Saturday, Jan. 26-Sunday, Jan. 27
Highlights
SMU 46, USF 44
Freshman forward Marie Olson blocked a step-back three-point attempt by USF's Enna Pehadzic with four seconds left to seal a 46-44 win for SMU women's basketball inside Moody Coliseum on Saturday afternoon.
This was the first time in program history that SMU (8-12, 2-5 American Athletic Conference) has beaten USF (11-9, 2-4 AAC), a perennial NCAA Tournament team. USF had won the previous 10 meetings.
The Bulls had cut the Mustangs' lead to two points with three minutes left in the third quarter, but the Olson block capped off five consecutive defensive stops for the Mustangs that secured the win.
Freshman guard Kayla White led the Mustangs with 12 points, while Olson and senior forward Alicia Froling each added seven. Sophomore forward Johnasia Cash grabbed a team-high 10 points in addition to six points. Freshman guard JaQuia White dished a game-high four assists.
Leading 25-22 at halftime, SMU quickly stretched its advantage to 12 points to start the third quarter. On the first play of the second half, sophomore guard Ariana Whitfield drained a three from the wing. After a pair of USF free throws, a three by Kayla White and a jumper by Cash forced the Bulls into a timeout.
As the Bulls cut into the SMU lead during the fourth quarter, junior forward Makenzie Ellis knocked down a jumper to put the Mustangs up 46-42 and keep USF at arm's length. SMU's defense clamped down, holding the Bulls scoreless for the final three minutes of the game.
Temple 84, ECU 62
Alliya Butts and Mia Davis combined for 48 points to lead the Temple women's basketball to an 84-62 win over visiting ECU Saturday at McGongile Hall. The Owls snapped a seven-game losing skid to improve to 5-14, 1-5 in American Athletic Conference play while the Pirates dropped their fourth straight and are now 10-9, 1-5.
Temple's defense held ECU to 30.6 percent (22-72) shooting from the field and just 2-of-15 (13.3%) from long range. The Owls broke the game open in the third quarter, using a 12-4 run over a three-minute stretch to extend their advantage to 19 points (57-38). ECU would get no closer than 15 the remainder of the contest. Three-point shooting was big for the Cherry and White as the Owls drained 11 threes, their most since connecting on 13 against DePaul on Dec. 3.
Butts scored a season-high 28 points and her five three-pointers (8 attempts) were also a season best. Davis, who notched her seventh double-double on the season, scored 20 points and pulled down a game-high 12 rebounds. It marked her first 20 point game since tallying 22 points against Villanova on Dec. 9. That Villanova game was also the last time a Temple player had scored 20 points in a game.
Temple used a 9-0 run over a four-minute stretch to take an 18-11 lead in the first before ECU's Alex Frazier (19 pts, 10 rebs) ended the quarter with a foul line jumper.
Butts (8) and Davis (8) combined for 16 points in a 21-9 run over the first six and a half minutes of the third quarter to give the Owls their largest lead, 53-35. The Owls defense held the Pirates to 3-18 shooting in the period (16.7%) while forcing five turnovers in taking a 57-39 advantage into the fourth quarter. As a team, TU made eight of its 12 shots in the frame, including 2-of-6 from long range.
Five three-pointers, including two by Butts and Lena Niang, were too much for ECU as the Owls would break the game open over the final 10 minutes.
Cincinnati 80, Memphis 56
Behind six double-figure scorers, University of Cincinnati women's basketball overpowered the Memphis Tigers, 80-56, on Saturday afternoon at Fifth Third Arena.
The Bearcats (13-7, 5-2 AAC) had the upper hand each quarter, but really took it to the Tigers (8-11, 3-3 AAC) in the second and fourth quarters with a combined 39-22 scoring advantage in the triumph.
Sophomore forward IImar'I Thomas led the way with 19 points on 9-of-9 shooting from the field. Thomas was joined in double figures by junior guard Sam Rodgers (Cincinnati, Ohio/Lakota East) who scored 14 points, sophomore forward Andeija Puckett who added 12 points off the bench, junior guard Antoinette Miller who chipped in 11 points, while juniors Angel Rizor and Florence Sifa both contributed 10 points. In addition, Rodgers notched six rebounds and five assists, Miller dished out a career-high 12 assists, and Sifa recorded four rebounds and three assists.
UC started fast, accumulating a 9-4 advantage four minutes into the game. U of M answered with a 10-0 run to pull ahead, 14-9, with 1:49 left in the first quarter. The Red & Black fought back with a 9-0 streak to end the quarter to take an 18-14 surplus into the second. The Bearcats' burst continued into the next period, scoring the first eight points to lead, 26-14. UC increased its advantage to as many as 16 points late in the stanza and took a 37-24 cushion into the halftime break.
