Wednesday, January 25
No. 25 South Florida 89, Tulsa 68 – Box Score
Memphis 61, East Carolina 53 – Box Score
Houston 63, Cincinnati 39 – Box Score
Temple 68, Tulane 59 – Box Score
 
Recaps
No. 25 South Florida 89, Tulsa 68 – Box Score
TAMPA — Dulcy Fankam Mendjiadeu led four players in double figures in the scoring column as the University of South Florida women's basketball team dominated Tulsa, 89-68, on Wednesday afternoon at the Reynolds Center en route to its ninth straight win. The win improves the Bulls to 19-4 on the year and 8-0 in the American Athletic Conference. The Golden Hurricane fall to 15-5 overall and 5-2 in The American.
 
In addition to winning nine-straight, The Green and Gold have also won 12 of their last 14 games.
 
Fankam Mendjiadeu poured in a game-high 25 points and grabbed a game-best 15 rebounds, while Elena Tsineke had 21 points. Daniela Gonzalez chipped in with a career-high 12 points and Sammie Puisis had 11 points in the win.
 
Carla Brito, who fell just shy of scoring double figures with nine points, was second on the team in rebounds with seven.
 
The Bulls jumped on top of the Golden Hurricane from the opening tip, pushing the lead to 11-3 on a Brito layup less than four minutes into the contest. Tulsa, however, battled its way back cutting the South Florida advantage to three points, 23-20, at the end of the first quarter.
 
The Golden Hurricane took a brief two-point lead, 29-27, with 5:22 left in the first half only to have the Bulls close the second stanza on a 14-2 run to take a 41-31 lead into the locker room at the break. Tulsa never threatened again for the rest of the game.
 
After outscoring the Golden Hurricane, 24-18, in the third quarter to lead 65-49 entering the fourth, South Florida didn't look back in the final 10 minutes of play on the heels of 62.5 percent (10-for-16) shooting from the field which included a 75.0 percent (3-for-4) clip from behind the three-point arc.
 
The Bulls had their way with Tulsa in the post outscoring the Golden Hurricane a remarkable 56-18 in the paint and taking advantage of their 17-4 margin in offensive rebounds leading to 17 second-chance points. 
 
With the win, South Florida Head Coach Jose Fernandez recorded his 116th career conference win in The American, just two shy of tying UConn Head Coach Geno Auriemma's 118 league wins in the AAC, and three from becoming The American's all-time leader in conference wins.
 
 
Memphis 61, East Carolina 53 – Box Score
GREENVILLE – Looking for revenge over the Pirates of East Carolina University, the Memphis Tiger women's basketball team made the trip out to North Carolina. A hot fourth quarter from the Memphis offense would give them their first win in Greenville since the 2016 season with the 61-53 final.
 
Following tonight's game, Memphis moves to 12-8 overall and 4-3 in American Athletic Conference play.
 
The Pirates got out to a quick start gaining a 14-6 lead after six consecutive points. Jamirah Shutes would ignite the Memphis offense after a three-pointer from the corner started a 7-0 run to put the Tigers within one.
 
Following buckets from the Pirates in the last minute of the quarter, Tanuyel Welch would add in a free throw with seven seconds left to cut Memphis' deficit to 17-14 heading into the second quarter.
 
Memphis would open the second quarter on a 9-2 run that was capped off with a put-back lay-up and a free throw from Shelbee Brownto give the Tigers their first lead of the night. Memphis would hold their lead for nearly nine and a half minutes after Destyne Jackson drained a three from the far corner and Madison Griggs sank back-to-back free throws for the 28-27 advantage.
 
ECU would get three quick points just before the half to put the Tigers down 29-28 heading into the break.
 
Memphis and ECU would go shot-for-shot in the third quarter with four lead changes happening in the 10-minute span. After Emani Jefferson and Shutes added in free throws to give the Tigers the 45-41 lead with 1:14 remaining, the Pirates would turn a five-point swing in the final seconds of the quarter to make it a 46-45 ECU advantage heading into the last 10 minutes of play.
 
It was all Memphis in the final quarter where Shutes would score 10 of her game-high 24 points in the final minutes of play.
 
A jump shot from Shutes would put Memphis back on top with 4:30 left in the game; her shot would start a 10-1 run, that consisted of baskets from her and Jefferson, to end the game where the Tigers would continue their revenge tour and take the 61-53 win.
 
Jamirah Shutes led all players with 24 points while Destiny Thomas added in seven points and grabbed a team-best 11 rebounds with five of them coming on the offensive end.
 
As a team, Memphis snapped a five-game losing streak in Minges Coliseum while turning the ball over just 13 times – the fewest forced turnovers by East Carolina this season. The Tigers would dominate on the boards (45-32) while holding ECU to just 20% shooting in the final quarter.
 
