arena. The Bearcats improved to 8-2 overall, riding a four-game win streak, and secured their best non-conference winning percentage (.800) since the 2005-06 season (.909, 10-1).
  • Sophomore forward Brianna Byars delivered in the clutch against Marshall. With under a minute left and a one-point lead, she stole the ball on the Herd's final possession and sank two free throws. Byars accounted for five free throws in the last two minutes, even as the Bearcats went without a field goal in the final five minutes.
  • Cincinnati controlled the boards, posting a dominant +18 rebounding margin (46-28) and converting 16 second-chance points. The Bearcats are 7-2 when winning the rebounding battle and have averaged 13.6 second-chance points during their four-game win streak.
  • Senior guard Tineya Hylton led all Bearcats scorers with 16 points on 6-of-15 shooting. She's posted seven double-digit scoring performances this season, including four 20-point outings in the first eight games.
  • Redshirt junior Alliance Ndiba nearly notched a double-double with nine points and eight rebounds against Marshall. Ndiba is 12th in the Big 12 in both blocks (1.0 per game) and rebounds (7.1 per game).
  • Freshman Chloe Mann provided a spark off the bench with 12 points on 5-of-10 shooting. The sixth woman leads the team in free throw percentage at 88.6% (fourth in the Big 12) while averaging 8.3 points per game.
  • Despite a cold shooting night, Jillian Hayes grabbed eight rebounds vs. the Herd. She is 31 rebounds away from moving into second on Cincinnati's all-time career rebounds list with 977.
  • Hayes is averaging a double-double with 17.6 points and 10.2 rebounds per game while shooting 45.8% from the field. Her six double-doubles lead the Big 12 and rank 12th nationally, and she is one of just 17 players in the country averaging a double-double this season.
  • Hayes also ranks second in the Big 12 in rebounding and free throws made while standing eighth in scoring. She is just 25 points shy of becoming the 10th Bearcat in program history to reach 1,500 career points. She has set a career best this season with four 20-point games through the first 10 contests.
  • Among active career Division I leaders, Hayes ranks third in FTs (459), 15th in rebounds (946) and 27th in double-doubles (29).
  • Sophomore Reagan Jackson is averaging 14.0 points while shooting 52.6% from the field over the last four games. She erupted for a career-high 29 points vs. Western Illinois, shooting 10-of-13 from the field and 5-of-8 from beyond the arc.
  • Defensively, Cincinnati has held eight of its 10 opponents to 59 points or fewer, going 7-1 in those games. The Bearcats are forcing 21.3 turnovers per game during their win streak and are 6-0 when committing fewer turnovers than their opponents.
  • Cincinnati leads the Big 12 in free throw percentage (79.7%) and ranks seventh nationally with 23 attempts per game. Hayes sets the pace with 7.5 attempts per contest, second-most in the conference. Twice this season, UC has made 31 free throws in a game—the most in the Big 12 and tied for 10th nationally.
  • The team's turnover margin highlights a key trend: 10.0 turnovers per game in wins, but 20.5 turnovers per game in losses.


A WIN WOULD

  • Be Cincinnati's fifth straight win
  • Complete an unbeaten December (5-0)
  • Give Cincinnati its first ranked win since 2011