Monday, December 19
Houston 93, UTSA 89 – Box Score
East Carolina 79, North Carolina A&T 49 – Box Score
Tulsa 96, Northwestern State 64 – Box Score
Recaps
Houston 93, UTSA 89 – Box Score
HOUSTON – Senior Tiara Young and junior Laila Blair’s dominant second half led the University of Houston women’s basketball team to a 93-89 overtime victory over UTSA Monday at Fertitta Center.
The Cougars’ (3-9) pulled out the victory collectively thanks to four scorers hitting 10 or more points in Houston’s second overtime game in the last three games. UTSA (2-7) pushed a late effort to tie the game at the end of regulation but came out empty-handed after the Cougars prevailed in the extra period. With the victory, Houston extended its head-to-head winning streak to four games and improving to 21-1 all-time against the Roadrunners.
Young led the team with 21 points, all scored in the second half and overtime, paired with four rebounds while Blair finished with 20 points and four assists. The Cougars were relentless on the defensive end of the court, as the fourth-ranked team nationally in steals (14.9) finished the game forcing 36 turnovers by the Roadrunners.
In the first quarter, the Cougars jumped out to a hot start, sparking a 12-4 run to open the game led by two 3-pointers from senior Bria Patterson. Houston remained in firm control in both the front and backcourt as it closed out the first quarter with a 13-6 run to lead 25-10, marking the most points scored by the Cougars in any quarter this season.
Houston carried over its momentum into the second quarter with a 5-0 run. The Roadrunners managed to settle into the game while the Cougars remained dominant on the boards and in transition. UTSA posted a 9-0 run to end the quarter, yet still trailed 41-30 heading into the locker rooms.
Junior Tae’Lor Purvis and Patterson each posted a team-leading seven points at the half while graduate Tatyana Hill grabbed seven boards.
UTSA came out strong to start the second half and mustered a string of runs to level the score at 47-47 before the Cougars weathered the storm and capped the third quarter off with an 8-2 run to regain the lead at 58-52. Young scored the last six points for the Cougars in the final 1:14 of the third quarter to hand them the six-point lead heading into the fourth.
In the fourth quarter, the Cougars piled on the pressure to extend its lead to double digits at 63-52. UTSA battled to fight its way back into the game and rode a short run in the final minutes to force overtime.
With momentum in favor of UTSA, Young and Blair combined for nine of Houston’s 11 overtime points and never trailed to pull out the Cougars’ third victory of the season.
East Carolina 79, North Carolina A&T 49 – Box Score
GREENVILLE, N.C. - The East Carolina women's basketball team defeated North Carolina A&T, 79-49, on Monday in Minges Coliseum. Four players scored in double figures as the Pirates used a 25-0 second-half run to blow past the Aggies .
East Carolina (8-4) spread the wealth in the win in a way that the team had not to this point in the season. Four Pirates scored in double figures and the team amassed a stunning 24 assists en route to a season-best point total. Those assists represent the 12th highest total in a game in school history and the most since compiling 26 helpers in a December 2017 victory over Savannah State.
History was not only for the offense on Monday, however; the team's 22 steals in the game tied the sixth-highest total in a game in school history. In total, seven Pirates registered two-or-more steals on the day while 39 turnovers forced matched a season high.
Danae McNeal led the way not only in scoring - she recorded a game-high and season-best matching 19 points - but defensively, proving a thorn in the Aggies' (5-5) side as she racked up six steals. This was the third such defensive performance for the senior guard this season. McNeal was also perfect from the foul line at 5-5. Amiya Joyner, Synia Johnson and Jayla Hearp were the other three Pirates to score in double figures.
For Joyner, 11 points went with a season-best 11 rebounds and gave the freshman big her first-career double-double - the second double-double this season for ECU. Joyner added two blocks to her resumé and also knocked down a pair of triples, including a sensational buzzer-beating long ball to end the first half. The Pirates ended that first half on a 10-0 run over the final 2:22 to lead by 14 at the intermission, a feat which the team would repeat to finish the third quarter. For that third-quarter spurt, East Carolina went 10-0 over just 1:52 of game time to take a daunting 21-point margin into the final period.
