Tuesday, Nov. 5 - Wednesday, Nov. 6

SMU 81, McNeese 60	Box Score
USF 70, Jacksonville 39	Box Score
Memphis 57, Alcorn State 51	Box Score
Temple 77, Fairfield 59	Box Score
Cincinnati 68, Utah 62	Box Score
Georgia Tech 69, Houston 38	Box Score
Tulane 82, Jackson State 46	Box Score
Stephen F. Austin 67, Tulsa 63	Box Score
Middle Tennessee 68, ECU 66	Box Score
UCF 74, Pittsburgh 58	Box Score

Highlights

SMU 81, McNeese 60
With an offensive explosion SMU women's basketball fans had not seen in 15 years, the Mustangs cruised to an 81-60 victory against McNeese in Moody Coliseum to start fourth season under head coach Travis Mays

The Mustangs scored 50 points in the first half, a feat that was last accomplished by an SMU team on Nov. 26, 2004. Johnasia Cash had a double-double three minutes into the second quarter, and JaQuia White eclipsed her scoring career high in just the first 20 minutes, with five points in the first 1:17.

Freshman Reagan Bradley, Arkansas Player of the Year, scored her first collegiate basket on a fastbreak layup after swiping a McNeese pass to give SMU a 9-0 lead. The clock read 8:24 in the first quarter. By the time the buzzer sounded to signal the end of the first period, SMU held a 27-18 lead in the up-and-down contest.

Bradley finished with 13 points, matching White for the team high. The guard also had eight assists and six rebounds in her debut. Five Mustangs finished in double figures for the first time in Mays' tenure, with BriShonne Tollie and Bacon scoring 11, while Cash finished with 10 points.

The Mustangs shot 46.6 percent from the field, 34-of-73, with five 3-pointers, including three by White. SMU totaled 14 steals and converted them into 25 points. After White started the scoring with a pair of free throws six seconds into the game, there were no more ties or lead changes as SMU went wire-to-wire for the win.

USF 70, Jacksonville 39
Enna Pehadzic scored a game-high 20 points and Bethy Mununga had a double-double as USF overpowered Jacksonville in a 70-39 victory to open the 2019-20 season, presented by CenterState Bank, on Tuesday night.

Pehadzic went 6-for-9 from long range and posted her eighth career 20-plus point game to help the Bulls extend their season-opening win streak to six.

Mununga had a memorable USF debut with 11 points and 12 rebounds while the Bulls dominated on the glass by a 63-31 margin.

Freshman guard Maria Alvarez jumped on the college scene with 11 points, including a trio of three-pointers, five assists and two of USF's six steals. Sophomore point guard Elisa Pinzan also had a solid outing with nine points, seven rebounds and five assists.

Sophomore center Beatriz Jordao registered eight points and two rebounds in nine minutes after missing most of last season with an injury.

USF limited Jacksonville to a 25-percent shooting performance (15-for-61) and got two blocks apiece from senior forward Tamara Henshaw along with freshman wings Kristyna Brabencova and Cristina Bermejo.

Memphis 57, Alcorn State 51
Three players in double-figures led the University of Memphis women's basketball team to a 57-51 victory over Alcorn State Tuesday evening to open up the 2019-20 campaign. The win marked the ninth-straight home opening victory for the Tigers.

Alcorn State kept the Tigers close, never allowing Memphis to build more than a six-point lead in the first half. A 9-0 run by Memphis to close out the first half saw the Tigers head into the locker room with that six-point lead.

Memphis forced four quick turnovers and pushed the tempo to start the second half. Within five minutes, Memphis' six-point halftime grew to 12 with momentum swaying in favor of the Tigers.

Through the heart of the third quarter, Memphis' lead grew to as many as 16 with 3:02 on the clock, capped by an Alana Davis layup.

Lanetta Williams, Jamirah Shutes and Dulcy Fankam Mendjiadeu finished with 11 points each to pace the Tigers offensively. Williams also pulled down a team-high nine rebounds and five blocks. Shutes recorded five steals and six assists.

Temple 77, Fairfield 59
The Temple women's basketball team grabbed a 77-59 season opening win over visiting Fairfield on Tuesday night at McGonigle Hall. The Owls had four players in double figures in scoring to start the 2019-20 campaign, 1-0.

Redshirt sophomore Ashley Jones led Temple with 21 points and seven assists in her first game as an Owl. Sophomore Marissa Mackins drained a career-best six threes to finish with 20 points on the night. Junior Mia Davis notched her 13th career double-double, finishing with 18 points and 11 boards.

