Tuesday, March 2
No. 15/14 USF 65, No. RV UCF 62
Elisa Pinzan scored 18 points with eight assists, Bethy Mununga had 11 points and 13 rebounds, and No. 15 South Florida beat UCF 65-62 on Tuesday night for its first American Athletic Conference regular-season title.
Pinzan sank a 3-pointer for a 58-48 lead with 1:59 remaining and she made her next four free throws for another 10-point lead with 57 seconds left.
UCF's Alisha Lewis made two 3-pointers in the final 2:15, the last to get within 63-62 with 1.6 seconds left. Pinzan was fouled and she made two free throws before a heave at the buzzer was off the mark.
Elena Tsineke added 12 points for South Florida (15-2, 12-1). Shae Leverett grabbed 11 rebounds.
USF had runs of 11-0 and 7-0 in the first quarter to build an 18-5 lead. Another 13-3 spurt in the second quarter extended the Bulls' lead to 22 points.
Lewis scored 27 points with six 3-pointers for UCF (13-3, 11-2). Brittney Smith had 10 points and nine rebounds.
The teams are scheduled to face each other again on Thursday to conclude the regular season.
USF athletics communications contributed to this story.
Notable
South Florida's win over UCF improves the Bulls' record against the Knights to 29-13 all-time, and snaps a four-game losing streak in the War on I-4 … USF has also won 23 of the last 28 games against UCF.
The Bulls' 15-2 record ties the best 17-game start in program history, equaling the 2016-17 team … With one game remaining in the regular season, the best 18-game start, to date, in program history came during the 2016-17 campaign with a 15-3 record.
Elisa Pinzan paced the team in the scoring column for a team-high sixth time this season with her 18 points against the Knights.
Bethy Mununga's 11 points and 13 rebounds marked her 19th career double-double and her10 of the season.
On her seventh rebound of the night, Mununga recorded her 500th career board for the Bulls.
Shae Leverett blocked three shots against UCF on Tuesday night, giving her 100 for her career … She is just the seventh player in program history to reach the 100 blocked shot plateau.
Tulane 77, East Carolina 60
The Tulane University women's basketball team defeated East Carolina, 77-60, Tuesday night in the regular season finale at Avron B. Fogelman Arena in the Devlin Fieldhouse.
Tulane (16-7, 12-6) outrebounded East Carolina (8-13, 6-10) 44-32 on the night. The Green Wave shot 54.3 (25-46) percent from the field, 46.7 (7-15) percent from three and 74.1 (20-27) percent from the free throw line, while holding the Pirates to 31.1 (23-74) percent from the field and 18.5 (5-27) percent from three. The Olive and Blue logged 16 assists and 12 steals on the night.
Freshman JerKaila Jordan led the way for the Green Wave with 20 points, four rebounds and three steals. She shot 7-10 from the field and 6-8 from the free throw line. Senior Krystal Freeman added 11 points and 13 rebounds to log the 21st double-double of her career. Fellow senior Arsula Clark chipped in 13 points, six rebounds, three assists and three steals for the Olive and Blue.
"I love the energy we came into the game with," Tulane head coach Lisa Stockton said. "It was probably the worst thing for us to get a really big lead because I think we lost our focus a little bit. I thought everybody came in and gave us great minutes. We subbed kind of early and were able to keep our intensity. That is really what I envision for this team, as we sub, we continue to put the foot on the gas. In the first half, our defensive intensity was as good as it has been all year."
The Green Wave started the game off hot with an 11-2 run. Tulane kept their foot on the gas the whole first quarter and took a 22-8 lead into the second quarter. Seven different players scored for Tulane in the first period.
After the Pirates hit a layup to start the second quarter, Tulane went on an 18-0 run over the next eight minutes to extend the lead to 40-10. The Green Wave held the Pirates to just seven points in the second quarter and grabbed a 43-15 win at the break.
Jordan led all scorers with 13 points in the first half, while Freeman added seven points and seven rebounds. Tulane shot 48.3 (14-29) percent from the floor and 40.0 (4-10) from three in the opening 20 minutes. The Green Wave held ECU without a three in the first half and to just 23.3 (7-30) percent from the field in the first half. Tulane logged 10 assists and nine steals in the first two quarters.
