Saturday, February 18
Tulane 65, Cincinnati 54 – Box Score
East Carolina 63, UCF 57 – Box Score
Houston 56, Temple 48 – Box Score
Memphis 69, Tulsa 44 – Box Score
South Florida 70, SMU 62 – Box Score
Recaps
Tulane 65, Cincinnati 54 – Box Score
NEW ORLEANS – Tulane University Women's Basketball Head Coach Lisa Stockton became the all-time winningest women's college basketball in the state of Louisiana with 577 wins after leading the Green Wave to a 65-54 victory at Cincinnati Saturday.
The win pushed Stockton past former Louisiana Tech head coach Leon Barmore.
Dynah Jones led the Green Wave with 19 points on 7-of-17 shooting from the floor. As a team, Tulane shot 39.3 percent from the floor (22-56) and 33.3 percent from behind the arc (6-18).
The Green Wave is 16-11 in 2022-23 and is currently riding a three-game winning streak.
Cincinnati was led on offense by Mya Jackson, who scored 15 points on 6-of-13 shooting. Jillian Hayes was two points shy of a double-double, recording 8 points and 15 rebounds. Cincinnati shot 29.4 percent from the floor (20-68) and 18.8 percent from behind the arc (3-16).
The Bearcats fall to 9-17 overall and 2-11 in The American.
East Carolina 63, UCF 57 – Box Score
GREENVILLE – You had to see it to believe it, and even if you saw it you might not believe it as the East Carolina women's basketball team came back to defeat the UCF Knights, 63-57, in Minges Coliseum on Saturday afternoon.
East Carolina (19-8, 10-4 The American) trailed by nine points with under four to play and seven points with two minutes left after a lethargic 38 minutes of action. Then, it happened: the Pirates closed the game on a 15-0 run to stun the Knights.
Danae McNeal made a layup with 3:47 to play, Amiya Joyner made a layup with 2:00 left, and then the team woke up.
ECU scored nine points and UCF (11-13, 2-10 The American) turned it over four times in the final minute of play.
The context is important though. The game was close most of the way – there were 13 lead changes and 13 ties – but with 6:16 to play in a two-point game, Joyner was assessed her third personal foul… then a technical foul. UCF made three of the free throws then a bucket and all of a sudden it was a seven-point game.
It seemed as though the Pirates, for the first time in five games, were not going to find a way. A fool's thinking, doubting this ECU bunch. It is hard to measure their heart, but any measurement would fall short of its true value. They simply refused to lose the game.
Out of a timeout with 52 seconds in a three-point ballgame at 57-54, Kim McNeill called her play, and Joyner got her look. The freshman dropped a dime on a backdoor cut to Synia Johnson who made a terrific finish to cut it to one.
Johnson, who finished with five steals on the day, stole the ball out of the press on the inbound and McNeal was fouled on her layup. The senior out of Swansea, S.C. sank both free throws and the Pirates locked in on defense with 40.0 seconds to play.
After forcing a UCF timeout, Micah Dennis stole the ball again and sank a pair of her own free throws. Another stop and some more McNeal free throws later, ECU had completed the miracle comeback.
Joyner had another terrific day with 15 points and 12 rebounds for her 12th double-double of the season while McNeal, Dennis and Johnson all scored in double figures as well. The Pirates forced 24 turnovers and scored 25 points off of them.
Houston 56, Temple 48 – Box Score
PHILADELPHIA – Bolstered by a trio of third quarter three-pointers from redshirt senior Britney Onyeje, the University of Houston women's basketball team beat Temple 56-48 on Saturday inside Liacouras Center.
Houston (11-14, 8-4 American) started the game making three-straight three-point attempts to go up 9-0 on Temple (10-15, 5-8 The American) which started the game missing its first 10 field goal attempts. The Owls then went on a 16-3 run to tie the game at 16 with five minutes remaining in the second quarter.
Three different Cougars scored in double figures led by Onyeje's 15 points. Junior Laila Blair scored 13 points and senior Bria Patterson added 11. Graduate Tatyana Hill stuffed the stats sheet with four points, 11 rebounds, five steals, three blocks and a pair of assists.
The Cougars ended the first half making back-to-back buckets with under a minute and 30 seconds to lead 23-20 at the break.