Temple opened the second quarter on a 7-0 run to take a 25-20 lead on a Mackins triple. Fairfield countered with a 7-2 surge to knot the score at 27-27 midway through play. Temple surged once more before the half, scoring five unanswered to take a 32-27.

The Owls quickly extended their lead in the opening minutes of the third, as Mackins hit a pair of threes as part of a 7-0 opening run. With Temple up 40-27, Fairfield got the lead below 10 just once, after a free throw at 5:18 make it 43-34. Temple rolled the rest of the quarter, as Jones hit three from long range, giving the Owls a 61-45 lead after three.

Cincinnati 68, Utah 62
University of Cincinnati women's basketball continued its dominance inside Fifth Third Arena (FTA) Tuesday with a 68-62 season-opening win against Utah.

Dating back to last season, the Bearcats (1-0) have won seven-straight games inside FTA as well as 18 of their last 20 in the facility.

Preseason All-American Athletic Conference selections Antoinette Miller and IImar'I Thomas paced the UC offense with 21 and 19 points, respectively. Senior forward Angel Rizor recorded the second double-double of her career with 10 points and 10 rebounds.

In both teams' first game of the 2019-20 regular season, tight competition early on led to a 25-25 tie at halftime. UC came out of the break energized, outscoring the Utes (0-1) 25-17 in the third period to take a 50-42 advantage into the fourth. In the final segment, the Bearcats saw their once 11-point lead reduced three with under a minute left to play. Down the stretch, the home team iced the game from the free-throw line to come away with a big out-of-conference victory to start the year.

UC dominated Utah in the paint with 36 points, as well as with 17 points off of 20 Utes turnovers. The Bearcats also turned 12 offensive rebounds into 19 second-chance points. In addition, the home squad's bench chipped in 25 points.

Georgia Tech 69, Houston 38
The University of Houston Women's Basketball could not get its offense up and running, dropping its season opener to Georgia Tech 69-38 on Tuesday night in Atlanta.

Tatyana Hill led the Cougars in both scoring (10 points) and rebounding (six boards).

Houston got out to a fast start, behind a strong effort from newcomer Maya Jones on both ends of the floor. Jones helped the Cougars build an early 11-5 lead at the midway point of the first quarter after capitalizing off of Yellow Jacket missteps with two steals and back-to-back lay-ups in the opening minutes of play.

Georgia Tech climbed its way back into the game, by way of a 9-2 run to close out the first frame, taking a 16-15 lead at the first quarter break.

The Yellow Jackets widened their lead in the second quarter, outscoring Houston 26-1 in the quarter, to take a 42-16 lead at the half.

Houston tried its best to climb its way back in the game in the third quarter as Tatyana Hill made her presence known in the paint. Hill led the Cougars in scoring with a team-high seven points in the third quarter. Georgia Tech sustained its lead, heading into the fourth quarter with a 53-24 lead.

Hill continued to be a force for the Cougars in the paint, as the squad struggled to get things going from behind the arc. With less than three minutes remaining Dorian Branch connected on the Cougars first 3-pointer of the night, followed by newcomer Bria Patterson who went 1-of-1 from three-point range.

Although Houston forced 23 Georgia Tech turnovers, it would not be enough to derail the Yellow Jackets.

Tulane 82, Jackson State 46
The Tulane University women's basketball team defeated Jackson State, 82-46, at Avron B. Fogelman Arena in Devlin Fieldhouse as four Green Wave players scored in double-digits.

Tulane (1-0) outrebounded Jackson State (0-1) 59-42. The Green Wave shot 44.4 percent (28-63) from the field and held the Tigers to 22.7 percent (17-75) shooting. The Olive and Blue logged 21 assists on its 28 made baskets and blocked eight shots.

Junior Krystal Freeman led the Green Wave with 18 points and three steals. She also added five rebounds. Redshirt freshman Dene' Mimms impressed in her Tulane debut with a team-high eight rebounds and six blocks. Mimms' six blocks tied for the ninth-most in a single game by a Tulane player all-time.

Both teams opened the game trading buckets until the Green Wave closed the first quarter on a 11-3 run to take a 23-10 lead. After going back-and-forth to start the second, Tulane went on a 18-2 run to end the half and take a 45-17 lead into the break.

Freeman led the Olive and Blue with 12 points, while Mimms was tops on the team with six rebounds at the break. Junior Arsula Clark added 11 points and two steals in the first half for Tulane. At the half, Tulane held a 31-19 rebounding advantage and had 14 assists on 17 made baskets. The Green Wave shot 47.2 percent (17-36) from the field and held the Tigers to 18.9 percent (7-37) shooting.

