Per GoBearcats:
University of Cincinnati women’s basketball senior forward IImar’I Thomas (first name pronounced ee-MAR-ee) has been named the American Athletic Conference Player of the Week the league announced Monday. It marks the third time the league has honored Thomas this season, the most of any AAC player.
Thomas scored a school- and conference- record 51 points on 20-of-27 shooting from the field and 11-of-13 shooting from the free-throw line to go with 12 rebounds and four assists in a 76-61 win at East Carolina on Wednesday.
The effort marks the most points scored by a men’s or women’s basketball player this season. She also joined Oscar Robertson as the only two players in UC history to score at least 50 points in a game. Robertson achieved the feat six times, the last coming against North Texas on Feb. 22, 1960 when he scored a men’s program school-record 62 points.
With the feat, Thomas surpassed 1,800 career points to become the only player in school history to tally at least 1,800 career points and 800 career rebounds.
Thomas followed that performance by scoring a game-high 28 points on 8-of-14 shooting from the floor and 12-of-15 shooting from the foul line to go with nine rebounds and three blocks during a 71-58 win at Tulsa on Saturday.
For the week, Thomas averaged 39.5 points and 10.5 rebounds while shooting 68.3 percent from the field and 82.1 percent from the free-throw line.
Thomas is averaging 23.6 points, 7.7 rebounds and 3.4 assists while averaging 39.3 minutes this season. She has scored 30 or more points four times and 20 or more points in 15 games in 2020-21. She has played 38 or more minutes in 17 of 21 games this season and 40 or more minutes 11 times.
NATIONAL NUMBERS
Thomas enters the week ranked among the nation’s Top 30 in seven categories for 2020-21, including minutes played per game (second at 39.3), field goals made (fifth at 185), total points (seventh at 496), points per game (seventh at 23.6), free throws made (10th at 117), free throws attempted (15th at 144), field goal percentage (25th at .544) and field goal attempts (28th at 340).
AAC NUMBERS
Thomas lists among the AAC’s leaders in 10 statistical categories entering the week, including points per game (first at 23.6), field goal percentage (first at .544), minutes played (first at 39.3), free throw percentage (third at .813), rebounds (fourth at 7.7), offensive rebounds (fifth at 2.8), defensive rebounds (sixth at 4.9), assists (eighth at 3.4), assist-to-turnover ratio (10th at 1.5) and blocks (10th at 1.0).
AMONG THE BEST IN PROGRAM HISTORY
Thomas has put her stamp on the UC women’s basketball program, ranking among the all-time greats in multiple categories: field goal percentage (first at .583), blocks (second at 124), points (third at 1,852), rebounds (fourth at 855), and rebound average (tied for eighth at 7.1).
AAC AWARDS
The most recent recognition for Thomas marks her third AAC Player of the Week award this season (Nov. 30, 2020 and Jan. 4, 2021). She has also been named to the AAC Weekly Honor Roll on four occasions in 2020-21.
The 2020-21 AAC Co-Preseason Player of the Year, Thomas earned WBCA Honorable Mention All-American and unanimous First Team All-AAC selection last season. She received AAC Player of the Week accolades three times and was a nine-time AAC Weekly Honor Roll recipient in 2019-20.
She also earned First Team All-AAC honors as a sophomore in 2018-19 and was tabbed AAC Freshman of the Year and a unanimous All-Freshman Team selection in 2017-18.
VOTE NOW: THOMAS NAMED FINALIST FOR SENIOR CLASS AWARD
Thomas was named one of 10 finalists for the 2020-21 Senior CLASS Award last week.
The award is given annually to a women’s basketball student-athlete who excels both on and off the court in four areas of excellence: community, classroom, character and competition.
Thomas is the first UC women’s basketball player selected as a finalist for the award since its inception in 2002.
The finalists were chosen by a selection committee from the list of 30 women’s candidates announced earlier in the season. Nationwide fan voting begins immediately to help select the winner, and fans are encouraged to submit votes online at the Senior CLASS Award website through March 22. Fan votes will be combined with those of the media and Division I head coaches to determine the winners. The Senior CLASS Award recipients will be announced during the 2021 NCAA Women’s Final Four.
Vote for Thomas at cpaw.me/voteiimari.
UP NEXT
UC concludes the regular season on Tuesday at Houston. Tipoff is 7 p.m. ET on ESPN+.