East Carolina opened the second half with 10-0 run to cut Tulane's lead to 43-25. Clark ended the run with two free throws for the Green Wave. The Pirates scored five straight after the Clark free throws, but Jordan responded with six consecutive points of her own to put Tulane up 51-30 with three minutes left in the third. The Pirates closed the third on a 10-3 run. Tulane held a 54-40 lead going into the fourth.
After senior Kaila Anderson hit a three from the top of the key to open the fourth quarter, ECU went on an 11-3 run to cut Tulane's lead to 60-51 with 6:53 left in fourth. Clark put an end to the run by scoring four straight points for the Green Wave. After a three from ECU, the Olive and Blue went on a 7-0 run to extend the lead to 71-54 with 2:25 to play. Tulane was able to hold on and take the 77-60 win.
Anderson tied her career-high with three made 3-pointers on her way to scoring nine points. Senior Sierra Cheatham knocked down two threes of her own and scored eight points for Tulane. The Green Wave outscored ECU 20-10 off the bench, and 34-30 in the paint.
Temple 89, Memphis 66
Junior Alexa Williamson notched a career-high 29 points as the Temple women's basketball team downed Memphis 89-66 Wednesday afternoon at McGonigle Hall. The Owls improved to 10-10 (10-7 AAC) while Memphis fell to 4-13 (2-10 AAC).
How It Happened
> The Owls finished the game with a field goal percentage of 50 and a three-point percentage of 41.2.
> Temple scored 29 points off Memphis' 20 turnovers.
> 52 of the Owls' season-best 89 points came in the paint.
> Despite the loss, the Tigers held a 41-34 advantage in the rebounding column.
> The Owls dished out a season-high 26 assists in the win.
Statistically Speaking
> Williamson finished 11-for-16 (68.7%) from the floor while adding a career-best four steals.
> Rookie Jasha Clinton also had a career day with her double-double of 21 points and a career-best 11 assists.
> Senior Emani Mayo registered a season-high 14 points while adding four assists, three steals and two rebounds.
> Williamson, sophomore Asonah Alexander and graduate student Jada Graves all pulled down a team-high five rebounds.
First Quarter: Temple 23, Memphis 17
> The Owls opened the game shooting 53% from the floor.
> Both E. Mayo and Clinton tallied three assists in the first 10 minutes while Clinton led in scoring with nine.
> Temple collected three steals as they forced the Tigers into four turnovers.
Second Quarter: Temple 44, Memphis 27
> Williamson had a strong second quarter, scoring 12 points as she went 4-for-6 from the floor and 4-for-5 from the line.
> The Owls scored six points off the Tigers' six second-quarter turnovers.
> The Tigers shot 26.7% from the field and were held to just 10 points in the second frame.
Third Quarter: Temple 65, Memphis 44
> E. Mayo had a productive third quarter as she recorded six points and a steal.
> The Owls went 3-for-4 from beyond the arc in the third frame.
> Alexander continued to add to Temple's assist column with her three third-quarter dimes.
Fourth Quarter: Temple 89, Memphis 66
> Temple saw their best shooting in the fourth quarter as they logged a 58.8 field goal percentage.
> Clinton dished out five of her 11 assists in the final frame.
> Senior Nicolette Mayo knocked down her second career three in the second-straight game to cap off her Senior Day game.
Cincinnati 65, No. RV Houston 57
Fresh off national player of the week recognition, IImar'I Thomas poured in 30 points and six assists while Caitlyn Wilson hit four 3-pointers for 12 points as Cincinnati (7-15, 6-12 American) won its third consecutive game with a 65-57 victory over Houston (15-6, 12-5) on Tuesday at the Fertitta Center.
Thomas, who was tabbed the United State Basketball Writers Association (USBWA) National Player of the Week earlier Tuesday for her 51-point game at East Carolina last week, shot 10 of 18 from the field, hit 9 of her 10 free-throw attempts and had three blocks. It marked her fifth 30-point game of the season.
Wilson registered double figures in points for the eighth time in the past nine games.
Laila Blair led Houston with 19 points and four steals. Tatyana Hill added 11 points and nine rebounds.
Jillian Hayes finished with six points, seven rebounds, six assists, three blocks and three steals for the Bearcats. Milan Schimmel added five points, five assists and a game-high 11 rebounds.
UC lead most of the game until Houston finished the third quarter 10-1 run to tie the game at 45-45.
