Saturday, March 2
Highlights
Cincinnati 57, USF 43
University of Cincinnati women's basketball put on a defensive clinic on Senior Day Saturday at Fifth Third Arena (FTA) with a 57-43 victory over the visiting USF Bulls.
The Bearcats (19-9, 11-4 AAC) turned in its best defensive performance of the season, limiting the Bulls (16-13, 7-8 AAC) to season lows of 10 made field goals and 18-percent shooting from the field.
With the win, UC clinched the No. 3 seed in next week's American Athletic Conference Championship at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut. A top-three seed is the Bearcats' best-ever regular-season finish in its six years in the AAC
Four Cincinnati players scored in double figures, with junior forward Angel Rizor and sophomore forward IImar'I Thomas both scoring a team-high 13 points. Thomas also pulled down a Bearcats-best nine rebounds. Junior guard Sam Rodgers added 11 points, six rebounds, and a career-high-tying six assists. Moreover, senior guard Nikira Goings scored 10 points on Senior Day.
In its last regular-season home game, the Bearcats started fast, scoring the first six points of the contest. The Bulls answered with a 7-0 run to take the lead. The two teams traded baskets for much of the opening period, but USF pulled ahead 13-10 with 1:24 left in the first quarter. UC responded by scoring the final four points of the stanza to take a 14-13 advantage at the end of one. The Red & Black surged ahead in the second period, using an 8-0 run midway through the quarter and parlayed it into a 31-21 halftime lead.
The Bearcats came out of the break energized, scoring the first six points of the second half to take a 37-21 advantage early in the third quarter. USF battled back and trailed just 41-33 with 2:32 left in the third. UC closed the period with an 8-2 surge to go up 49-35 with 10 minutes remaining. The Bearcats did not let up in the fourth quarter and continued to limit the Bulls from the field. The two sides ultimately played an even final period with the Red & Black suffocating USF into a 57-43 decision.
UConn 83, Houston 61
No. 2 UConn overcame an early double-digit deficit and an injury to an All-American in rolling to another American Athletic Conference win.
Napheesa Collier celebrated senior day by scoring 29 points and grabbing nine rebounds to lead the Huskies over Houston 83-61 on Saturday.
Fellow senior Katie Lou Samuelson scored 11 points for UConn (27-2, 15-0 American) before injuring her back in a collision while diving for a loose ball in the second quarter. She returned to start the second half but struggled with muscle spasms and was pulled after the first minute.
Angela Harris, Octavia Barnes and Dorian Branch each had 14 points for Houston (15-13, 9-6), which opened a 17-7 lead and led by a point after the first quarter.
With Samuelson out, UConn turned to junior guard Crystal Dangerfield to help Collier with the scoring. She finished with 19 points and eight assists. The Huskies led by 10 points at halftime and stretched that to 62-45 after three quarters.
Megan Walker finished with 10 points and nine rebounds for the Huskies, who have never lost an American Athletic Conference game and received their sixth regular-season AAC championship trophy after the game.
Collier’s 29 points give her 2,198 for her career, moving her into fifth place on the career list at UConn behind Samuelson’s 2,259.
Samuelson and Collier have scored a combined 4,457 points, the most of any classmates in the history of the program, well ahead of Breanna Stewart and Moriah Jefferson, who finished with a combined 4,208 points.
UCF 52, Tulane 42
In what has become a habit under UCF Women’s Basketball head coach Katie Abrahamson-Henderson, Saturday afternoon’s 52-42 win over Tulane marked another milestone in UCF’s historic season.
Playing their final regular season home contest, the Knights came away with their 23rd victory of the season – the most wins in the program’s NCAA Division I era.
The Knights (23-5, 12-3 The American) also locked up the No. 2 seed in next week’s American Athletic Conference Championship. It marks UCF’s highest seed since the 2010-11 Conference USA campaign when the Knights were also seeded second.
After a slow start, UCF rallied to hold a 10-7 lead over Tulane (15-13, 5-10 The American) after the first quarter. The Green Wave came back to tie the score, 16-16, with 5:44 left in the second quarter, but the Knights rallied to take a 25=21 advantage into halftime.
Tulane outscored the Knights 14-8 in the third frame to hold a slight 35-33 edge heading into the fourth quarter. UCF stepped up defensively, limiting the Green Wave to just seven points in the final stanza and just one point in the last four minutes. The Knights poured in 19 points and were a perfect 6-for-6 from the free throw line in the fourth quarter.
Kay Kay Wright led UCF with 16 points to go along with four steals and a trio of assists. Masseny Kaba added a season-best 14 points and pulled down six rebounds. Nyala Shuler led UCF with nine boards and tied her career best with a team-high five steals.
