Thursday, December 8
Tulsa 66, Prairie View A&M 61 – Box Score
Wichita State 77, Saint Louis 74 – Box Score
Memphis 92, North Carolina Central 66 – Box Score
 
Recaps
Tulsa 66, Prairie View A&M 61 – Box Score
TULSA - Delanie Crawford scored a career-high 19 points as Tulsa held on for a 66-61 victory over Prairie View A&M Thursday afternoon in front of a crowd of 2,806 fans on Education Day at the Donald W. Reynolds Center.
 
Crawford connected on 8-of-14 field goals for her 19 points and added seven rebounds and a team-high five assists. Temira Poindexter and Ahrray Young added 12 points apiece, while Poindexter had a team-high eight rebounds and Young grabbed seven boards. PVAMU's Diana Rosenthal led the Panthers with 19 points.
 
Tulsa improved to 7-2 on the year, while PVAMU fell to 3-5.
 
Tulsa used a strong third quarter to build a 16-point advantage and held off a fourth quarter Panther rally for its fourth consecutive victory. Tulsa took a 56-40 lead heading into the final quarter by outscoring PVAMU in the third period by 10 points, 22-12.
 
The Panthers turned the tables on the Hurricane in the final stanza, outscoring the home team 21-10. After Tulsa extended its lead to 18 points, 58-40, on a Maddie Bittle layup at the 8:18 mark, PVAMU outscored Tulsa 21-8 in the remaining eight minutes.
 
The Panthers made 10-of-12 free throws in the final 4:49 to help their comeback attempt.
 
PVAMU made just 5-of-19 field goals in the period but was 9-of-12 from the charity stripe. Tulsa made just 3-of-14 field goals, was 0-of-5 from behind the arc and made 4-of-6 free throws in the quarter.
 
For the game, Tulsa held Prairie View to a .271 field goal percentage and just 15 percent from three-point range. Tulsa shot only 39 percent from the field, 28 percent from behind the arc and 44 percent from the free throw line.
 
It took Tulsa 2:13 to get on the scoreboard as Crawford's layup tied the score at 2-2. The Hurricane took a 10-4 lead before the Panthers went on a 9-1 run to take a 13-10 lead at the 2:30 mark.
 
Tulsa closed out the first quarter with treys from Young and Poindexter for a 17-15 lead after one period.
 
The Hurricane jumped out on a 6-2 run to start the second quarter but both teams went scoreless until PVAMU's Diana Rosenthal ended a 2:58 scoring drought for the visitors. Crawford stopped Tulsa's 3:02 drought with a layup at the 4:32 mark to make the score 25-19.
 
Maya Mayberry scored five straight points on a 3-pointer and layup to give Tulsa a double-digit lead of 11 points at 30-19 with 3:12 remaining in the first half. The Panthers chipped away at the Tulsa lead and got its deficit back to four points before Tulsa's Chloe Williams hit a jumper with 0:05 on the clock for a 34-28 halftime lead.
 
Crawford led Tulsa in the first half with 10 points, followed by Young with seven points. PVAMU's Rosenthal came off the bench to lead all first-half scorers with 11 points.
 
Tulsa shot 40.5 percent from the field in the first 20 minutes, while holding PVAMU to 31.3 percent. The Panthers had a 25-23 edge in rebounding, but Tulsa outscored PVAMU in the paint 20-14.
 
The Hurricane put some distance between them and the Panthers in the third quarter, outscoring the visitors 22-12 in the period for a 56-40 lead heading into the fourth quarter. However, PVAMU cut an 18-point fourth period deficit to as low as four points as the Panthers outscored the Hurricane 21-10 in the final quarter.
 
Wichita State 77, Saint Louis 74 – Box Score
ST. LOUIS – Wichita State held off a furious Saint Louis rally in the fourth quarter to record its seventh straight win, defeating the Billikens, 77-74, Thursday night.
 
Wichita State moved to 8-1 on the season, making it the best start in school history and will put its win streak on the line this weekend in Lawrence against the unbeaten Jayhawks. Wichita State almost squandered a 27-point lead in the second half, but was able to make just enough stops to hang on.
 
Curtessia Dean had her best game of the season, posting her first double-double as a Shocker. Her 18 points and 10 rebounds were both season highs, along with an efficient night from the field, going 8-for-13.
 
Jane Asinde registered her fourth double-double of the season with 16 points and 11 rebounds, while dishing out a career-high five assists.
 
DJ McCarty recorded her fourth straight game in double figures with 16 points. Shamaryah Duncan returned to the lineup after missing the last three games and added 10 points.
 
