Saturday, Jan. 12 - Sunday, Jan. 13
Highlights
Tulsa 75, ECU 55
Crystal Polk and Desiree Lewis each had double-doubles to lead Tulsa to a 75-55 win over ECU on Saturday afternoon at Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum in Greenville, N.C. The Golden Hurricane moved to 9-7 on the season and 3-0 in American Athletic Conference play, while the Pirates fell to 10-6 overall and 1-2 in the league.
TU is now 3-0 in league play for the first time since 2008.
Tulsa jumped out to a 14-0 lead over ECU with 6:36 on the clock in the first quarter as TU hit five of their first six shots for 83-percent. The Pirates battled back and pulled to within six twice, but TU had a 26-17 lead at the break on a half-court three-pointer made by Rebecca Lescay. It was Lescay's first career three-pointer.
In the second half, TU inched ahead to a 15-point lead, 42-27, with 47-seconds to play, but Raven Johnson made a free throw at the 20-second mark for the halftime score.
The Golden Hurricane had an 18-point lead, 50-32, over ECU with 4:58 to play in the third quarter, and took a 60-43 advantage with one frame to play. Tulsa had a game-high 23-point advantage with 53-seconds to play (75-52), and earned the 20-point win.
ECU was led by Raven Johnson with 17 points, while Lashonda Monk had 11 points and Alex Frazier had a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds.
Tulane 61, SMU 43
Kayla Manuirirangi had been quiet on offense for the last few games.
Not on Saturday.
The Green Wave junior knocked down five 3-pointers and tied for a team high with 17 points while the Tulane defense was smothering in a 61-43 victory at SMU in Moody Coliseum.
Tulane (13-3, 3-0 American Athletic Conference) got at least one 3-pointer in each quarter from Manuirirangi against SMU (6-10, 0-3), and the Green Wave defense didn't let the Mustangs score more than 12 points in a single quarter.
SMU shot just 30 percent shooting from the field during the game, and Tulane forced the Mustangs into 23 turnovers that resulted in 23 Green Wave points.
Krystal Freeman tied Manuirirangi for the team lead with 17 points against the Mustangs, and seven other Green Wave players got on the scoreboard. Manuirirangi reached her 400th career point in the second quarter with that late 3-pointer.
Harlyn Wyatt led the way with seven rebounds and an impressive four blocks, and Mia Heide had 5 points and five rebounds in her home state of Texas.
After struggling to get on the board for the game's first 15 minutes, Tulane got its offense going late in the second quarter. SMU had no answer for clutch 3-pointers from Manuirirangi, who scored the final 6 points of the half – including a 3-pointer with 10 seconds remaining – as Tulane turned a 20-16 deficit into a 27-20 halftime lead with an 11-0 run.
The run began with a free throw from Mia Heide and continued with a fast-break layup for Jones and a Schulte jumper that rolled in off the rim. That's when Manuirirangi made her mark on the game, draining two 3-pointers in the final two minutes to balloon the Green Wave lead to 7.
SMU still fought in the fourth quarter, scoring the period's first 4 points to cut Tulane's edge to 41-36. But from there, a 9-0 Green Wave run on 5 points from Manuirirangi, a Freeman jumper and two Heide free throws made it a 14-point lead for Tulane at 50-36. The game was all but over after that.
Houston 78, Temple 65
The Houston Cougar Women's Basketball team won its second-straight American Athletic Conference game with a 78-65 victory over Temple on Saturday inside the Fertitta Center.
The Cougars saw five players reach double figures in scoring, including a team-high 15 from Julia Blackshell-Fair. Octavia Barnes, Dorian Branch and Myyah West added 11 points apiece, while Angela Harris finished with 10. Harris led the Cougars on the glass with seven rebounds.
The Owls had two players reach double figures in the game. Mia Davis led all scorers with 19 points, while Alliya Butts added 16. Temple saw Shantay Taylor and Breanna Perry tie for the team lead in rebounding with five each.
Each team used big runs to open the second half, with the Cougars striking first to extend the lead, and Temple responding to pull back. The Cougars scored the first seven points of the frame on three-straight points from Serithia Hawkins and buckets from Harris and Branch. However, with the score sitting at 41-33 Houston, Temple picked up buckets on three-consecutive possession from Davis (back-to-back) and Taylor to cut the deficit back to two.
The Cougars would have one more spurt in the third quarter, scoring 11 of the next 12 points thanks to four each from Blackshell-Fair and Dymond Gladney and another three from Tatyana Hill. However, Temple was again able to answer the Cougars, scoring the final five points of the period to pull within one at 56-55 after three.
Houston would take over completely in the fourth quarter, holding the Owls to just 10 points in the period. Temple pulled even at 58 with a 3-pointer from Alliya Butts early in the quarter, but the Cougars claimed 12 of the next 13 points to blow the game open. West and Blackshell-Fair led the Cougars on a 9-0 run with five points from West and four from Blackshell-Fair to take a 67-58 lead.
