Loading

Cincinnati Hosts Xavier in Crosstown Shootout Sunday

by Molly Metress

The University of Cincinnati women’s basketball team hosts rival Xavier in the Skyline Chili Crosstown Shootout on Sunday. Tip-off is scheduled for 2 p.m. inside Fifth Third Arena.

Game Notes
Cincinnati Hosts Xavier in Crosstown Shootout SundayCincinnati Hosts Xavier in Crosstown Shootout Sunday
Biseta Bienvenu

CINCINNATI – The University of Cincinnati women’s basketball team hosts rival Xavier in the Skyline Chili Crosstown Shootout on Sunday. Tip-off is scheduled for 2 p.m. inside Fifth Third Arena.

THE RUNDOWN

  • The game will be the 47th all-time meeting between the Bearcats and the Musketeers. Cincinnati leads the all-time series 28-18, making the rivalry the fourth-longest in UC program history by total meetings.
  • UC has won five of the last six meetings in the Crosstown Shootout, including a 60-48 victory on the road last season.
  • Head coach Katrina Merriweather is undefeated (7-0) in Crosstown Shootout games while at Cincinnati, with four wins as a player, one as a graduate assistant and two as head coach. She is 11-0 against Xavier in her career overall.
  • Last time out, Cincinnati fell in overtime to Miami (OH), 75-71, on Wednesday morning inside Fifth Third Arena. The Bearcats led by as many as 13 before the RedHawks closed regulation on an 11-2 run to force overtime.
  • Freshman Caliyah DeVillasee led UC with a season-high 23 points vs. Miami (OH) to go with five rebounds, three assists and two steals. It marked her third 20-point outing of the season.
  • Senior Mya Perry scored 20 points against Miami (OH) to extend her streak of double-figure games to nine. The last Bearcat to start a season with nine straight double-figure games was Mya Jackson in 2022-23.
  • Freshman Kylie Torrence posted her first career double-double with 15 points and a season-high 11 rebounds against the RedHawks. Her four blocks tied a career high and matched the most by a UC freshman since 2002-03.
  • Perry is averaging 19.1 points while shooting 37% from three and 43% from the field. She has led UC in scoring five times, steals four times and assists twice. She is one of 14 players nationally with 170+ points and 20+ made threes this season. She has four 20-point performances this season.
  • Perry ranks fifth in the Big 12 in scoring (19.1), fourth in field goals made (60), second in minutes played (33.8) and ninth in three-pointers made (23). 
  • DeVillasee continues an impressive debut season with two Big 12 weekly honors already (Freshman of the Week, Starting Five). She is one of 10 players nationally – and the only freshman – averaging at least 15 points, five assists and four rebounds per game. She has eight double-figure games, two double-doubles and three 20-point outings.
  • No Big 12 player logs more minutes than freshman Caliyah DeVillasee, who averages 33.4 per game. She also ranks fifth in the Big 12 and 23rd nationally in assists per game (5.8) and is 10th in the league in scoring (15.8).
  • Center Destiny Thomas has delivered a strong return after missing two games due to injury. She is averaging 7.0 points and 6.0 rebounds while shooting 77% from the floor over her last four games.
  • Junior Reagan Jackson is averaging 13.8 points and leads UC with a 38% mark from three. She ranks sixth in the Big 12 in free throws made (37) and owns the league’s sixth-best free throw percentage (.841).
  • Torrence leads UC in rebounds (56) and blocks (14) and is fourth on the team in scoring (10.2). Her 1.6 blocks per game are sixth-best in the Big 12.
  • DeVillasee’s program-record 15 assists are tied for the most by any freshman in the nation this season and are the second most in a game by any player. The mark also ties the most by a major conference freshman in the last 20 years (USC’s Minyon Moore, 2016; Vanderbilt’s Aubrey Galvan, 2025).
  • Cincinnati leads the Big 12 and ranks 25th nationally in offensive rebounds (16.2 per game). The Bearcats have finished inside the league’s top two in the category in each of the last two seasons.
  • Over Thanksgiving break, Cincinnati swept the Florida Gulf Classic with wins over Alabama A&M (72-49) and New Mexico (63-60). Mya Perry was named Most Outstanding Player of the Classic, while Reagan Jackson joined her on the All-Tournament Team.
  • Cincinnati will face a challenging non-conference slate, playing four teams that reached the NCAA Tournament or WBIT last season and three others that played in the WNIT.