Katrina Merriweather enters her first season as head coach of the Cincinnati Woman’s Basketball team as she prepares to lead the Bearcats into realm of the Big 12 conference. The Bearcats finished the non-conference slate 8-3 on the season, which is the most wins during the non-conference slate since 2016.
For Katrina Merriweather, the decision to return home to Cincinnati was an easy one after the job opened up in March, the former standout point guard knew it was a great opportunity to return to Cincinnati and lead the Bearcats into the Big 12. Right now, Merriweather has the Bearcats playing some of their best ball over the last month as the Bearcats finished their nonconference slate on a six-game winning streak that included a huge victory over Kentucky at the Paradise Jam.
During that time span the Bearcats were missing some very big contributors as A’riel Jackson, Mya Jackson and Clarissa Craig all missed sometime during that time span. Jackson is the Bearcats second leading scorer who is still recovering from a knee injury that has limited to her to just five games this season so far.
Jackson was averaging nearly 10 points per game on 40% FG shooting, while shooting 47% from behind the arch, which was top five in the country during that time before being sidelined with the knee injury. Merriweather provided an update on the talented point guard on the latest episode of Bearcat Blitz saying, “Mya is back in drills now, but we want to make sure that her knee is strong enough before she hits the floor again.”
However, Clarissa Craig returned to the Bearcats last week where the junior center posted 11 points and six rebounds in just 11 minutes of action. “We were really impressed with how Clarissa was able to come in and immediately impacted the game vs Siena.” said Merriweather on the latest episode of Bearcat Blitz.
Adding Craig back into the fold is a huge impact for the Bearcats as that will be able to take some of the load off Jillian Hayes, Malea Williams and Destiny Thomas there in the front court for the Bearcats. Craig a dominant post player will provide not only another scoring option for the Bearcats but another vital piece on the defensive side as well.
Players to watch for the Bearcats
Point guard Reagan Jackson has stepped up tremendously over the past month with Mya Jackson out. The freshman point guard has averaged nine points per game but has shown spurts where she is capable of scoring in a flurry. Jackson recorded double digit scoring in five straight games, including a career high 18 points in the Bearcats 76-52 victory over Tennessee State. Jackson, has been able to step in and show she is capable of running the offense for the Bearcats when needed too and that is a great sight to see so early in her career.
“The most impressive thing to me about Reagan, is she doesn’t allow herself to be shaken,” Katrina Merriweather said on the latest episode of Bearcat Blitz. “She struggled in the opener vs Louisville, yes that is a top 15 opponent, but once she saw herself on tape, I told her I didn’t see her playing with the confidence she has in practice. She nodded back to me, and I was left thinking, I just activated something with her. Reagan has exactly what you need in order to push a program in the direction of toughness and grittiness, because that is every bit of who she is.”
Jillian Hayes continues to be a leader for the Bearcats on and off the court as she leads the Bearcats in scoring (12.4), rebounding (8.5), field goal percentage (52%), while second on the team in minutes with 263. Hayes, has been a do it all player for the Bearcats during her four-year career, but this year has taken a huge leap already as she has seen her field goal percentage increase by nearly 13% from a season ago.
Hayes is what makes the Bearcats go and I think many teams across the country know that just based on her accolades and what she has been able to accomplish over the last few seasons. However, what she is doing right now is incredible and has the chance to etch her name into Bearcats records books, which she already did earlier this season after joining the 1,000-career point club.
“Jillian wants to win.” Katrina Merriweather said. “She has had all the individual accolades she can get, gets all the recognition, I think there’s a little bit of emptiness there because she not only wants to be the best player, but the best player on a good team. I think that is something that is really driving her as she is always in the gym as her and assistant coach/director of recruiting Abby Jump spend an incredible amount of time together. That has really helped her build her confidence.”
Momentum rolling in the Cats Favor
Can the Bearcats keep the momentum rolling heading into big 12 conference play this weekend as they put their six-game winning streak on the line vs a very talented Kansas State squad. However, for Katrina Merriweather and the Bearcats they look to build off an up and down 2022-2023 season and get things back on track here in the 2023-2024 season.
“I think this group is determined to build off of last season, to earn some respect and prove to people that Cincinnati Basketball will be in contention to compete in every single game.” Merriweather said on the latest episode of Bearcat Blitz.
The Bearcats have all the momentum in their favor right now as they enter conference play winners of the last six, but also, they have had the last nine days to prepare for a very talented Kansas State team. For the Bearcats, the preparation hasn’t changed as the team focuses onto a gauntlet of a conference schedule, but this is where the Bearcats non-conference schedule plays to their favor. Although, it’s their first season in the Big 12, the Bearcats faced three teams in the top 15 during their non-conference slate which included #15 Louisville, #3 Colorado, #10 NC State.
Can the Bearcats do something they weren’t quite able to do earlier this season and that is come away victorious vs a nationally ranked team. The Bearcats know how big of an opportunity Saturday is as they expect fans to fill up Fifth Third Arena for their first ever Big 12 conference game with tip-off slated for 2pm.
