The Bearcats traveled to Memphis, Tennessee on Wednesday night to take on the Memphis Tigers. The Tigers came into the game at 3-9 (2-5 in the AAC) and were looking to continue their home success. The Bearcats were looking to end their losing streak as they came in with a 5 game losing streak. Could the Bearcats end their losing streak before heading back home?
The Bearcats started off the first going back and forth with the Tigers as it was the Caitlyn Wilson show. Wilson was on fire from three as she had three of them and a total of 11 points. Wilson would contribute over half the points for the Bearcats and give them a 1 point lead heading into the second quarter.
In the second the Bearcats got off to a very slow start as they did not score for the first half of the second quarter. This allowed the Tigers to go on a 13-0 run and control the first half as they had a 32-20 lead with a little over four minutes to go in the half. The Bearcats fought back though and were able to cut the lead down to 6 heading into the half thanks to a couple of buckets by Jada Scott and a big three by Caitlyn Wilson. Wilson, Jillian Hayes, and IImar’I Thomas were the big scorers in the first half as the trio combined for 26 of the 32 points.
The Bearcats were able to gain some momentum as they were able to get some traction going in the paint as IImar’I Thomas was able to get nine points on 3-of-5 shooting in the third and the Bearcats cut the lead 56-55. Thomas in the quarter became only the third player in program history to score at least 1,700 points and grab 800 rebounds. This was an amazing accomplishment for her, but her goal was to lead the comeback for the Bearcats and end their 5 game losing streak.
The fourth quarter was finally the quarter the Bearcats snapped out of it as they started the quarter on a 12-0 run and kept the Tigers scoreless through the first four minutes. The Tigers tried to fight back, but Thomas and the Bearcats were too much and they pulled out the victory 73-62 ending their 5 game losing streak. The Bearcats improved their record to 4-12 (3-9 in the AAC).
IImar’I Thomas played a huge role in the win coming in averaging 22.2 points a game she put up 23 points, four rebounds and seven assists. Caitlyn Wilson was deadly from three as she had 20 points (6-of-12 from three) with two assists and two rebounds to go along with it. Jillian Hayes also had a solid game as she had eight points, two rebounds and four assists.
The Bearcats will be back in action on Saturday versus UCF as they will look to continue the momentum from this win heading into the final stretch of the season. The game will be on ESPN+ and will be on at 1 pm.