A 10-0 stretch midway through the third started with an Onyeje three-pointer and ended on free throws from the redshirt senior. The Pflugerville, Texas, native made a trio of three-pointers in the third quarter as Houston took an 11-point lead into the fourth quarter.
Temple opened up the fourth quarter on an 8-3 run, but Houston was able to hold off the comeback to sweep the season series.
Houston's top five three-point defense smothered Temple's ability to score from beyond the arc, as the Owls shot just 12.5 percent from range. The Cougars also forced the Owls into 24 turnovers.
Memphis 69, Tulsa 44 – Box Score
TULSA, – The Memphis Tiger women's basketball team finished up their road swing in Oklahoma today where they took on the Golden Hurricane of Tulsa. A strong offensive second half would help the Tigers to the 69-44 win and their fourth consecutive win.
Following today's game, Memphis moves to 16-9 overall and 8-4 in American Athletic Conference play.
The Tulsa offense controlled the opening quarter of play, sinking four three-pointers while shooting 58% from the field.
The Tigers would take their first lead of the game after Jamirah Shutes and Madison Griggs drained back-to-back shots for the 5-3 lead just three minutes into the game. Tulsa would get three long range shots in the final five minutes of the quarter and take the 18-11 score into the second frame.
Memphis would explode in the second, getting eight points from Shutes, including back-to-back buzzer beaters.
After the Golden Hurricane got up by as much as seven, Memphis would finish the half on an 11-3 run that included baskets from the dynamic duo of Shutes and Griggs to give the Tigers a 30-29 lead heading into the break.
It was all Memphis in the third quarter as the team's defensive pressure smothered the Tulsa offense into 9 turnovers and held them to just seven points while the Tigers shot an outstanding 52.4% from the field and taking a lead as large as 23.
Madison Griggs would kick things off as she became the 28th Tiger to surpass 1,000 points off a three-pointer from the near wing to open the half. That spark would start a 29-point third quarter for the Memphis offense. The Tigers would end the third quarter on an 11-0 run with baskets from Shutes, Emani Jefferson, Hannah Riddick and Jada Wright to take the 59-36 lead into the final 10 minutes.
Despite a scoring drought in the fourth quarter, the Memphis lead would suffice as they went a perfect 5-5 from the free throw line to secure the 69-44 win.
Jamirah Shutes led all players with 21 points while shooting 8-16 from the field. Emani Jefferson picked up her second career double-double with 12 points and 12 rebounds while Madison Griggs and Jada Wright added in 11 and 10 points, respectively.
As a team, Memphis shot 36% from the floor and forced Tulsa into 23 turnovers. Today's win marks the team's fourth consecutive win and the first win in Reynolds Center since the 2017-18 season.
South Florida 70, SMU 62 – Box Score
TAMPA — The University of South Florida women's basketball team got a game-high 27 points from Elena Tsineke, 18 points from Sammie Puisis, and 12 points and 10 rebounds from Dulcy Fankam Mendjiadeu as the Bulls defeated SMU, 70-62, on Saturday afternoon at the Yuengling Center. South Florida improves to 24-5 on the year and 13-1 in the American Athletic Conference, while the Mustangs fall to 15-9 overall and 6-6 in league play.
With the victory, the Bulls win The American regular season title and earn the No. 1 seed in the upcoming American Athletic Conference Tournament, March 6-9, at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Texas.
South Florida trailed by as many as eight points, 19-11, midway through the first quarter before using a 6-0 run, capped by a Daniela Gonzalez three-point shot, to cut the SMU lead to two points, 19-17, after 10 minutes of play.
The Mustangs looked to pull away in the second quarter, extending their lead to seven, however, the Bulls put together another run, this time a 7-0 stretch, which culminated with a Fankam Mendjiadeu three-point play to tie the game at 26-all with just under six minutes left in the half. It wasn't until Tsineke hit a driving hook shot from inside the lane at the buzzer that South Florida regained the lead, 33-31, and never looked back the rest of the night.
The Bulls started the second half scoring 13 of the first 16 points and pushed their advantage to as many as 12 points in the third quarter, 46-34, on a Puisis layup with five minutes left, and then to as many as 18 points, 62-44, on one of Puisis' three treys on the night with just over four minutes left in the contest.
South Florida blew the game open in the final quarter on 58.3 percent (7-of-12) shooting from the field, including 75.0 percent (3-for-4) from behind the three-point arc.
Aerial Wilson handed out eight of the Bulls' 15 assists on the night.