Champ Central
UNCASVILLE, Conn. – No. 3 seed Cincinnati defeated No. 11 seed Memphis 68-48 Saturday and advanced to its second American Athletic Conference Women’s Basketball semifinals in as many years at Mohegan Sun Arena. Cincinnati will to take on No. 2 seed UCF in the semifinals Sunday at 6:30 p.m. ET. The Bearcats fell to the Knights 56-55 in the teams’ only meeting of the year on January 13.
Cincinnati scored 38 points in the paint, recorded 16 second-chance points and led 43-34 in rebounds. The Bearcats shot 46 percent from the field, while holding the Tigers to shooting 29 percent. Cincinnati spread its scoring with five players reaching double-digits points. Angel Rizor led the team with 14 points (7-12), while IImar'I Thomas added 12 points and eight rebounds. Antoinette Miller (11 points), Sam Rodgers (10 points) and Florence Sifa (10 points) joined them in double figures. Jamirah Schutes led Memphis with a game-high 20 points.
Both teams shot well to start the game. Despite trailing 21-17 at the end of the first quarter, Memphis shot 50 percent from the field with Schutes reaching double-digits in scoring (10 points). Cincinnati’s Andeija Puckett hit a buzzer-beater reverse layup to make it a two-score game after the first quarter.
Memphis kept the game within five points in the second quarter until Thomas scored two-consecutive field goals in the paint to fuel a 7-0 run capped by a Rodgers trey to give the Bearcats a 10-point advantage (36-26). Cincinnati held Memphis without a field goal for the final 7:16 of the first half, taking a 38-28 lead into the locker room. Shutes registered a game-high 15 points in the opening half, while Cincinnati led 26-15 in rebounds.
The Bearcats shot 62 percent and picked up where they left off in the third quarter, scoring five field goals through the first 3:09 of the second half to extend their lead to 20 points (48-28). Brianna Porter snapped a 12-minute field goal drought for Memphis, scoring a second-chance layup halfway through the third frame. Rodgers hit her second three-pointer of the night with 40 seconds left in the third quarter to hand Cincinnati its largest lead of the night (55-34) so far.
Points were 14-13 in favor of Memphis in the fourth quarter, but Cincinnati refused to relinquish its lead, growing the deficit by as many as 25 points. Cincinnati enters Sunday’s semifinal matchup winning 12 of its last 14 games.
Fans can watch the entire tournament on ESPN platforms, including ESPN3, ESPNU and ESPN2.
For more information on and continuing coverage of the American Athletic Conference Women's Basketball Championship, please visit Championship Central at www.theamerican.org/wbb.