Tonight, the Bearcats welcomed the 24th ranked USF Bulls to Fifth Third Arena for their first home game of 2022, where they were looking to make an early statement within the AAC, as they looked to knocked off the USF Bulls. The Bearcats came into the night sitting 7-5 overall, while the Bulls came in 10-4 overall, as they were off to a great start to the 2021-2022 season.
However, the Bulls showed why they are one of the top teams in the country as they came out and got off to a quick 10-2 lead over the Bearcats, and were quickly establishing their offense, as they were looking to prove they were one of the top teams in the country, and respectfully one of the top teams within the AAC. The Bulls dominated the first quarter as they held the Bearcats to just 4 points, as they outscored the Bearcats 23-4 after the first quarter which really set the tone early for the Bulls. The Bulls held the Bearcats to just one field goal in the first quarter as the Bearcats were struggling to find their groove as they shot 1-of-14 from the field to start the game.
However, the Bearcats settled in after that as they outscored the Bulls the final three quarters, but they couldn’t overcome the early deficit, after a huge first quarter for the Bulls gave them the room to hold the lead throughout the game. The Bearcats had huge nights from Caitlyn Wilson who led the team with 12 points, all 12 points were from behind the arc. Jillian Hayes finished with 11 points and four rebounds, as the sophomore was picking up where she left off at the end of the non-conference schedule. The main take away from this game was the Bearcats early struggles in the first quarter, as they really hung around and showed they could compete with one of the top teams in all of college basketball after that slow start in the first quarter, as they locked in the last three quarters and started to find their rhythm on offense. Another, big takeaway from this match was the Bulls completely dominated the stats on the glass as they out-rebounded the Bearcats 47-25, 28 of those on the offensive end, as they held the Bearcats to just three offensive rebounds on the match, so that was a huge factor in tonight’s game. The Bearcats won the battle on the glass in the second half, as the Bulls had 32 of those rebounds in the first half, as the Bearcats held the Bulls to just 15 in the second half, as they cut that stat in half as the game went on.
However, the Bearcats showed fight as they really locked in after that early first quarter, and showed a lot of resiliencies, and fight as they looked to make an early comeback to start off conference play, but they fell just short, as the Bulls held on to win 61-46. The Bearcats showed a lot of teams what they are capable of doing, as Caitlyn Wilson continued to show why she is one of the best three-point shooters in the AAC. Jillian Hayes continues to show teams why she was named to the AAC All-Freshman Team last season, as she is off to another hot start to her sophomore campaign as she looks to lead the Bearcats here to kick off conference play.
The Bearcats are now 7-6 on the season, (0-1 AAC), but they look to bounce back this Saturday at 2 pm when they welcome the Temple Owls to Fifth Third Arena for game 2 of a 3 game home stand to kick off the new year.
