UNCASVILLE, Conn. – No. 3 seed Cincinnati shot 56.3 percent from the field in a 94-52 triumph over No. 11 seed Memphis in the final quarterfinal matchup of the 2020 American Athletic Conference Women’s Basketball Championship on Saturday at the Mohegan Sun Arena. The Bearcats and No. 2 seed UCF square off in the second semifinal contest on Sunday at 6:30 p.m. (ET) on ESPNU.
 
IImar’I Thomas paced Cincinnati with 17 points on 8-of-10 shooting, pulling down four rebounds and blocking two shots. Antoinette Miller chipped in 15 points, nine assists and a pair of steals for the Bearcat offense, Sam Rodgers scored 14 and added three boards and Angel Rizor tallied 10 points and five rebounds. Dulcy Mendjiadeu Fankam scored a game-high 18 points and completed the double-double with 11 rebounds for Memphis, and Gazmyne Herndon and Alana Davis each notched 10 points in defeat.
 
Three quick buckets for Cincinnati forced a Memphis timeout just 1:46 into the contest, with the Bearcats holding a 6-0 lead following a Rizor made jumper. Memphis hit just two of its final 11 field goal tries in the opening quarter but kept the scoreline within reach with Cincinnati in front 20-12 after one. The Bearcats pushed their lead to 13 thanks to a Rodgers 3-pointer from the corner at 7:56 of the second quarter (27-14). Consecutive makes from long range by Chellia Watson and Rodgers quickly made it 35-17 Cincinnati and forced a Memphis timeout at 5:58. Miller then buried a triple as part of a 12-0 surge that vaulted the Bearcats farther ahead 42-17. Cincinnati hit 62.1 percent of its shots from the floor in the first half to close the first 20 minutes out in front 51-19.
           
The Cincinnati lead swelled as large as 39 (60-21) during the third quarter, and a 5-for-6 stretch from the floor for the Bearcats yielded a 65-27 lead at the media timeout. Thomas kept her hot shooting rolling with a layup at 4:23 (67-29) and back-to-back layups on the run for Cincinnati grew the lead to 42 at 71-29. Memphis fashioned an 8-0 run to chip away at the lead late in the third and ultimately closed the quarter down 73-37.   

Fans can watch the entire tournament on ESPN platforms, including ESPN3, ESPNU and ESPN2.
 
For full coverage of this week’s American Athletic Conference Women’s Basketball Championship, visit theamerican.org/wbb and follow @American_WBB on Twitter.