Tuesday, Nov. 6
Highlights
Tulsa 55, Stetson 54
The Tulsa women's basketball team captured a 55-54 win over Stetson in the season opener on Tuesday afternoon at the Donald W. Reynolds Center.
Crystal Polk led the Golden Hurricane with 15 points in 25 minutes off the bench, while Elin Hrafnkelsdottir added eight points, KK Rodriguez scored seven and Shug Dickson totaled six.
Kayla Moutry pulled down a team-best eight rebounds, Alexis Gaulden had four assists and Dickson had two steals, while five TU players all had one block.
The Hatters led the almost the entire fourth quarter, including a five-point advantage (52-47) with four minutes to play, but Rodriguez hit a three-pointer and Polk had a layup to tie the score at 52-all with 2:37 remaining. Two good free throws by McKenna Beach gave SU the lead once again, but Addison Richards' layup with 1:42 remaining knotted up the score at 54-54. Polk went 1-for-2 from the free throw line with 39-seconds to play to give Tulsa their first lead of the frame, but four missed shots by Stetson to end the game gave TU the one-point win.
ECU 84, MD Eastern Shore 69
In the opening game of the season, the ECU women's basketball team pulled away from Maryland Eastern Shore in the second half to win 84-69 on Tuesday night in Williams Arena inside Minges Coliseum.
After a back and forth first half, the Pirates found themselves trailing 43-41 just over halfway through the third quarter. ECU turned that deficit into a 60-50 advantage heading into the fourth quarter with a 19-7 run. Raven Johnson led the way in that span, scoring nine of the 19 ECU points, with Salita Greene adding five points of her own. ECU never let its advantage sink below eight points after that and outscored the Hawks 24-19 in the fourth quarter.
Johnson and Lashonda Monk led the team with 19 points each. It is the second straight year Johnson has led the team in scoring in the season opener after she poured in a career-high 21 against USC-Upstate last year. Jade Lewis finished with 16 of her own, the most for an ECU player in their debut since Kristen Gaffney scored 23 against Greensboro in the 2016 opener. Nine Pirates finished with at least two points and the ECU bench contributed 35 points on the night.
Temple 75, Delaware State 61
The Temple women's basketball team scored the first nine points of the game and never trailed, as the Owls topped visiting Delaware State, 75-61, in the season opener for both teams.
Graduate student Alliya Butts made her return to the line-up, after losing the 2017-18 season due to injury, pouring on 18 points, with team-best totals of five assists and four steals.
Sophomore Mia Davis picked up where she left off, contributing a double-double with 21 points and 12 rebounds.
Two other players finished in double-figures for the Owls, sophomore Emani Mayo with 13 points and freshman Alexa Williamson with 11.
Elsewhere, sophomore Breanna Perry added six points and seven boards, while classmate Desiree Oliver added four points and six rebounds.
Cincinnati 69, Austin Peay 48
University of Cincinnati women's basketball defeated the visiting Austin Peay Governors, 69-48, Tuesday night at Fifth Third Arena in both teams' regular-season opener.
The Bearcats (1-0) featured a balanced offensive attack against APU (0-1) with five players scoring in double figures, led by 14 from junior guard Florence Sifa. Junior guard Antoinette Miller added 13 points, six rebounds, and four steals, while senior guard Nikira Goings, junior guard Sam Rodgers, and sophomore forward IImar'I Thomas each contributed 10 points.
Though its offense was evenly distributed, the UC defense was the story of the night, holding the Governors to 31-percent shooting from the field and 60 points below their scoring output Friday against Georgetown College in exhibition action.
USF 71, Ohio State 47
Three Bulls scored in double figures as No. 22/21 USF started the 2018-19 season in stride with a 71-47 win at Ohio State on Tuesday night.
Two-time All-American Kitija Laksa opened her senior campaign with 17 points, five rebounds and three assists in USF's second straight win over reigning Big Ten champion Ohio State (0-1).
Freshman Beatriz Jordao started at center and posted a double-double in her impressive debut with 17 points and 10 rebounds.
USF got more freshman production from starting point guard Sydni Harvey, who scored nine of her 16 points in the first half that saw the Bulls roll to a 37-19 lead. The Nashville, Tenn., native went 7-for-8 from the free throw line and finished with three assists.
Junior Alyssa Rader grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds to help USF finish with a 48-32 advantage on the boards. Senior Laura Ferreira added eight points and seven rebounds.
Freshmen shined right away with Jordao and Harvey each scoring nine points apiece to help USF build a 37-19 halftime advantage in the third meeting between the programs.
California 80, Houston 79
The Houston Cougar Women's Basketball team saw a valiant comeback effort fall just short, falling to 24/RV Cal 80-79 in the 2018-19 season opener on Tuesday.
Houston had four players reach double figures in scoring, including a team-high 17 from Jasmyne Harris. Angela Harris and Serithia Hawkins each added 12 points, while Dorian Branch finished with 10. Branch also led a balanced Cougar rebounding effort with five boards.
Houston and Cal traded buckets throughout the first half of the fourth quarter, but they Cougars couldn't cut into the Bears' lead. Early in the frame, the Cougars reeled off four straight points from Serithia Hawkins and Jasmyne Harris, but the Bears would answer with an 11-7 run of their own to extend the lead back to 10 at the media timeout.
Following the media timeout, Houston began a furious comeback that spanned the remainder of the period. Jasmyne Harris started the run with a bucket to cut the lead back to single digits, and after a Cal bucket, would score Houston's next five points off a 3-pointer followed by two free throws resulting from a technical foul called on Cal Head Coach Lindsay Gottlieb.
Cal would push their lead back to seven over the following minutes, however Houston would have one final push. After Angela Harris buried a 3-pointer to cut the lead to 78-74, the Cougars followed with a stop and three free throws from Jasmyne Harris, after she was fouled beyond the arc, to cut the lead to one. Cal would connect on two free throws with 10.3 seconds remaining, and the Cougars saw Jasmyne Harris get a great look at a three, that just rimmed out, and despite a Hill putback, the Cougars fell 80-79.
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