The American went 3-1 in women's basketball action on Friday. Higlights include East Carolina's win over Delaware and a pair of road and neutral site wins by Houston and Temple.
East Carolina 89, Delaware 60
Jasmine Phillips scored 16 of her career-high 20 points in the first half to lift East Carolina to an 89-60 victory over Delaware in front of a record crowd of 4,935 fans in Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum.
Phillips led all scorers on 9-for-14 shooting from the floor. She also grabbed a game-high nine rebounds and added a personal-best six steals. I’Tiana Taylor and DeVaughn Gray chipped in 15 points apiece while Jada Payne contributed 14 points.
East Carolina shot 17-for-34 (.500) from the field and 5-of-10 (.500) from beyond the arc in the first half, while outscoring Delaware, 24-8, in the paint. The Blue Hens shot just 10-for-27 (.370) overall.
Houston 68, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 66
Jessieka Palmer had a game-high 20 points in Houston's road win at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Friday evening at the Dugan Wellness Center. The Cougars topped the Islanders 68-66.
Just seconds after the Islanders had claimed the lead, Terran Alford put the Cougars back ahead, 63-62, with 1:40 left in the game after a dish from Marche’ Amerson. Houston led for the remainder of the game.
Palmer had 16 of her 20 points in the second half. Marche' Amerson added 14 points while Alecia Smith chipped in 10 points and six assists. Amerson and Alford led the Cougars with five rebounds each.
Temple 81, Georgetown 58
Temple cruised to victory over Georgetown Friday night, opening the Naismith Hall of Fame Challenge with an 81-58 win over the Hoyas. The Owls improve to 2-1 on the season, while Georgetown evens its season mark to 2-2.
Tyonna Williams battled through an eye injury to score a game-high 21 points, also adding four assists and a pair of steals. Three other Owls also netted double-digit point totals as Tanaya Atkinson added 15, Feyonda Fitzgerald scored 13, and Erica Covile chipped in 10. Covile rounded out her night with a team-high 12 rebounds, nine of which were offensive, to complete a double-double.
The Owls outrebounded the Hoyas, 51-39, with Atkinson adding eight boards and Sofiya Martin pulling down seven. Temple led from start to finish in the game, holding Georgetown to just 33.3% shooting.
Oral Roberts 73, Tulsa 71
Ashley Clark had a double-double while Kadan Brady and Mariah Turner both had double-digit points, but Tulsa dropped a 73-71 decision to Oral Roberts in the annual Mayor’s Cup Friday night at the Mabee Center. The Golden Hurricane fell to 1-2 on the season, while ORU moved to 1-2 overall.
Turner had a team-best 22 points while Clark and Brady each scored 14. Clark also added 10 rebounds, five assists and four blocks. Kelsee Grovey chipped in five assists and three steals.
After trailing by two (38-36) at the half, Tulsa came out and tied the game five times, including at 46-all with 14:30 on the clock before going on a 15-4 run to take a game-best 11-point advantage (61-50) at the 8:47 mark. The Golden Eagles responded with a run of their own, outscoring the Hurricane 17-4 from the 8:31 mark to just 2:13 on the clock to take a 67-65 lead. Tulsa tied things up at 67-67 at the 1:24 mark, but ORU took back the lead with just under a minute to play and held on for the two-point win.