# 2019–20 Cincinnati Bearcats women's basketball team

The 2019–20 Cincinnati Bearcats women's basketball team represented the University of Cincinnati during the 2019–20 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The season marked the seventh for the Bearcats as members of the American Athletic Conference. The Bearcats, led by second year head coach Michelle Clark-Heard, played their home games at Fifth Third Arena.

## Previous season

Cincinnati finished the previous season 24–11, 12–4 in AAC play to finish in third place. They advanced to the semifinals of the American Athletic women's tournament where they lost to UCF. They received an automatic bid Women's National Invitation Tournament where they defeated Youngstown State, Minnesota, Butler in the first, second and third rounds before losing to TCU in the quarterfinals.

## Media

All games will have a video stream on Bearcats TV, ESPN3, or AAC Digital Network

## Offseason
### Departing players

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Year | Hometown | Notes |
| Nikira Goings | 2 | G | 5'8" | Senior | Marietta, Georgia | Graduated |
| Michaela Porter | 10 | G | 5'9" | Sophomore | Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania | Transferred to Appalachian State |
| Brianna Livingston | 13 | G | 5'9" | Sophomore | Scarborough, Ontario | Transferred to Monmouth |
| Maya Benham | 20 | F | 5'10" | Senior | Douglasville, Georgia | Graduated |
| Monique Thompson | 22 | G | 5'8" | Graduate Student | Long Beach, California | Graduated |
| Chelsea Warren | 25 | F | 5'9" | Senior | Red Oak, Texas | Graduated |
| I'Liyah Green | 35 | C | 6'2" | RS Sophomore | Louisville, Kentucky | Transferred to EKU |
| Andeija Puckett | 40 | C | 6'2" | Sophomore | Griffin, Georgia | Transferred to Ole Miss |

### 2019 Recruits

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight |
| Aleah Nelson G | Nottingham, MD | {{{highschool}}} | 5 ft 6 in (1.68 m) | N/A |
| Recruiting star ratings: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN: ESPN grade: 90 ||||||
| Jada Scott G | Townsend, GA | Frederica Academy | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) | N/A |
| Recruiting star ratings: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN: ESPN grade: 87 ||||||
| Jadyn Scott F | Townsend, GA | Frederica Academy | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) | N/A |
| Recruiting star ratings: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN: ESPN grade: 88 ||||||
| Jana Abdullah F | Alexandria, Egypt | King Integrated American School | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | N/A |
| Recruiting star ratings: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ||||||
| Jordan Tuff G | Kernersville, NC | Connections Academy | 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) | N/A |
| Recruiting star ratings: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN: ESPN grade: 88 ||||||
| Sofia Gritzali G | Thessaloniki, Greece | Hellenic College of Thessaloniki | 5 ft 6 in (1.68 m) | N/A |
| Recruiting star ratings: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ||||||
| Chellia Watson G | Winder, GA | Winder-Barrow | 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) | N/A |
| Recruiting star ratings: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: ||||||
| Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: ||||||

### Incoming transfers

| Name | Num. | Pos. | Height | Year | Hometown | Previous school |
| Arame Niang | 15 | F | 6'3" | RS Junior | Rufisque, Senegal | Western Kentucky |
| Nesma Khalifa | 22 | C | 6'4" | Sophomore | Alexandria, Egypt | Tallahassee CC |

