Wednesday, Jan. 8
Highlights
SMU 55, ECU 47
Kayla White scored 18 on 7-of-10 shooting as the Mustangs defeated ECU, 55-47, inside Minges Coliseum in the first conference road game of the season.
The Mustangs (7-7, 1-1 AAC) earned their second ever win at ECU and its first victory since 2008 and improved to 1-1 in the early going of conference play. SMU out-rebounded ECU 43-27, with all five Mustang starters finishing with 5+ boards.
White scored 18+ for the third time in this season. Her 18 points were the most by a Mustang off the bench this season. White also contributed six rebounds.
JaQuia White had a strong first quarter for SMU, hitting 3-of-4 from the field, contributing seven points. SMU held a three-point advantage after 10 minutes of action. SMU defense stifled the ECU attack in the middle of the second quarter, keeping the Pirates off the board for six minutes of gametime. SMU held a two-point edge at the break.
The Mustangs defense forced 13 straight misses, including 11 in the third as they pushed the lead to seven at the end of the third. They quickly extended the lead to 12 early in the fourth.
ECU pulled to within four with one minute to play but the Mustangs were able to ice the game with free throws down the stretch. After not earning any free throws in the first half, the Mustangs had 15 attempts from the line in the second, knocking down 12-of-15 (80%).
Amber Bacon contributed six points, six rebounds and six assists on her night while fellow guard Reagan Bradley brought in seven boards and hit 4-of-4 from the line.
ECU, the top turnover forcing team in the conference, continued that trend forcing 27 Mustang giveaways. Lashonda Monk led the Pirates with a 23-point night.
Temple 61, Houston 58
Mia Davis collected her sixth-straight double-double with a career-high 18 rebounds and 16 points as the Temple women's basketball team defeated Houston 61-58 in conference action Wednesday evening. The Owls improve to 9-6 on the year and 2-1 in league action, while the Cougars fall to 8-8 this season and 1-1 in the American.
Ashley Jones led all players with 23 points shooting 55.6% from three-point range as she hit a career-best five treys. She added five rebounds and two steals to her stat line. Alexa Williamson added nine points, five rebounds and a season-high three blocks.
Julia Blackshell-Fair and Dymond Gladney led Houston with 13 points apiece.
Tatyana Hill gave Houston their first lead of the game with a jumper to kickoff the second half. The Owls continued to trail until 4:58 when Jones hit her second-straight three to give Temple a 39-38 edge. Temple held a slight advantage until Blackshell-Fair was fouled on a good basket and made the extra shot to give Houston a 46-44 lead. The Cougars ended the third frame on an 8-0 run as Temple couldn't make a bucket in the final three minutes.
Houston held onto their lead until Davis knocked down a jumper at the elbow to tie the game at 48. Bria Patterson answered immediately with a big three to put the Cougars back on top. The teams traded the lead over the next four and a half minutes until Williamson was fouled on a made layup. The sophomore made the foul shot to give Temple a 59-55 lead with 2:43 remaining.
Blackshell-Fair brought the Cougars within two points with 40 seconds remaining with two good foul shots. After Temple suffered a shot clock violation with five seconds on the clock, Houston called a timeout to draw up a play and advance the ball to half court. Dorian Branch was left wide open with the chance to hit the game-tying shot, but her three pointer bounced off the rim and the Owls collected their second conference win of the season.
Cincinnati 73, Memphis 66
University of Cincinnati women's basketball picked up its first American Athletic Conference (AAC) win of the season Wednesday with a gutty 73-66 victory over the Memphis Tigers at the Elma Roane Fieldhouse.
UC (10-5, 1-1 AAC) was paced by a career-best 27 points from senior guard Antoinette Miller as well as a double-double of 23 points and 14 rebounds by junior forward IImar'I Thomas. Miller's 20-point outing was her fourth of the season, while Thomas' double-double, too, was her fourth.
Memphis was led by Dulcy Fankam Mendjiadeu’s career-high 22 points, while Keke Hunter tallied a 14-point, 10-rebound double-double.
The Bearcats answered a tough first quarter (22-13) by outscoring the Tigers (9-6, 0-2 AAC) 19-9 in the second to take a 32-31 advantage into the halftime locker room. In the third period, Memphis stormed back, outpacing the visitors 24-18, to set the stage for an exciting fourth-quarter comeback by the Red & Black.
Trailing 55-50 with 10 minutes left in the game, UC tied the score at 58-all with 4:42 left. The two teams traded baskets over the next few minutes before senior forward Angel Rizor buried a pair of free throws to put the Bearcats up 67-66 with 33 seconds to go. The Red & Black proceeded to get stops on the defensive end and nail their free throws down the stretch to escape the Bluff City with a win.
Tulane 64, Tulsa 62
The Tulane University women's basketball team defeated Tulsa, 64-62, behind a buzzer beater from junior Krystal Freeman at Avron B. Fogelman Arena in the Devlin Fieldhouse.
Tulane (7-8, 2-0) outrebounded Tulsa (5-10, 0-2) 41-36. The Green Wave posted a .451 (23-51) shooting percentage from the field and held the Golden Hurricane to 27.3 (6-22) percent shooting from three. The Olive and Blue logged 32 points in the point, 14 assists and eight steals on the night.
Freeman gave the Green Wave a 56-54 lead to begin overtime. Tulsa scored twice to take a 59-56 lead with 1:57 left. Freeman knocked down a three from the top of the key to tie the game at 59 with 1:48 to play. Both teams traded blows until the score was tied at 62 with 12.3 seconds remaining. After a miss, the ball bounced to Freeman and she knocked down a jumper from the free throw line at the buzzer to win the game for the Olive and Blue.
Junior Arsula Clark led the Green Wave with 21 points, a career-high seven steals and six rebounds, while Freeman added 20 points and four rebounds. Sophomore Mia Heide logged eight points, six rebounds, five blocks and a career-high four assists.
Tulane and Tulsa traded buckets to start the third quarter until the Green Wave closed the period on a 7-2 run. The Golden Hurricane led 42-39 going into the fourth quarter. Tulsa was on top 49-44 with five minutes left in the fourth then Clark scored five unanswered points to tie the game at 49 with 2:30 left. Heide hit a layup to give Tulane a 51-49 lead, but Tulsa responded with two of its own and the game was tied 51-51 with a minute left.
Clark hit a layup and gave the Green Wave a 53-51 lead. Tulane got two stops on a pair of Tulsa possessions then freshman Irina Parau knocked down one free throw to extend the Tulane lead to 54-51. Tulsa tied the game at 54 with a three on its last possession and sent it to overtime.
Kendrian Elliott led Tulsa with 18 points and nine rebounds.
UPCOMING SCHEDULE