Wichita State was shooting better than 50 percent from the field for much of the game but finished at 48 percent. Free throws nearly cost Wichita State as well, finishing 19-of-30 at the line.
 
The story of the second half was turnovers. Sixteen of Wichita State's 21 turnovers came after halftime. Saint Louis finished the game outscoring Wichita State in points off turnovers, 25-20.
 
Wichita State came out firing on all cylinders, as they raced out to an 11-4 lead behind seven points from Dean. Following a Nhug Bosch Duran triple from the top of the key and a Jane Asinde layup, that lead grew to 16-4 with 3:46 to go in the opening quarter.
 
Asinde nearly had a double-double in the first quarter, as she posted seven points and seven rebounds. The duo of Asinde and Dean combined for 14 of Wichita State's 21 points, and they led the Billikens by 10.
 
The second quarter would be much of the same for the visitors. Wichita State outscored Saint Louis, 21-9, in the period and scoreless for the final 2:05 of the half. The Shockers carried a 42-20 lead into the locker room behind 27 combined points for Dean (14) and Asinde (13).
 
Wichita State converted on 50 percent of its field goal attempts and outrebounded the Billikens by 11. Defensively, the Shockers held Saint Louis to 9-of-31 from the floor and 2-of-15 from beyond the arc.
 
Eight first half turnovers for Saint Louis aren't a large amount by any stretch, but they were costly. Those eight miscues turned into 14 points on the other end for Wichita State.
 
After Wichita State grabbed its largest lead of 27, Saint Louis clawed back within 16 behind an 11-0 run. With the Shockers in a cold spell on the offensive end, Dean put an end to the drought with a tough bucket inside. Her score led to six straight points for Wichita State to stretch the lead back to 22.
 
Saint Louis would not quit as they scored five consecutive points to end the quarter to make it 62-45.
 
Things got interesting in the fourth quarter. At the 5:00 mark, Saint Louis cut the margin to single digits. Behind a 13-1 run, the Billikens made it 72-69 and still 2:06 remaining. A pair of Asinde free throws stopped the bleeding briefly.
 
With less than 30 seconds on the clock, Wichita State held a 76-69 lead only to see Saint Louis connect on a triple to make it 76-72. Asinde then missed both free throws on the ensuing possession, which turned into a SLU layup. Ornella Niankan split two free throws with 9.7 seconds to go, giving the Billikens one last shot at a tie, but they failed to get a shot off.
 
Wichita State exhaled as the final buzzer sounded and a three-point win.
 
Memphis 92, North Carolina Central 66 – Box Score
MEMPHIS - After 21 days on the road, the Memphis Tiger women's basketball team returned to the Elma Roane Fieldhouse to face-off with North Carolina Central. The Memphis offense would light up the arena as they cruised to a 92-66 win over the Eagles.
 
Following tonight's win, Memphis moves to 5-4 overall.
 
Hot shooting helped the Tigers open the game up with a lead, getting six points from Madison Griggs and five from Makaiya Brooks in the opening five minutes. Another three-pointer from Tanuyel Welch in the far corner would give the Tigers the 23-16 lead with 2:15 left in the quarter.
 
The Eagles did not go away easily; after they turned the ball over with seven seconds left, they would get it right back and drain a 10-foot jump shot at the buzzer to make it a 26-22 Memphis advantage heading into the second quarter.
 
Memphis' sharp-shooting didn't end in the second quarter – the team started out with a 15-2 run to put them up 46-31. Emani Jefferson went to work in the second quarter, scoring her first eight points in a little over four minutes. A Griggs three-pointer and two free throws would cap a 19-4 Tiger run and give them a 55-35 lead heading into the break.
 
The Tiger offense continued their reign into the second half; despite a low-scoring affair, Memphis would extend their lead out to as much as 26 after Shelbee Brown went coast-to-coast for an easy transition layup with just over three minutes left in the third quarter. Memphis would take the 72-45 lead into the final 10 minutes of play.
 
It was all Tigers in the fourth quarter. The Memphis offense would take their largest lead with six minutes left in the game after Brown sank two free throws to give them the 83-52 lead. Despite the Eagles outscoring Memphis in the final quarter, the Tigers would take the 92-66 win.
 
Jamirah Shutes led the team with 21 points while Madison Griggs added in 18 points. Emani Jefferson and Shelbee Brown both reached double figure scoring tonight with Brown and Hannah Riddick grabbing a combined 14 rebounds.
 
As a team, Memphis shot over 52% from the field and drained four of their six three-pointers in the first quarter of the game. Their defense won the battle on the boards and forced NC Central into 21 turnovers.