Memphis 71, Wichita State 50
The University of Memphis women's basketball team earned a hard-fought road victory Saturday afternoon against Wichita State by a score of 71-50. The Tiger victory marked the first conference win of the season as the Tigers improve to 6-10 on the year and 1-2 in American Athletic Conference play.
Alana Davis led all players with a career-high 26 points, including a 10-for-11 effort at the charity stripe. Jada Stinson added a season-high 11 points while Jamirah Shutes contributed 10 points.
Wichita State opened the contest with a 4-0 lead, but a lay-up by Brianna Porter backed by a pair of made free throws by Porter and Alana Davis tied the contest at 4-4 with 5:37 remaining in the first.
The Shockers took its final lead with a free throw at the 4:28 mark before the cylinders of the Memphis offense started firing.
The momentum from the first quarter run carried its way into the second where the Tigers outscored the Shockers, 20-11. Davis had 11 first half points to lead Memphis, and the Tigers were able to build a 15 point lead into the break, as they led the Shockers 35-20.
Foul trouble plagued the Tigers in the third as Wichita State cut the Memphis lead to as little as 13 with 2:07 on the clock. Five-straight points by Memphis, including the first points of the game for Malainna 'Rudy' White to close out the third quarter, built the lead back up to 18. After three quarters, Memphis was largely in control, with a 49-31 advantage.
UConn 63, USF 46
UConn coach Geno Auriemma sent a message to his starters on Sunday, pulling the entire group 4 ½ minutes into what was expected to be an easy win over an injury-depleted South Florida team.
The third-ranked Huskies, who trailed by as many as eight points in the first half, eventually shook off their sluggish start to beat the Bulls 63-46.
Katie Lou Samuelson scored 19 points to become the 10th UConn player ever to reach the 2,000-point milestone. Megan Walker added 14 points and Napheesa Collier had 12 for the Huskies (14-1, 3-0 American), who have never suffered a conference loss in the AAC.
Enna Pehadzic had 17 points and 12 rebounds for USF (10-7, 1-2), which led for most of the first half and trailed by just six points at the half. Tamara Henshaw added 12 points and 10 rebounds.
USF was leading 6-4 when Auriemma sat all the starters at once, resulting in an audible gasp and then applause from the crowd.
UConn's starters returned in the second quarter. The Huskies retook the lead at 20-18 on a layup by Walker and never trailed again.
A third-quarter steal by Christyn Williams led to a fast-break layup from Samuelson, which put her over 2,000 points and gave UConn a 44-24 lead.
UCF 56, Cincinnati 55
Trailing Cincinnati by one point with under 10 seconds left in the game, Kay Kay Wright took over for the UCF women’s basketball team.
She made her move, driving by her defender and laying the shot in with five ticks left on the clock. She then stepped up on defense, snatching the ball away from the Bearcats to secure a 56-55 victory for the Knights in CFE Arena on Sunday afternoon.
UCF (14-2, 3-0 The American) took an early lead over Cincinnati (9-7, 1-2 The American), but the Bearcats used a 10-0 run in the first quarter to swing the score in their favor. Cincinnati held the advantage for most of the game, going up by as many as 10 points in the second quarter.
The Knights maintained their composure, chipping away any time the Bearcats looked to put the game out of reach.
Trailing by five, 45-40, heading into the fourth quarter, UCF opened the final frame on a 6-0 spurt. Nyala Shuler started things off with a putback to pull the Knights within three and Wright scored four to put UCF in front.
Cincinnati responded, go back up by four, 52-48, with 2:47 left to play, but UCF had another answer.
A pair of free throws from Wright, followed by a timely putback from Masseny Kaba pulled UCF even at 52. A Cincinnati three-pointer gave the Bearcats a 55-52 advantage with 1:03 left in the game, but Wright and the UCF defense held them scoreless for the remainder. Wright used a pair of free throws to pull UCF within one, 55-54, with 44 seconds left and registered the winning shot for her seventh 20-point performance of the season.
For the second consecutive game, Wright reached the 20-point mark, leading all scorers with 25. She also grabbed six rebounds, collected four steals and dished out three assists.
Nyala Shuler grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds, and tallied the 73rd block of her career to move her into the UCF career top 10.
UPCOMING SCHEDULE
| TUESDAY |
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Wichita State |
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SMU |
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8:00 PM |
Dallas, Texas |
Live Stats Live Audio TV:American Digital Network |
| WEDNESDAY |
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Tulsa |
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UCF |
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6:00 PM |
Orlando, Fla. |
Live Stats |
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Temple |
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Cincinnati |
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7:00 PM |
Cincinnati, Ohio |
Live Stats TV:ESPN3 |
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UConn |
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Tulane |
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8:00 PM |
New Orleans, La. |
TV:SNY/ESPN3 |