Tuesday, December 20
Tulane 84, Saint Francis 41 – Box Score
UCF 67, Idaho State 50 – Box Score
#3/4 Ohio State 88, South Florida 86 – Box Score
Wyoming 61, Wichita State 56 – Box Score
Recaps
Tulane 84, Saint Francis 41 – Box Score
NEW ORLEANS –Tulane University Women's Basketball dominated the paint and forced a season-high 28 turnovers to roll past Saint Francis 84-41 in the first game of the Tulane Holiday Tournament on Tuesday. The Green Wave outscored the Red Flash 48-16 in the painted area and turned Saint Francis' 28 turnovers into 31 points.
With the victory, Tulane improves to 8-3 on the season and 5-2 inside Avron B. Fogelman Arena in the Devlin Fieldhouse. The win also marked the Green Wave's third consecutive victory.
All 11 players reached the scoring column for Tulane in the contest with three tallying double figures. Marta Galic led all scorers with 16 points with four made three-pointers. Dynah Jones and Kyren Whittington followed scoring 12 points each. The Green Wave bench posted 30 points as Kierra Middleton led the way off the bench with seven.
The domination in the paint included the work on the glass for the Wave as Tulane won the rebounding battle 46-30. Anijah Grant posted a career-day on the boards pulling down a game-high 13 rebounds including eight offensive rebounds.
Tulane got the offense clicking early against the Red Flash shooting an impressive 70 percent from the field in the opening frame. Galic posted nine points and Whittington tallied eight in the quarter as the Green Wave scored a season-high in a single quarter with 35 points. On the defensive end Tulane forced nine turnovers while holding Saint Francis to just 11 points.
The offense slowed down a bit in the second quarter for the Green Wave, but the lead continued to expand. Back-to-back buckets by Whittington and Jones off Saint Francis turnovers sparked a 10-0 run to build Tulane's largest advantage of the half at 33 points. The Wave outscored the Red Flash 19-13 in the frame to hit the locker room up 54-24.
In the third quarter the Green Wave defense shined holding Saint Francis to just five points on 2-of-13 shooting to increase its lead to 67-29 heading into the final frame.
The bench led the way for the Wave in the fourth quarter scoring all 17 of Tulane's points in the frame. Middleton and Amira Mabry each scored four points in the quarter as the Green Wave led by as many as 45 before closing out the win 84-41.
UCF 67, Idaho State 50 – Box Score
ORLANDO – The way things had been trending for the UCF women's basketball team, the Black and Gold needed a fresh start on its home floor after fighting through a challenging first three weeks of December.
On the heels of coming one win shy of tying the program record for consecutive wins to start a season with six straight, the Knights (7-3, 0-0 American) endured their fair share of struggles in suffering losses in each of their previous three games against Auburn, Seton Hall and Tennessee.
A fast start, physical play and a bit of home cooking Tuesday afternoon did wonders in helping UCF snap its losing streak at three, though, as the Knights overpowered the visiting Idaho State Bengals, 67-50, in the second game of the UCF Christmas Classic at Addition Financial Arena.
The Knights played fast and physical from the opening tipoff, turning eight Bengals fouls into 13 points on 16 tries from the free throw line in the first quarter. Through the media timeout with 4:50 to play in the first frame, Taylor Gibson, Mya Burns and Destiny Thomas had opened a 7-3 lead on the strength of a game-opening field goal and five-of-six shooting from the line.
Thomas, who recorded her sixth double-double of the season with 10 points and 11 rebounds, added a layup shortly after the return to action, a play that marked the continuation of UCF's game-opening 17-5 run.
The senior forward entered the contest averaging 13.1 points and 12.4 rebounds per game, the latter mark good for fourth-most in Division I women's basketball, and her sixth double-double of the year hoists her into the top 21 players in the country in the category among leaders entering play Tuesday.
Burns would notch four more to help balloon the Knights' early lead to 12 points, and five more down the stretch from Thomas and Sierra Godbolt pushed the UCF advantage to 23-12 entering the second quarter.
The Knights also received a shot in the arm early in the first frame, as junior forward transfer Anzhané Hutton, who announced her commitment to join UCF from the MEAC's Howard University in May, and guard Ashley Foster, a senior transfer from Georgia State, made their respective season debuts.
In two seasons with the Bison, Hutton averaged 10.7 points and 8.3 rebounds per game in 45 games and was a First Team All-MEAC selection during the 2021-22 campaign. Foster produced 7.3 points per game and a field goal rate of 38.2 percent in three seasons with the Panthers.
Sophomore guard Laila Jewett drilled the Knights' first of two second-quarter 3-pointers to begin the second quarter, followed closely by a pair of made free throws. When Burns added two more points a little under a minute later, UCF's lead had grown to 30-12 on the strength of its 12-0 run that straddled the first two quarters. Godbolt later hit the Knights' second triple of the game to help punctuate a 14-8 UCF stretch that gave the Knights a 44-25 lead at halftime.
