Wednesday, Feb. 13
Highlights
Cincinnati 89, Memphis 69
University of Cincinnati women's basketball won its third-consecutive road conference game Wednesday with an 89-69 victory against the Memphis Tigers.
Winners of seven on their last eight games – including back-to-back triumphs – the Bearcats (16-8, 8-3 AAC) completed the regular-season sweep of the Tigers (9-15, 4-7 AAC) behind nine first-half 3-pointers and a 44-35 scoring advantage in the second.
With its highest scoring output of the season, UC featured five double-figure scorers, led by 19 points – including five made 3-pointers – from senior guard Nikira Goings. Junior guard Antoinette Miller notched her third double-double of the season with 15 points and a game-high 11 assists. Junior guard Sam Rodgers, too, added 15 points – featuring four made triples, while fellow junior guard Florence Sifa also chipped in 15 points. In addition, sophomore forward IImar'I Thomas posted 12 points and seven rebounds.
In its first road game of February, the Red & Black used hot first-quarter shooting – including 6-of-7 from 3-point range -- to take a 24-18 advantage into the second. In the following period, UC saw U of M storm back to tie the game at 32 with 4:14 to go before halftime, but the Bearcats answered with a 13-0 run and led 45-34 at the break.
The Red & Black pushed its lead to a then-game-high 17 points midway through the third quarter and continued to forge ahead with a 69-49 advantage going into the final stanza. In the fourth period, the Tigers did not go away lightly, getting within 12 with five minutes remaining. UC subsequently fired back with a 9-0 run to go up 21 with under four minutes left to put the game away.
Tulane 61, UCF 59
Tulane freshman Erin Gutierrez got her first career start against UCF on Wednesday night, but it was the way she finished the game that made all the difference.
With UCF in possession of the ball in a tie game with six seconds left on the clock, Gutierrez jumped in a Knight passing lane, stole the ball and got fouled as she tried to run up the court.
She made the most of her opportunity at the free throw line, draining both attempts to give Tulane a 61-59 victory over the league's No. 2 team at Avron B. Fogelman Arena in the Devlin Fieldhouse.
Gutierrez finished the night with a career-best 10 assists, becoming the first Tulane player since current graduate assistant Leslie Vorpahl to have double-figure assists. Vorpahl's last 10-assist night came on Feb. 27, 2017.
Tulane (15-9, 5-6 American Athletic Conference) has now surpassed its win total from all of last season, while UCF (20-4, 9-2) lost its first league game against a team not named UConn.
Gutierrez was far from the only player on the team with a huge stat line. Sophomore Krystal Freeman dominated on offense, setting a new career high with 25 points and adding 10 rebounds – eight offensive – to record her seventh double-double of the season and fourth in the last five games.
Freeman was incredible in the fourth quarter, scoring 12 of her 25 points in that period. Tulane began the fourth quarter trailing 45-43, but three Freeman baskets sandwiched around a Dynah Jones layup gave Tulane a 51-45 lead – its largest of the game – with 5:49 left to play.
Things looked dire for Tulane at the start of the second quarter with the Knights heating up from the 3-point line and jumping out to a 10-point lead at 27-17 and a 30-19 lead with 3:10 left in the period. But from there, Tulane fought back to take the lead early in the quarter.
After that 30-19 UCF lead, Tulane went on a 16-2 run that spanned 4:30 of game clock between the second and third quarters. Lofton started the run with a 3-pointer, and Freeman added an and-1 play and another jump to make it 32-27 at halftime.
Then, to start the third quarter, the Green Wave scored the first 8 points to take a 35-32 lead. Manuirirangi had the first 5 of those points, sinking a 3 from the right corner and hitting an off-balance jumper as the shot clock expired. Gutierrez added a free throw, and Freeman followed with a jumper in the paint to give Tulane a narrow lead.
But UCF took a timeout and regrouped, scoring the next 8 points as Tulane's offense went cold for five minutes. The Knights held a 45-37 lead late in the third quarter before Tulane scored the final six points of the period on a Jones layup, a Meredith Schulte jumper and two Cheatham free throws to make it just 45-43 entering the final period.
ECU 64, SMU 54
A third-quarter surge helped the ECU women's basketball team win its first road game of the season as the Pirates topped SMU 64-54 on Thursday night inside Moody Coliseum.
ECU (13-11, 4-7 AAC) scored 22 points off of 24 SMU turnovers and had four players score in double figures, led by Raven Johnson's 18 points. Lashonda Monk finished with 10 points, five rebounds, eight assists and six steals while Ariyana Williams (11 points) and Alex Frazier (10 points) also scored in double figures. Salita Greene set a new career-high with 14 rebounds to go along with seven points.
SMU (8-16, 2-9 AAC) was led by Alicia Froling, who finished with 15 points on 7-of-10 shooting and nine rebounds. Also reaching double figures was Johnasia Cash (11 points) and Ariana Whitfield (10 points). The Mustangs used their size to outrebound ECU 47-39 and outscored the Pirates 40-34 in the paint.
After the break, the offenses began to come to life. ECU started the half on a 7-0 run, sparked by five points from Williams. The Mustangs battled back with a 14-5 run, making six layups during that stretch.
With ECU's lead cut to just one, the Pirates clamped down to finish the quarter. Green put back an offensive rebound and was fouled on the attempt, completing the three-point play. Greene added another layup off a pass from Monk and then a Monk steal led to a Johnson layup. The run continued with a Destiny Campbell jumper followed by two Monk free throws. Finally, Johnson picked off an SMU pass and was fouled, making one of her two free throws. When the dust settled, ECU had rattled off a 12-0 run and led 49-36 heading into the fourth quarter.
ECU continued its run in the fourth quarter, as a Johnson three and a Monk layup put ECU up 18, the largest lead of the game. SMU though had one run left. The Mustangs went on a 7-0 run which was finally stopped by a Frazier jumper. The run extended to 10-2 after Kayla White made the first of two free throws. White missed the second though and on the other end, Monk found Williams open for a three, restoring order.
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