Wednesday, Feb. 20
Highlights
Houston 83, Tulane 82
In its sixth overtime contest of the season and second in its last five outings, the Cougars defeated Tulane 83-82 Wednesday afternoon at the Fertitta Center.
In front a crowd of over 700 school children, Octavia Barnes drowned a career-high 24 points, including six three-pointers. Angela Davis had a hand in a large portion of the Houston scoring, recording a career-high 11 assists and sinking the shot that would send the contest to overtime. Serithia Hawkins came up big down the stretch for the Cougars, pulling down nine rebounds.
Tulane finished the game with two players in double figures led by Krystal Freeman with a career-high 27 points, following by Kaila Anderson with 14 points. Heide led the Green Wave with 10 rebounds and Gutierrez finished with seven assists.
Dorian Branch would take the reins of the Cougar offense in the second quarter, pouring in 14 of her 20 points in the frame. The junior would post a perfect shooting percentage from three-point range, going 4-of-4 from the field, giving Houston a one-point lead at the break.
Both teams would manage to stay within striking distance for most of the third quarter. Barnes would separate herself from the pack, sinking all four of her three-point shot attempts, including one at the buzzer. Dymond Gladney would draw several Tulane defenders to the middle before finding Barnes in the corner for three to cap off a 7-0 run from Houston and give the Cougars a nine-point advantage heading into the fourth quarter.
Tulane would continue to pressure the Houston offense, forcing eight turnovers in the fourth quarter and outscoring the Cougars 22-13 in the frame. With time dwindling down, Angela Harris would hit her first basket of the day with 0.5 seconds remaining in regulation to tie the contest 72-72 and send it into overtime.
The Cougars once again got out to a lightning fast start, building a four-point lead with 1:30 left on the clock. Hawkins would dominate the paint down the stretch, taking a Tulane defender one-on-one and completing a traditional three-point play to give Houston four-point lead with 13 seconds remaining. A made three-point basket from Tulane's Erin Gutierrez would cut the deficit to one, but Houston would come out the victor and pick up its fifth straight home win in an 83-82 decision.
Cincinnati 74, Tulsa 47
University of Cincinnati women's basketball cruised to a 74-47 victory over Tulsa Wednesday night at Fifth Third Arena.
The Bearcats (17-9, 9-4 AAC) parlayed a 21-point halftime advantage into a 27-point drubbing of the visiting Golden Hurricane (11-14, 5-7 AAC) – UC's third-straight home American Athletic Conference win of 24 points or more.
Junior guard Antoinette Miller scored in double figures for the 10th-consecutive contest with a game-best 17 points, to go along with five rebounds and four assists. Fellow junior guard Florence Sifa – in her third start of the season – stuffed the stat sheet with 14 points, a game-high-tying seven rebounds, and a season-best six steals. In addition, junior forward Angel Rizor added nine points and seven rebounds.
Back home after a pair of games on the road, the Bearcats started fast scoring, the first six points of the game. After the Hurricane pulled closer, UC answered with another 6-0 run and took a 14-7 advantage into the second quarter. The Red & Black was in control throughout the second period and ended the stanza with a 10-0 run to take control, 36-15, at the break.
TU came out the locker room energized to begin the third quarter, manufacturing a 14-4 run to get back into the game. The Bearcats answered with a 6-0 burst and proceeded to take a 53-33 lead into the final quarter. In the fourth period, UC had its way, increasing its advantage to as many as 32 – 74-42 – with 2:05 to go as it rolled to victory.
UConn 102, Memphis 45
There is not much UConn All-American Katie Lou Samuelson can't do, and that apparently that includes coaching the Huskies.
Samuelson scored a season-high 32 points, grabbed 10 rebounds and dished out seven assists as No. 3 UConn routed Memphis 102-45 on Wednesday to remain unbeaten in six seasons of American Athletic Conference play.
She also asked coach Geno Auriemma if she could run the huddle during a fourth-quarter timeout with UConn's second unit on the floor.
Napheesa Collier added 22 points and 12 rebounds for the Huskies (24-2, 12-0 American), who improved to 10-0 against the overmatched Tigers. It was her 15th double-double of the season and 39th of her career.
Samuelson has seven career double-doubles, six of them this season.
Crystal Dangerfield added 15 points and eight assists for the Huskies, who shot 55 percent from the floor and 52 percent from behind the arc (14 of 27).
Jada Stinson and Jasmine James each had 12 points for Memphis (10-16, 5-8), which has lost four of its last five games.
Samuelson, who didn't have a field goal in the Huskies win on Sunday over UCF, opened the scoring in this one with 3-pointers from each side of the baseline and UConn never trailed. She hit her first four shots from behind the arc, and had 14 points in the first quarter as the Huskies opened up a 36-19 lead.
Samuelson and Collier combined for 45 of UConn's 62 first-half points. The Huskies led by 35 at the half and 44 after three quarters.
Samuelson, who also had seven assists, hit 11 of her 19 shots from the floor, including 8 of 11 from 3-point range.
The Huskies also dominated underneath, outrebounding Memphis 55-29 and outscoring them 44-12 in the paint.