The Cougars scored six of the first eight points of the fourth quarter to grab a 53-47 advantage with 7:32 remaining.
However, Wilson stemmed the tide with a pair of 3-pointers and Thomas converted a layup inside to spark an 18-4 Bearcats' run to end the game.
UC grabbed the lead for good when Thomas and Hayes each made a pair of free throws to give the Bearcats a 59-55 lead with 2:58 remaining. Thomas' layup with 41 seconds left gave UC a 61-57 lead. Then Thomas and Hayes made two more free throws each to seal the win.
The Bearcats, who improved to 6-3 in AAC road games this season, shot 48 percent (22 of 46) from the floor, recording 20 assists on 22 made baskets. UC made 15 of 18 from the foul line, including 8 of 10 over the final 3:25 of the game.
UC struggled to take care of the ball, committing 24 turnovers. But the Bearcats only made three miscues in the final quarter.
Wichita State 85, Tulsa 77 (OT)
Wichita State needed five extra minutes to finish the regular season on a winning note. The Shockers outscored Tulsa, 16-8, in the overtime session and won 85-77 to hand Tulsa its seventh straight loss.
Wichita State (5-11, 2-9) snapped its own losing skid of five in a row with the victory and improved to 20-4 all-time against the Golden Hurricane. The Shockers are 1-1 in overtime games this season after dropping an early season double overtime contest vs. Northern Iowa.
DJ McCarty poured in 14 of her career-high 20 points in the first half. Carla Bremaud scored 12 of her career-high tying 18 points before halftime when she went on a personal 12-0 scoring run for the Shockers. Trajata Colbert registered her second double-double of the season with 14 points and 13 rebounds.
Seraphine Bastin notched her fourth double-double with 15 points and 10 boards, and fell two assists shy of a triple-double. Asia Strong tallied her 11th straight game in double figures with 14.
The starting five accounted for 81 of the team's 85 points, while being without the services of Mariah McCully who was out of action tonight.
The Shockers shot a season-high 56.4 percent from the floor and went 7-of-12 from long distance. Despite losing the turnover battle 20-6, Wichita State held Tulsa to 35.4 percent shooting and outrebounded the Hurricane by 14.
Wyvette Mayberry scored a game-high 24 points for Tulsa followed by her sister Maya Mayberry with 21.
Wichita State opened the game scoring the first six points, but a Tulsa 18-6 run gave them a six-point advantage with 3:53 remaining in the first period. Bremaud then went on a personal 9-0 run to give the Shockers a 21-20 lead after 10 minutes.
Bremaud scored all nine points from beyond the arc and would make it 12 straight points on the opening possession of the second quarter with a trey from the corner.
Then it was Strong's turn on the offensive end, putting in six straight points to help Wichita State grab an eight-point lead near the midway point. Tulsa crept back within three only to have McCarty get the hot hand.
McCarty buried two deep three-pointers and converted a three-point play to put Wichita State up 44-36 with 2:06 left in the half. A Tulsa triple followed by a turnaround jumper from Colbert gave the Shockers a 46-39 halftime lead.
Wichita State shot 63 percent from the field, including a 6-of-9 mark from beyond the arc in the first 20 minutes, while holding the Hurricane to 34 percent shooting.
The trio of McCarty (14), Bremaud (12) and Strong (10) combined to score 36 of Wichita State's 46 first half points.
McCarty picked up where she left off to begin the third quarter, scoring two quick buckets in the paint to give Wichita State a 10-point cushion. Slowly Tulsa began to chip away at the Wichita State lead, holding the Shockers without a score for more than six minutes.
Colbert's bucket with 29 seconds left snapped Tulsa's 8-0 run to make it 58-54 through three quarters.
The lead held around the six-point margin for the first six-plus minutes of the fourth quarter until Tulsa cut it to one with 3:12 remaining and forcing a Keitha Adams timeout. Out of the timeout Wichita State immediately got an easy look for Colbert to push it back to a three-point game.
Tulsa held the Shockers to just one point over the final 3:02 and tied the game with 20 seconds remaining on an offensive rebound putback. Wichita State came up empty on two game-winning possessions to send the game to overtime.
The overtime session belong to Wichita State from start-to-finish. Bremaud's fifth three-pointer of the game opened the scoring and the Shockers would never look back. Bastin scored six of her 15 points in the extra time.