Tuesday, Jan. 15 - Wednesday, Jan. 16
Highlights
SMU 78, Wichita State 50
The Mustangs set season-highs in points, assists and threes as they took down Wichita State, 78-50, inside Moody Coliseum on Tuesday night. Kayla White dropped 16 on the Shockers as the Mustangs rolled to their first conference win of the season.
The Mustangs broke out to an early lead in the game, scoring the first eight points of the contest. Ariana Whitfield dropped in a bucket 15 seconds in, and the Mustangs would hold the lead the rest of the game. Kayla White's three-pointers on back-to-back possessions closed out the quarter with the Mustangs on top by 12. They would carry the 12-point lead into the intermission.
Eight different Mustangs scored in the third quarter, as the Mustangs extended their lead to 19 after three by holding the Shockers to single digits in the period. They would grow their lead in the final period by dropping 25 on the Shockers to bring the final margin of victory to 28. It was the Mustangs' largest American Conference win since beating Houston by 29 in 2017.
SMU was effective from behind the arc in the game, connecting on a season-high nine from 17 attempts. The previous high for the Mustangs was six against Northern Colorado. The Mustangs also assisted on 21 of 31 made baskets, topping their previous season high of 17 dimes.
Froling, who had just set the SMU record for career blocks in the previous game, came off the bench tonight and had an incredible second period, with four blocks. The senior finished the game with seven blocks, tying the program record for a single game. With her seven, Froling also moved up to third place in American Conference history in career blocks.
Ariana Whitfield scored in double figures for the Mustangs, while also adding three steals in the effort. Altogether, the Mustangs had 32 points from their bench in the game.
UCF 60, Tulsa 44
A dominant defensive effort led the UCF women’s basketball team to a 60-44 victory over Tulsa in CFE Arena on Wednesday evening.
UCF (15-2, 4-0 The American) limited Tulsa (9-8, 3-1 The American) to just 25 percent shooting from the floor for the game and held them without a field goal in the second quarter.
The Golden Hurricane scored first and held a 5-4 advantage with 6:47 remaining in the opening quarter. Jamesha Paul put the Knights back in front, 6-5, at the 6:24 mark and UCF never looked back.
UCF poured in 22 points in the fourth quarter to hand Tulsa its first conference loss of the season. The Knights forced Tulsa into 25 turnovers, marking the 12th UCF opponent this season to have at least 20 turnovers in the game.
Keeping her double-figure scoring streak intact, Kay Kay Wright led all scorers with 18 points and collected a career-best seven steals. Kayla Thigpen added 15 and Jamesha Paul chipped in 10. Wright, Masseny Kaba and Tolulope Omokore each grabbed five rebounds to lead UCF. Brittney Smith tied her career-best with a pair of blocks.
UCF continues to make history, improving to 15-2 on the season. At 4-0, the Knights are officially off to their best start in The American. They started conference action 3-0 last season for the first time in the league. The Knights have won five straight games and remained unblemished in CFE Arena at 6-0.
Cincinnati 72, Temple 52
University of Cincinnati women's basketball kept its home winning streak going Wednesday night with a 72-52 victory over the Temple Owls to give it its seventh-straight victory inside Fifth Third Arena.
Facing a 45-37 deficit with 3:05 left in the third quarter, the Bearcats (10-7, 2-2 AAC) ended the game on a 35-7 run to notch their largest-ever margin of victory against the Owls (4-12, 0-4 AAC).
Sophomore forward IImar'I Thomas recorded her fourth double-double of the season with game highs of 22 points and 10 rebounds. Fellow sophomore forward Andeija Puckett was a force off the bench with a career-best 15 points to go along with eight rebounds and two blocks. Junior guard Antoinette Miller continued her stellar guard play with her first-career double-double with 12 points and a career-high 10 assists, as well as seven rebounds. In addition, sophomore post I'Liyah Green had a career night with eight points and four rebounds.
In its first home game in 10 days, the Red & Black used a 12-2 run over the final three minutes of the first quarter to take an 18-9 advantage into the second. In the next period, UC struggled to find the bottom of the net in the opening five minutes, but ended the half outscoring the Owls, 14-9, to lead 34-28 at the break.
The Bearcats' shooting woes crept back up to start the third quarter as Temple surged ahead to take a 45-37 advantage with 3:05 left in the period. The home answered with an 11-0 run over the final 2:34 of the third to pull back ahead. The streak extended to 17-0 in the final quarter as the Red & Black took control of the game. In total, UC dominated TU, 24-7, in the fourth to run away with the victory.
UConn 75, Tulane 33
Megan Walker has been playing well this past month.
On Wednesday night, she single-handedly outscored Tulane by a point in No. 2 UConn's 75-33 rout. Walker scored a career-best 34 points in the easy victory.
Walker, a sophomore who averages 11.0 points game, scored 15 in the first half alone on 6 of 11 shooting, and finished 11 of 16 from the floor. With Tulane concentrating on stopping UConn's leading scorers, Katie Lou Samuelson and Napheesa Collier, Walker took command, driving to the basket with ease.
UConn (15-1, 4-0 American Athletic Conference) pounded the Green Wave (13-4, 3-1) with its size and strength, holding Tulane to 18.3 percent shooting and forcing 22 turnovers.
The Huskies held the Green Wave to a season-low four points in the first quarter and then allowed just six points in the third quarter to coast to the victory.
UConn dominated from the opening tip, holding Tulane to 15 percent shooting (2 of 13) in the first quarter. Tulane had won six consecutive games but could not overcome UConn's relentless ball pressure. UConn led 38-14 at the half, and the Huskies' defensive pressure forced Tulane into 12 first-half turnovers.
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