The bleeding didn't stop there, however; the Pirates kept the run going, and over five minutes and 29 seconds, from 1:52 in the third to 6:43 in the fourth, East Carolina outscored A&T 25-0. The run blossomed the lead to 36, the largest margin of the game in a contest in which ECU led for 39:33 and never trailed.
Hearp, who was making her first career start, had another strong night shooting as she amassed a season-best 18 points while knocking down a pair of triples. Hearp was joined in stellar outings by Johnson who had a bounce-back game with 11 points, four assists, and four steals.
Tulsa 96, Northwestern State 64 – Box Score
TULSA, Okla. –– Maya Mayberry's 23 points led five Tulsa players in double-figures as the Golden Hurricane captured a 96-64 victory over the Northwestern State Lady Demons Monday night in front of 1,127 fans at the Donald W. Reynolds Center.
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Tulsa moved to 9-3 overall and 7-0 at home, while Northwestern State dropped to 4-6.
Mayberry connected on 8-of-12 field goals, 3-of-6 from behind the arc and 4-of-4 from the free throw line for her second 20+ scoring game of the season. Temira Poindexter added 18 points, Ahrray Young 13, Delanie Crawford 12 and Caroline Lyles had a season-high 10 points.
Poindexter, Young, Lyles and Maddie Bittle led the Hurricane with six rebounds apiece, while Poindexter's four steals was a game-high and Bittle led with five assists.
Tulsa took its first double-digit lead at 15-4 within the game's first five minutes, then a three-pointer later took an 18-6 lead and led by double-figures through the remainder of the game. Tulsa's largest lead of the first quarter was 16 at 27-11 and its 46-22 lead with 1:11 remaining in the first half was its biggest lead of the second period.
The Hurricane led 49-26 at halftime as Mayberry and Crawford had 13 and 10 points, respectively.
Tulsa pushed its lead to 37 points in the third quarter twice, with the first coming on a Hadley Periman trey at the 3:22 mark and the second came when Cam Mathews had a putback off a rebound with 1:19 to play. The Hurricane ended the third quarter with a 333-point lead at 76-43.
The final period saw Tulsa have its largest lead at 39 points at 93-54 and again at 96-57, as Lyles hit a two-pointer in the paint and followed up with a three pointer with 3:07 remaining in the contest.
Northwestern State closed out the game scoring the final seen points to make the final score 96-64.
For the game, Tulsa shot over 50-percent from the field for its second consecutive home game and for only the second time this season as well. Tulsa connected on 37-percent from three-point range and 73-percent from the field. The Hurricane scored 23 points off 20 Demon turnovers, while the Tulsa bench outscored NW State 25 to 11.
After Northwestern State scored the game's first two points, Tulsa rattled off the next eight for an 8-2 lead with the first two minutes. Tulsa took its first double digit lead at 15-4 at the 5:46 mark on a layup by Ahrray Young off a turnover.
The Hurricane took its largest first-quarter lead at 27-11 on a Poindexter three-pointer with 2:19 left in the period. NW State closed out the first quarter on a 6-2 run, but still trailed the Hurricane at the end of one period, 29-17.
Tulsa opened the second quarter just as they did the first period on an 8-2 run. The Hurricane bettered the 20-point margin at 21 on Young's driving layup at the 3:32 mark to make the score 40-19. Tulsa's largest lead of the period was 24 points at 46-22 and finished the first half leading 49-26.
The Hurricane connected on 59-percent of its field goals in the first 20 minutes, while holding Northwestern State to 29-percent. Tulsa outscored the Lady Demons 24-14 in the paint and 13-3 off turnovers.
Tulsa used the three-pointer in the third quarter, making 5-of-8, to take a 33-point lead in the fourth period, 76-43. Tulsa reached the 60-point plateau at the 6:30 mark on another Young layup.
Tulsa's lead reach 39 points twice in the final stanza before coming away with the 32-point victory.