Idaho State found its offensive footing a bit coming out of the locker room, outscoring UCF 15-11 in the third quarter, but the Knights remained in command of the affairs through the final 10 minutes, winning the fourth quarter 12-10 behind seven points from Burns.
#3/4 Ohio State 88, South Florida 86 – Box Score
SAN DIEGO (AP) — Taylor Thierry made a driving layup with 5 seconds left in overtime, and No. 3 Ohio State closed with an 8-0 run in the final minute of the extra period to rally past South Florida 88-86 in the San Diego Invitational on Tuesday.
Cotie McMahon scored 30 points and assisted on Thierry's decisive shot. Taylor Mikesell shook off a horrific shooting night to make a tying 3-pointer with 15 seconds left in OT for the Buckeyes (12-0), who are off to their best start since they won their first 15 games in 2011-12.
Dulcy Fankam Mendjiadeu had a monster game with a career-high 34 points and 17 rebounds for the Bulls (10-4), who led 86-80 with a minute left in OT before Eboni Walker started the Buckeyes' rally with a layup.
Ohio State held Fankam Mendjiadeu without a field goal in overtime. She converted two free throws with 2:38 left for her final points.
Mikesell had been 0-for-6 from 3-point range before her tying basket. She finished 2 of 13 from the field and scored eight points.
After Mikesell's 3, South Florida was looking for the game-winner when Sammie Puisis lost control of the ball, which went out of bounds beneath the basket. Ohio State raced downcourt and Thierry edged inside with the winning bucket.
Puisis, who finished with 20 points, also missed a 3-pointer for the Bulls with 9 seconds left in regulation and the game tied at 75-all.
South Florida led 21-11 after the first quarter and was still ahead by nine, 55-46, at the end of the third. Puisis made a 3 with 6 seconds left in the period.
Joining Fankam Mendjiadeu and Puisis with double-figures in the scoring column was Elena Tsineke with 17 points.
Wyoming 61, Wichita State 56 – Box Score
WICHITA – Wyoming closed the game on a 7-0 run to pull out a 61-56 win over Wichita State Tuesday night in Charles Koch Arena.
Wichita State (9-3) suffered its first home loss of the season despite overcoming an 11-point halftime deficit.
DJ McCarty scored a game-high 19 points on 8-of-18 shooting, while adding five rebounds and four assists. Trajata Colbert tied a career high with 16 rebounds to go with 14 points. It marked her second double-double of the season. Curtessia Dean added 10 points and six boards for her fourth straight game in double figures.
Wichita State was ice cold from beyond the arc, missing 11 of its 13 tries, and converted on only 32 percent overall from the floor. The Shockers did go a perfect 16-for-16 at the free throw line and only committed 11 turnovers.
Wyoming, on the other hand, won the game from long range, finishing 8-for-15. The Cowgirls hit 42 percent of their total attempts.
The Shockers led 11-10 after 10 minutes, as the two teams played a nearly identical first quarter with both teams going 4-for-12 from the field with six turnovers and eight rebounds apiece.
After an even-played first quarter, the second period belonged to the Cowgirls. Wyoming outscored the Shockers 18-6 and grabbed a 28-17 lead at the half. The six points were the fewest Wichita State has scored in any quarter this season. Wichita State went 2-for-15 from the floor in the period.
Wichita State went into the locker room having missed 21 of its 27 field goal attempts overall and gave up 20 points in the paint.
DJ McCarty scored six of Wichita State's first eight points of the game, but was held scoreless the remainder of the half. McCarty was joined by Trajata Colbert with six points to lead the Shockers.
Wichita State has been no stranger to double digit comebacks so far this season, and the third quarter was more of the same. The Shockers capped a 22-12 third period with a Shamaryah Duncan buzzer-beating three-pointer to make it a 40-39 game. McCarty (8) and Dean (7) combined to score 15 of Wichita State's 22 points in the frame.
The Shockers then grabbed the lead on the opening possession of the fourth quarter on a McCarty pull-up jumper.
After a pair of Colbert free throws put Wichita State up 47-42, Wyoming responded with an 8-0 run to regain the lead, 50-47, and forcing a Shocker timeout with 4:54 remaining.
Following the timeout, Colbert scored four unanswered points to grab the lead right back.
A three-point play from McCarty with 1:51 on the clock gave Wichita State a 56-54 lead, but it was the Cowgirls made plays down the stretch to escape with a win. Wyoming scored the final seven points of the game, none bigger than a tie-breaking three-pointer from Grace Ellis at the top of the key to make it 59-56. Two clinching free throws from Quinn Weidemann in the final seconds iced it for the visitors.