Temple 68, Wichita State 52
Playing her final game at McGonigle Hall, women's basketball graduate Alliya Butts went out in style, leading the Owls to a 68-52 win over visiting Wichita State. The win lifts Temple to 10-18 overall (6-9 AAC), while the Shockers fall to 11-17 (4-11 AAC).
Butts scored 20 points, including going 4-of-7 from long range, as the Owls knocked down 10 threes. Temple created separation from the get-go, with a 20-8 advantage in the first quarter. The Owls pushed the lead to 15 points at halftime, and led by as many as 22 in the third quarter. Wichita State went on a run to close the contest with the Owls' starters out, outscoring Temple 21-15, but the game was in hand at that point. Temple finished with a huge 19-3 edge in second change points, limiting Wichita State to just one attempt on most possessions.
Butts also added five assists to just one turnover in the game. Freshman Marissa Mackins also shined, notching 15 points with a career-best seven assists. Sophomore Mia Davis finished with 11 points and five rebounds, while senior Lena Niang tallied nine points with five boards.
Wichita State struck first, but the Owls quickly turned things around, playing foul-less defense while getting an offensive spark from three. Trailing 6-3, Temple closed the frame on a 14-5 run, including scoring the final nine points of the quarter to lead 20-8 after one.
Wichita State came out of the locker room firing, with five straight points to close the gap to 12.
From there, Temple got hot from three, as Butts nailed three from long range and Niang and Mackins each added one. Altogether it was a 9-0 Temple surge, making it 53-31 Owls after three.
ECU 64, Tulsa 60
Tenacious defense and hot shooting in the fourth quarter helped the ECU women's basketball team stun Tulsa 64-60 on Saturday afternoon inside Reynold Coliseum.
ECU (14-14, 5-10 AAC) had four players finish in double figures in scoring. Lashonda Monk led the team with 15 points to go along with six assists and five steals. Destiny Campbell had 14 points on 7-of-11 shooting while Raven Johnson finished with a double-double, scoring 14 points and pulling down 12 rebounds. Alex Frazier also added 10 points for the Pirates.
Tulsa (12-16, 6-9 AAC) was led by Rebecca Lescay, who had 15 points as well as six rebounds. Crystal Polk just missed her second double-double in as many tries against ECU this season, finishing with nine points and 10 rebounds.
Monk made her second three of the quarter at the 4:30 mark and it cut Tulsa's lead to 56-53. After one Tulsa free throw, Frazier was fouled and she made both free throws. Johnson then cut into a passing lane and turned a steal into a layup at the other end, tying the game at 57-57. That was the first time the two teams had been tied since it was 13-13 in the first quarter.
ECU had the lead, but the Pirates still needed to hold off Tulsa for the final 1:26. The Golden Hurricane had a chance to cut into the deficit, but Polk missed both free throws after she was fouled on an offensive rebound. However an ECU turnover helped send Desiree Lewis to the free throw line, where she made one-of-two.
With ECU clinging to a two-point lead, the Pirates used nearly all of the shot clock before Frazier launched a jumper. Although Frazier's attempt hit the back of the iron and bounced out, Johnson was there to clean up the miss and finish the put-back, giving ECU a four-point cushion with 29 seconds remaining.
Tulsa had chances to cut into the lead, but the Golden Hurricane missed three jumpers down the stretch, allowing ECU to leave with the win.
The Pirates shot a blistering 9-of-15 (.600) in the fourth quarter and 4-of-7 (.571) from three to help ECU finish 25-of-62 (.403) overall and 6-of-20 (.300) from behind the arc. ECU were outrebounded 43-39, but held a 22-15 edge in the second half.
SMU 71, Memphis 48
The SMU women's basketball team kept the winning streak alive on Senior Day, Saturday afternoon with a 71-48 win over Memphis.
Senior Alicia Froling led the team on her final game at Moody Coliseum with 15 points, shooting 58.3% from the field (7-12). The senior added a team high nine rebounds as well as one assist, one block and one steal.
The Mustangs overcame an early Memphis advantage, but regained the lead with a jumper by JaQuia White with 26 seconds left in the first quarter. SMU held on to the lead for the remainder of the game.
Freshman Paige Bayliss made a career high 12 points for the Mustangs, tying her season high field 7 goal attempts.
Ariana Whitfield and Kayla White both added 14 points to the team total. Whitfield led the team in scoring in the first half making two threes. The pair scored the team's five threes for the game.
This is the largest win for the Mustangs since the 78-50 win at home against Wichita State on Jan. 15. The Mustangs remain undefeated against the Tigers at home since Feb. 9, 2012. SMU now has a three game winning streak improving to 11-17 overall and 5-10 in conference play.
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