The Tigers are back in action this Saturday, January 28 when they host #25 South Florida for their 901Women Day. Tip-off is scheduled for 2 p.m. in the Elma Roane Fieldhouse with coverage available on ESPN+ and on 98.9 FM The Roar of Memphis with Tyler Springs on the call.
 
Houston 63, Cincinnati 39 – Box Score
CINCINNATI – In its only regular season meeting, the University of Houston women's basketball team posted its largest win over Cincinnati in program history 63-39 on Wednesday in Fifth Third Arena.
 
Four different Cougars scored in double-figures, led by junior Laila Blair's game-high 17 points and graduate Tatyana Hill's 13th-career double-double (10 points, 14 rebounds). Senior Bria Patterson chipped in 13 points and redshirt senior Britney Onyeje added 10 more.
 
Houston (7-13, 4-3 The American) held Cincinnati (7-12, 0-6 The American) to single digit scoring in three different quarters and handed the hosts their seventh-straight loss. In the first quarter Cincinnati didn't score its first points until the 4:37 mark – the longest scoring drought to start a game by a Houston opponent this season.
 
The Cougars held the Bearcats to just eight points in the first quarter, the second-straight game Houston's opponent has not scored 10-plus points in the first quarter.
 
An 16-0 run over 5:32 in the second quarter pushed Houston to a 29-10 lead with 2:58 left in the half. All five starters scored for Houston during the 16-point run including three-pointers from Blair and senior Bria Patterson.
 
Blair scored 10 points and Patterson chipped in nine of her own in the first half as the Cougars outscored the Bearcats 18-5 in the second quarter. Cincinnati's five points in the second period is a season-low allowed by Houston in any quarter this season. Houston held Cincinnati to nine points in the fourth.
 
The Bearcats used a Reverse Uno card on the Cougars defensively in the third quarter, not allowing Houston to score a field goal for a four-minute stretch in the middle of the period. Houston's lone basket through four minutes of play in the half came on Onyeje's three-pointer with 8:29 left in the quarter.
 
The Cougars returned to their defensive identity a few moments later by forcing four-straight turnovers.
 
Houston held Cincinnati to its second-lowest shooting efficiency of the season, 23.5 percent. The fantastic field goal percentage defense is the first time since 2014 against Nicholls State that Houston had held its opponent under 25 percent from the field, and the lowest in head coach Ronald Hughey's career in Houston.
 
Temple 68, Tulane 59 – Box Score
NEW ORLEANS - The Temple Women's Basketball team took down the Tulane Green Wave on the road, 68-59 on Wednesday night. With just eight active players, the Owls put forth a total team effort, with three players logging over 35 minutes and four players in double-figures.
 
Tiarra East scored a team-high 20 points and a career-high tying 11 rebounds, it is her third double-double this season. Tulane's Kyren Whittington led all scorers with 26 points.
 
The game was high-scoring in the early goings, with the teams trading baskets to put up 21 combined points in the first five minutes (12-9, TEM). The Owls got hot in the first with an 11-0 run to build an 18-9 lead. Tulane had an early 9-2 run of their own to cut into the lead and pull within two, 20-18. Tarriyonna Gary and Aleah Nelson paced the Cherry & White with six points each.
 
Temple shot out of the gate in the second, with a 9-2 run to open the frame. Tiarra East scored five of the nine points (29-20, TEM). Tulane hit a three to signal the end of the run and grind the game to a halt. Only two points were scored in the next 3:30 of gametime. Tulane scored five of the final eight points in the quarter, with Brittany Garner cashing in on an and-one for the Owls. TU took a six-point lead into the half. East made her presence felt in the first half, scoring 10 points and grabbing six boards.
 
The third quarter started off with a Nelson three pointer to extend the Owls' lead to nine. Tulane scored the next 10 points to take the Green Waves' first lead since the first quarter (37-36, TUL). Temple fired back with three pointers from Gary and Nelson sandwiching a Tulane basket to put the Cherry & White up one (42-41, TEM). East and Nelson scored the last two buckets of the third to give the Owls a five-point lead. Nelson scored eight of Temple's 13 points in the quarter.
 
TU came out of the break on fire. Three different Owls scored in the first 90 seconds to give the Owls a ten-point lead and force a Tulsa timeout. Temple proceeded to a 14-0 run, shutting the Green Wave down for 3 minutes and 28 seconds of game time. Tulane was not done yet. The Green Wave hit all four of their next field goal attempts for an 11-0 run to cut the lead back to single digits (62-54, TEM). East scored four points in the last two minutes while the Owls' defense held Tulane to just 5 points in the final three. Temple won by a score of 68-59.