Women’s Basketball is on Fire!

The Cincinnati Bearcats women’s basketball team is one of the most pleasant surprises in major college basketball this season.

Wednesday night’s impressive victory over the Memphis Tigers improved UC to 16-8 overall and 8-3 in the stout American conference, good enough for third place. The win clinched Cincinnati a winning record for the season, their third straight.

The Bearcats have progressed as the season has progressed. They have won seven of their last eight games. Increasingly, this is a team that can put up some points.

Cincinnati has a multi-faceted offensive attack which was on full display against the Tigers.

The Bearcats have perimeter sharpshooters in Nikira Goings (19 points against Memphis) and Sam Rodgers (15 points on Wednesday).

They have low-post strength in Florence Sifa (15 points against Memphis) and conference player of the year candidate Ilmar’i Thomas (12 points, 7 rebounds).

This team is a notch-above last year’s club and much of the credit must be given to new head coach Michelle Clark-Heard, who has found a way to keep this club consistently intense and consistently competitive against strong opponents. If Coach Clark-Heard does not win AAC Coach of the Year, it will be a crying shame.

On Sunday afternoon, the Bearcats head to Philadelphia for a showdown with the Temple Owls. Check back with Down the Drive for full coverage of the contest.