Center Olivia Nelson-Ododa played 21 minutes off the bench, scoring 10 points and grabbing eight rebounds.
USF 63, ECU 50
Enna Pehadzic scored 16 of her career-high 35 points during USF's decisive 19-0 run in the fourth quarter that boosted the Bulls to a 63-50 victory over East Carolina at Minges Coliseum on Wednesday night.
Pehadzic knocked down a go-ahead three with 6:38 remaining and made two more during the game-changing run that helped the Bulls improve to 14-12 (5-7 in AAC). The sophomore guard finished her show-stealing performance with a career-high six three-pointers in a full 40 minutes and went 13-for-14 from the free throw line in her third straight 20-plus point outing.
Using just eight players, USF won its second straight game without freshman guard Sydni Harvey who sat out once again due to concussion protocol. Junior post Tamara Henshaw stepped up with nine points and 12 rebounds as USF finished with a 39-32 edge on the glass.
ECU seized a 20-13 lead by starting the second quarter on an 8-0 run. The Pirates went scoreless for a three-plus minute stretch while USF tied things up with a 6-0 run that was snapped by Necole Hope's go-ahead free throw with five seconds remaining.
Pehadzic scored nine of USF's 16 points in the third quarter and her two free throws with three seconds remaining spotted the Bulls a 44-42 lead heading into the final period.
ECU scored the first four points of the fourth quarter, but Pehadzic's fourth three-pointer put the Bulls back ahead, 47-46, with 6:38 remaining. Pehadzic made two more threes during the 19-0 run that helped secure her first 30-plus point outing as a Bull.
UCF 57, Wichita State 49
The UCF women’s basketball team made its first trip to Wichita a victorious one, topping the Shockers 57-49 in Charles Koch Arena on Wednesday evening.
UCF (21-5, 10-3 The American) locked in defensively down the stretch, outscoring Wichita State (11-14, 4-8 The American) 18-9 over the final 13:45.
The teams traded baskets in the early going and the Shockers held a 14-13 advantage after the first quarter. A long two-point jumper from Kay Kay Wright as the buzzer sounded pulled UCF even, 29-29, at halftime.
The Knights used a pair of free throws from Jamesha Paul to put themselves in front, 41-39, with 3:31 left in the third quarter. Once ahead, the Black and Gold continued to push. UCF led by as many as 13 points on two occasions in the fourth quarter and never let the Shockers get within eight points.
UCF has reached 10 wins in The American for the second straight season and tightened its hold on second place in the league standings with just three games remaining in the regular season.
Kay Kay Wright led the way with her 12th 20-point performance of the season, scoring a game-high 21 to go along with a team-leading six rebounds. Kayla Thigpen added 11 points while pulling down five rebounds. Nyala Shuler tied her season high with four steals. Sydnee McDonald and Jamesha Paul each dished out three assists.
SMU 53, Temple 52
Ariana Whitfield hit the game-winner with 7.2 seconds left as the Mustangs topped the Temple Owls, 53-52, in a Wednesday thriller inside Moody Coliseum.
After Temple hit 1-of-2 from the line to send the Owls up by one, the Mustangs called a timeout and set up their game-winning play. After the Whitfield bucket, the SMU defense forced the ball into the corner where Temple coughed it up and secured the Mustang win.
At the game's beginning, the Mustangs got off to a strong start on both ends of the floor in the first quarter. They jumped out to a 16-5 lead in the first eight minutes and carried a 20-10 advantage after 10 minutes. SMU assisted on seven of nine baskets in the quarter and forced five Owl turnovers.
SMU stretched the lead to 15 with more solid play in the second period. Johnasia Cash pulled in eight first half boards and contributed five points while holding the Owls to 25% from the field in the first half.
Temple trailed by as many as 19 in the third, as the Mustangs took advantage of early second half success. But, the Owls were able to scratch the lead away to seven heading into the game's final quarter. The Mustangs turned it over seven times in the quarter and a cold stretch near the end of the period helped the Temple comeback attempt.
The Owls had their first lead of the game with eight minutes to go in the half after starting the half on a 8-0 run. The Mustangs would quickly take the lead back, but a Temple 11-0 run put the Owls up by nine with 2:15 remaining. SMU wasn't done fighting as they went on a run of their own to cut it to a one-score game with 39 seconds left. In the waning seconds with Temple trying to drain the clock, BriShonne Tollie swiped the ball from the Owl offense with 12 seconds left, and took off down toward the hoop before pulling up in front of the three-point arc and canning the game-tying three.
UPCOMING SCHEDULE
| SATURDAY |
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Temple |
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UCF |
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2:00 PM |
Orlando, Fla. |
Live Stats |
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Cincinnati |
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ECU |
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5:00 PM |
Greenville, N.C. |
Live Video |
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Wichita State |
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USF |
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7:00 PM |
Tampa, Fla. |
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| SUNDAY |
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Houston |
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Memphis |
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2:00 PM |
Memphis, Tenn. |
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SMU |
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Tulane |
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3:00 PM |
New Orleans, La. |
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UConn |
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Tulsa |
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3:00 PM |
Tulsa, Okla. |
Live Stats Live Audio TV:SNY/ESPN3 |