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition ||||||
| 10/29/2019* 7:00 pm, Bearcats TV | | University of Charleston | W 67–52 | | Fifth Third Arena (613) Cincinnati, OH |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| 11/05/2019* 7:00 pm, Bearcats TV | | Utah | W 68–62 | 1–0 | Fifth Third Arena (737) Cincinnati, OH |
| 11/10/2019* 2:00 pm, Bearcats TV | | Saint Louis | L 50–60 | 1–1 | Fifth Third Arena (883) Cincinnati, OH |
| 11/13/2019* 7:00 pm, Bearcats TV | | Ohio State | L 73–78 $^{OT}$ | 1–2 | Fifth Third Arena (1,219) Cincinnati, OH |
| 11/16/2019* 2:00 pm, Bearcats TV | | Ball State | W 63–56 | 2–2 | Fifth Third Arena (960) Cincinnati, OH |
| 11/19/2019* 7:00 pm, Bearcats TV | | Chattanooga | W 72–53 | 3–2 | Fifth Third Arena (788) Cincinnati, OH |
| 11/27/2019* 2:30 pm | | vs. Iowa Puerto Rico Clasico | L 61–69 | 3–3 | Coliseo Ruben Rodriguez (100) San Juan, PR |
| 11/28/2019* 2:30 pm | | vs. Bucknell Puerto Rico Clasico | L 48–56 | 3–4 | Coliseo Ruben Rodriguez (100) San Juan, PR |
| 12/5/2019* 6:00 pm, Bearcats TV | | at VCU | W 58–56 | 4–4 | Stuart C. Siegel Center (438) Richmond, VA |
| 12/8/2019* 7:00 pm, Bearcats TV | | Miami (OH) | W 98–68 | 5–4 | Fifth Third Arena (1,057) Cincinnati, OH |
| 12/14/2019* 2:00 pm, Bearcats TV | | at Xavier Crosstown Shootout | W 85–78 | 6–4 | Cintas Center (5,180) Cincinnati, OH |
| 12/17/2019* 7:00 pm, Bearcats TV | | Alabama A&M | W 62–47 | 7–4 | Fifth Third Arena (718) Cincinnati, OH |
| 12/21/2019* 2:00 pm, Bearcats TV | | Pittsburgh | W 69–53 | 8–4 | Fifth Third Arena (886) Cincinnati, OH |
| 12/30/2019* 7:00 pm, Bearcats TV | | Coppin State | W 86–40 | 9–4 | Fifth Third Arena (1,084) Cincinnati, OH |
| AAC regular season ||||||
| 01/05/2020 7:00 pm, ESPN2 | | at South Florida | L 68–76 | 9–5 (0–1) | Yuengling Center (2,204) Tampa, FL |
| 01/08/2020 8:00 pm, ADN | | at Memphis | W 73–66 | 10–5 (1–1) | Elma Roane Fieldhouse (411) Memphis, TN |
| 01/12/2020 2:00 pm, ESPN2 | | UCF | W 81–64 | 11–5 (2–1) | Fifth Third Arena (1,258) Cincinnati, OH |
| 01/18/2020 4:30 pm, ESPN3 | | at Tulane | L 59–64 | 11–6 (2–2) | Devlin Fieldhouse (1,003) New Orleans, LA |
| 01/22/2020 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Houston | W 85–66 | 12–6 (3–2) | Fifth Third Arena (865) Cincinnati, OH |
| 01/26/2020 2:00 pm, ESPNU | | Temple | W 86–81 | 13–6 (4–2) | Fifth Third Arena (1,443) Cincinnati, OH |
| 01/30/2020 7:00 pm, SNY/ESPN3 | | at No. 4 UConn | L 50–80 | 13–7 (4–3) | Harry A. Gampel Pavilion (8,026) Storrs, CT |
| 02/02/2020 12:00 pm, ESPNU | | South Florida | W 60–55 | 14–7 (5–3) | Fifth Third Arena (1,141) Cincinnati, OH |
| 02/08/2020 3:00 pm | | at SMU | W 73–58 | 15–7 (6–3) | Moody Coliseum (663) Dallas, TX |
| 02/12/2020 11:00 am, ADN | | Tulsa | W 78–53 | 16–7 (7–3) | Fifth Third Arena (1,952) Cincinnati, OH |
| 02/15/2020 2:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at UCF | L 42–49 | 16–8 (7–4) | CFE Arena (3,483) Orlando, FL |
| 02/18/2020 8:00 pm, ADN | | at Houston | W 74–65 | 17–8 (8–4) | Fertitta Center (590) Houston, TX |
| 02/23/2020 4:00 pm, ESPNU | | Tulane | W 87–63 | 18–8 (9–4) | Fifth Third Arena (3,272) Cincinnati, OH |
| 02/26/2020 7:00 pm, SNY/ESPN3 | | No. 6 UConn | L 58–105 | 18–9 (9–5) | Fifth Third Arena (5,607) Cincinnati, OH |
| 02/29/2020 3:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Wichita State | W 75–54 | 19–9 (10–5) | Charles Koch Arena (2,436) Wichita, KS |
| 03/02/2020 7:00 pm, Bearcats TV | | East Carolina | W 76–53 | 20–9 (11–5) | Fifth Third Arena (789) Cincinnati, OH |
| AAC Women's Tournament ||||||
| 03/07/2020 8:00 pm, ESPN3 | (3) | vs. (11) Memphis Quarterfinals | W 94–52 | 21–9 | Mohegan Sun Arena (4,860) Uncasville, CT |
| 03/08/2020 6:30 pm, ESPNU | (3) | vs. (2) UCF Semifinals | W 57–51 | 22–9 | Mohegan Sun Arena (5,677) Uncasville, CT |
| 03/09/2020 7:00 pm, ESPN2 | (3) | vs. (1) UConn Championship | L 53–87 | 22–10 | Mohegan Sun Arena (5,430) Uncasville, CT |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in EST. ||||||