The Cincinnati Bearcats traveled to Greenville, North Carolina and we’re looking to get a big win in conference play in hopes of moving up going into the American Conference tournament. The starting lineup was Caitlyn Wilson, Milan Schimmel, Jillian Hayes, IImar’I Thomas and Arame Niang. The Bearcats took a tough loss last game out and were looking for revenge. Could the Bearcats bounce back and get a huge win?
The Bearcats started off this game going back and forth with the Pirates as Wilson and Thomas got busy on the offensive side early. Later in the quarter IImar’I Thoams took over as she had a couple of buckets down low and the Bearcats took a 21-19 lead at the end of the first quarter.
In the second quarter, nothing different changed as the Bearcats’ plans were to feed the ball to Thomas and let her go to work. The Bearcats were trying to pull away from the Pirates as it was a 31-26 lead with 2 minutes to go to in the half. But the Bearcats played some tough defense and found Thomas a couple more times to lead at the half 36-28. IImar’I Thomas had 24 points on 10-of-13 shooting and everyone who was watching could tell it was going to be her night.
It was the second half that the Bearcats were really able to pull away from the Pirates as Thomas continued her night with a couple of layups and Caitlyn Wilson hit a big three to give the Bearcats their largest lead of the game at 43-32. The Bearcats would keep the lead around there for the rest of the quarter as it was a scrappy back and forth contest in the third quarter. IImar’I Thomas was leading the surge as it seemed like whenever the Pirates scored Thomas would come back and hit a bucket right back at them. Thomas at the end of the third had 38 points and had the Bearcats up 55-45. IImar’I Thomas had 14 points in the third quarter and was looking for the school scoring record heading into the fourth quarter.
Thomas was determined to get not only her career-high, but the record and she would go to work to start the 4th. Thomas put up two quick buckets and was sitting at 42 and after a Caitlyn Wilson three, the Bearcats were rolling and leading the pirates 62-49. IImar’I Thomas hit two free throws, another driving layup, all of a sudden IImar’I Thomas tied the school scoring record and still had 5 minutes to go in the game to get the record all to herself. She would be fouled, hit one of the free throws to claim the record all to herself and give herself 47 for the night. She would hit another basket and get two more free throws to finish her night at 51 points and the Bearcats would easily beat the Pirates 76-61.
IImar’I Thomas had a career game putting up 51 and grabbing 12 boards to complete a double-double and help fuel up a much-needed win for the Bearcats heading into the tournament. With IImar’I Thomas getting 51 she became only the second player in UC history to put up 50 points in a game. The other player being Oscar Roberston. This was a fantastic accomplishment for the senior, really put a big boost into this game and hopefully heading into the AAC tournament. Caitlyn Wilson had 10 points on 3-of-9 shooting from behind the arc and four rebounds to also help the Bearcats get a huge win.
The Bearcats are now 5-15 on the year and will be back to work on Saturday to take on Tulsa on the road at 2 pm on ESPN+. The Bearcats get a huge momentum boost from this game, are looking to finish off the year strong and hopefully have a chance to go far in the AAC tournament.