Stephen F. Austin 67, Tulsa 63
Trailing by as many as 24 points, the Tulsa women made a valiant comeback bid to get as close as 3 points but ran out of time and fell to the Stephen F. Austin Ladyjacks, 67-63, Tuesday night at the Donald W. Reynolds Center.

Tulsa was led by Addison Richards' career-high 15 points, while Morgan Brady added 13 and Kendrian Elliott turned in a double-double with 13 points and 12 rebounds.

Tulsa played without its top returning scorer from a year ago, Alexis Gaulden, and heralded freshman, Destiny Johnson, due to injuries.

The Ladyjacks scored 30 points in the 3rd period on 11-of-16 from the field and 6-of-10 from 3-point range, while Tulsa managed just 14 points of 6-of-13 from the field, but suffered 7 turnovers.

In the 4th quarter, the Hurricane was just as dominant in the period as the Ladyjacks were in the 3rd quarter. Tulsa kept chipping away at the SFA lead by converting 11-of-17 field goals and 3-of-4 treys with 11 rebounds, 9 assists and 4 steals. Tulsa's defense held the Ladyjacks to just 3 field goals and 27-percent in the final period.

Tulsa got the game within single digits at the 2-minute mark on a Brady 3-pointer that made the score 63-54. Brady hit another trey at the 1:06 mark cutting the deficit to 6 points.

Two Elliott free throws and a layup by Richards cut the SFA lead to 3 points with 0:22 to play. SFA's Marissa Banfield hit two free throws to push the lead to 5 points at 66-61 before Richards jumper in the paint with 0:12 on the clock made it a 3-point game again. Banfield made 1-of-2 free throws in the last 0:10 for the 4-point victory.

Middle Tennessee 68, ECU 66
In front of a record crowd, the ECU women's basketball team mounted a frantic comeback, but came up short against Middle Tennessee 68-66 on Wednesday afternoon inside Minges Coliseum.

Lashonda Monk led the Pirates with 20 points and six steals. Raven Johnson recorded her first double-double of the season, scoring 16 points and hauling in 13 rebounds. Taniyah Thompson and Necole Hope were also in double-figures for ECU, scoring 11 points apiece.

In front of a record crowd, the ECU women's basketball team mounted a frantic comeback, but came up short against Middle Tennessee 68-66 on Wednesday afternoon inside Minges Coliseum.

After a tightly contested first quarter that saw the Blue Raiders hold an 18-14 lead, the potential of the Pirate defense showed in the second frame. The Pirates held Middle Tennessee to just four points in the second quarter, forcing seven turnovers and holding the Blue Raiders to 2-of-15 (13.3%) shooting. Monk was a big part of that, grabbing three steals and scoring six points in the quarter to help ECU hold a 30-22 lead at the break.

The script flipped near the end of the third quarter. After Middle Tennessee whittled the ECU lead down, a Thompson free throw gave the Pirates a 39-38 lead. However, the Blue Raiders rattled off a three-minute 10-0 run to take a 48-39 advantage with 47 seconds left in the third. Overall, Middle Tennessee outscored ECU 26-13 in the third.

The Pirates trailed all of the fourth quarter, with the deficit extending to 14 with 3:32 remaining. However, the ECU defense helped the team slowly climb back into the game. For the final 3:32, ECU did not allow Middle Tennessee to make another field goal and held the Blue Raiders to just three points.

UCF 74, Pittsburgh 58
The UCF women's basketball team opened its season with a 74-58 win over Pitt at Addition Financial Arena on Wednesday afternoon.

The Knights (1-0) topped the Panthers (0-1) for the second straight year in front of a record 6,970 fans. Third through fifth grade OCPS students filled the stands for Education Day to help the Knights set an attendance record.

Kay Kay Wright led four Knights in double figures, finishing with 16 points. Sianni Martin added 15 and Masseny Kaba chipped in 14. Brittney Smith posted a career-game with 12 points and 11 rebounds for her first career double-double.

Diamond Battles dished out a career-best nine assists and matched Kaba with a pair of steals. Trailing by nine after the first quarter and three at halftime didn't deter the Knights. UCF nearly outscored Pitt's second-half production (25 points) in the third quarter alone (24 points). UCF shot 50 percent from the floor in the third quarter and 54.5 percent in the fourth quarter. The Knights defense limited Pitt to 26.3 percent from the field in the final frame. The Black and Gold forced the Panthers into 21 turnovers, which led to 26 points for UCF.

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