Big 12 Women’s Basketball Tournament Cincinnati vs. UCF Preview
Here is everything you need to know about Cincinnati and UCF in our Bearcats vs. Knights Big 12 Tournament women’s basketball first-round preview.
Game 2: No. 11 Cincinnati (13-16, 5-13) vs. No. 14 UCF (12-16, 3-15)
Time, TV: 8 p.m. CT Thursday, Big 12 Now/ESPN+
Location: T-Mobile Center, Kansas City, MO
Season series (Cincinnati 2-0): Houston def. UCF, 64-63; Houston def. UCF, 67-61.
Winner gets: a Friday game with No. 6 seed West Virginia at 8 p.m. CT.
Here is the full Big 12 women’s tournament schedule and results.
Projected starting lineups
Cincinnati: F Jillian Hayes, F Malea Williams, C Destiny Thomas, G Reagan Jackson, G Ariel Jackson.
UCF: C Khayla Ngodu, G Laila Jewett, G Kaitlin Peterson, G Mya Burns, G Morgan Robinson-Ngwawu.
Players to watch
Cincinnati
F Jillian Hayes: If you’re going to slow down the Bearcats, defending Hayes well is a requirement. Trouble is that’s not easy. She averages 12.8 points and 8.3 rebounds per game, meaning that getting her in foul trouble is key to getting the Bearcats under control. The Bearcats have to be hoping that Hayes will trigger her COVID waiver from 2020-21 and come back.
UCF
G Kaitlin Peterson: She was one of the few players in the Big 12 that averaged 20 or more points this season. He averaged 20.2 points and more than 20 points in Big 12 games, so the jump in competition didn’t impact her. She’s underrated defensively, as she averaged 2.2 steals. She scored 34 points in the season finale against Houston. She’s a junior, so expect her back next season.
Key storylines
Cincinnati
The Bearcats were one of four new teams to the Big 12 and they also hired a new coach in Katrina Merriweather, who was a former Cincinnati player who previously coached at Memphis. It was a tough finish for the Bearcats, as they lost six of their last seven games, with their only win coming over Texas Tech. Still, the Bearcats improved by four wins over last season.
UCF
UCF was another of the four new Big 12 teams and the Knights started the season by winning nine of their first 10 games. But they found that pace hard to sustain. UCF lost its first seven league games before beating Houston for its first conference win. After winning two of their next four after that, the Knights lost their last six games. UCF is two wins behind last year’s 14 victories.
Prediction
Cincinnati 65, UCF, 63. Expect a close, competitive game where the Bearcats win it at the free throw line. When Cincinnati scores more than 64 points, the Bearcats are 10-3.
You can find Matthew Postins on Twitter @PostinsPostcard.