Out of the locker room, the Red & Black saw the Tigers pull within eight, 40-32, with 7:01 left in the third quarter. The Red & Black then responded with a 6-0 burst to get back in the driver's seat. After advancing to take a 60-44 lead at the end of three, UC put U of M away in the fourth period with a 15-6 surge to go up 75-50. The Bearcats even increased their lead to as many as 28 points late in the quarter as they rolled to victory.
Houston 76, Tulsa 44
Ignited by double-digit scoring efforts from Tatyana Hill, Dorian Branch and Octavia Barnes, the University of Houston Women's Basketball team defeated conference foe Tulsa in a 76-44 decision Saturday afternoon at the Fertitta Center.
The Cougars set the pace early, building a six-point lead at the halfway point of the first quarter. Tulsa would chip away at the Houston lead, taking a one-point lead at the 3:53 minute mark. With less than three minutes remaining in the first quarter freshman forward Tatyana Hill sunk a lay-up in traffic to take the Houston lead for good.
Houston opened the second quarter with an 11-0 run, not allowing Tulsa to score until the 4:50 mark. A pair of made shots from long-range by Octavia Barnes only widened the Houston lead as the Cougars headed into the break with its largest lead of the contest at 30 points.
Tulsa was able to cut the lead in the third quarter, outscoring Houston 21-17 in the quarter, including 9-8 before the first media timeout. Dorian Branch made a statement following the first media timeout, as she came out and hit a jumper from long-range to keep the Houston lead at 30. Tulsa would continue to fight back, hitting key free-throws in the closing minutes of the third quarter to come within 26 heading into the fourth quarter.
With a double-digit lead Hill would continue to ignite the Houston offense and score seven of her 17 points in the fourth quarter. The Cougars would score six of their 12 fourth-quarter points in the paint, allowing Tulsa a mere six points in the final 10 minutes of play.
Wichita State 62, Tulane 44
A strong defensive effort and three Shockers in double-figures led Wichita State to a 62-44 win at Tulane Saturday afternoon.
Wichita State (8-11, 1-5) picked up its first conference and road win of the season after holding Tulane to 30 percent shooting and 32 percent (7-of-22) from long range. The Shocker defense forced 17 Tulane turnovers and outrebounded the Green Wave by 10, 36-26.
Sabrina Lozada-Cabbage finished with a game-high 16 points to go with five rebounds and two assists. Ashley Reid notched a new season-high 15 points on 5-of-8 shooting and three assists and Raven Prince added 12 points and eight rebounds.
Wichita State's defense put the clamps on the Tulane offense in the first quarter, allowing just four points on 2-of-12 shooting, including an 0-of-6 mark from beyond the arc. WSU led 11-4 after 10 minutes behind five points from Reid.
Thanks to hitting six of their final seven attempts, the Green Wave finished the half shooting 38 percent overall, but only 2-of-9 from three-point range. WSU cooled off as the half continued to the tune of 32 percent.
The Green Wave pulled within two just 3:15 into the third quarter, but 11 straight from WSU pushed the margin back to 13, 41-28, and 2:24 remaining. Bremaud tallied five of the 11 points in the run along with buckets from Prince, Reid and Sabrina Lozada-Cabbage. Reid would tack on three more from the free throw line to cap the run at 14-0 after being fouled on a three-point attempt.
Wichita State's 14-3 run over the final 6:11 had the Shockers leading 44-31 at the end of three quarters.
A Tulane three-pointer opened the final period, but Wichita State answered right back with scores on consecutive possessions to force a timeout with 6:22 remaining and the cushion at 48-34.
UConn 93, UCF 57
Napheesa Collier led a balanced attack with 23 points, and No. 3 UConn routed UCF 93-57 on Sunday to move into sole possession of first place in the American Athletic Conference.
Collier, Megan Walker (21 points), Crystal Dangerfield (17) and Katie Lou Samuelson (15) were all in double figures before halftime for the Huskies (18-1, 7-0).
Collier added nine rebounds and needs just two boards and 37 more points to become the fifth UConn player with 2,000 points and 1,000 rebounds.
Kayla Thigpen had 14 points to lead UCF (17-3, 6-1), which had its seven-game winning streak snapped. Nyala Shuler and Sianni Martin each added 13.
The Knights and Huskies both came into the game undefeated in the AAC. But UConn showed why it has now won all 108 games it has played against conference opponents, jumping out to an 8-0 lead less than 90 seconds into the game. It was 17-2 three minutes later and 29-14 at the end of the first quarter.
Crystal Dangerfield's driving 3-point play gave the Huskies their first 30-point lead at 50-20, and her layup at the halftime buzzer made it 61-36.
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