Firday, Dec. 20 - Saturday, Dec. 21

Wichita State 66, Montana State 64	Box Score
UCF 67, St. Mary's 58	Box Score
Northwestern 64, ECU 45	Box Score
Texas Southern 72, Tulane 62	Box Score
Memphis 91, Mississippi Valley State 54	Box Score
Virginia Tech 84, Wichita State 63	Box Score
Dayton 94, ECU 68	Box Score
UCF 69, Wright State 53	Box Score
Cincinnati 69, Pittsburgh 53	Box Score
UNLV 61, USF 51	Box Score
Colorado 62, Tulane 52	Box Score
Tulsa 61, Colorado State 55	Box Score

Highlights

Wichita State 66, Montana State 64
Mariah McCully was the hero in the first game of the Puerto Rico Coqui Classic. McCully followed her own miss with what proved to be the game-winning basket with only 1.3 seconds remaining in regulation to lift Wichita State over Montana State, 66-64, Friday afternoon.

Wichita State (7-4) led for a majority of the game until a furious rally saw Montana State take a three-point lead into the final minute. Wichita State would have the final possession and only 6.4 seconds remaining. McCully received the inbounds pass at the top of the key and drove into the lane putting up a floater that came up short, but the junior collected her own miss in the air and scored it with a second on the clock.

Carla Bremaud collected her third game in double figures with a season-high tying 15 points. Ashley Reid finished with 10 points on a perfect 4-of-4 shooting, marking her second straight game with 10 or more points. McCully extended her double-figure streak to four straight games after scoring 10 points, none bigger than the game winner.

UCF 67, St. Mary’s 58
Kay Kay Wright showed her game-changing abilities on Friday afternoon, leading the UCF women's basketball team to a hard-fought 67-58 win over St. Mary's in the UCF Holiday Tournament in Addition Financial Arena.

The Knights (6-4) found themselves tied with the Gaels (4-6) at 7-7 in the opening quarter but outscored the visitors 11-2 over the final four and a half minutes. Wright poured in 10 points to give the Black and Gold an 18-9 lead into the second frame St. Mary's flipped the script over the next 10 minutes to go ahead 30-27 at halftime.

Regrouping at the break, UCF opened the third quarter on an 11-0 run and held the Gaels scoreless for nearly five minutes to build a 38-30 advantage with 5:19 left in the stanza. The first double-digit lead of the game came on basket from Masseny Kaba – off a pass from Wright – with 2:36 left in the third quarter. UCF led by a dozen, 51-39, heading into the final 10 minutes.

St. Mary's cut the Black and Gold lead to single digits on a couple occasions in the last quarter, but UCF responded each time to keep the game out of reach.

Kay Kay Wright led all scorers with 30 points with seven assists and four steals. Brittney Smith added 11 points for back-to-back games in double figures and grabbed a team-leading seven rebounds. Masseny Kaba chipped in 10 points to give UCF a trio in double digits.

Northwestern 64, ECU 45
An early barrage was too much to handle as the ECU women's basketball team fell to Northwestern 64-45 in the opening game of the West Palm Beach Classic at Keiser University.

ECU drops to 3-8 on the season while Northwestern improves to 9-1.

The Pirates were led in scoring by Taniyah Thompson, as the freshman guard finished with 15 points to lead all scorers. Necole Hope had nine points while Tiara Chambers set new career-highs in points (six) and rebounds (eight). Lashonda Monk finished with a team-high in assists (three) and steals (four).

In the second quarter, Thompson was able to provide a spark for the Pirate offense. She had an old-fashioned three-point play in the early going and then hit another jumper at the 7:05 mark to cut the lead to 26-13. After the Wildcats ripped off six straight points, Thompson again tried to drag ECU back into it. She hit a three-pointer out of a timeout, then hit another one possession later. After a Northwestern jumper, Katerina Tsineke buried a three-pointer of her own, making it 34-22 with 2:05 left in the half. Thompson finished with 11 points in the run and had 13 in the first half.

Unfortunately for ECU, the Pirates scored just one point the rest of the half and a Northwestern putback at the buzzer saw the lead increase to 41-23 heading into the second half.

A strong third quarter for Northwestern all but sealed the game. The Wildcats outscored ECU 19-7, including starting on a 9-2 run to take a 60-30 lead after three quarters.

Texas Southern 72, Tulane 62
The Tulane University women's basketball team fell to Texas Southern, 72-62, in the first day of the Tulane Classic at Avron B. Fogelman Arena in the Devlin Fieldhouse.

Junior Krystal Freeman led the Olive and Blue with a game-high 16 rebounds and added 14 points. This marked her fourth straight game with a double-double. Junior Arsula Clark scored a team-high 17 points, while freshman Irina Parau chipped in a career-high 13 points.

The Green Wave trailed 60-42 with seven minutes remaining in the game. Tulane then went on an 11-2 run to cut Texas Southern's lead to 62-55 with two minutes left. Senior Kayla Manuirirangi led the charge with six of the 11 points. The Olive and Blue could not cut the Tigers' lead to less than five the rest of the game. The final score of 72-62 was set after five free throws from Texas Southern to close the game.

After trading buckets to start the second half, Texas Southern went on a 13-2 run to take a 45-35 lead with three minutes left in the third quarter. The Tigers led 53-38 after the third period.

Memphis 91, Mississippi Valley State 54
Paced by a team-high 26 points and school-record eight three-pointers by freshman Madison Griggs, the University of Memphis women's basketball team extended its winning streak to four games with a 91-54 victory over Mississippi Valley State Friday evening. The Tigers have now won seven out of the last eight games and are off to their best start since the 2011-12 season with an 8-4 record.

Griggs tied her own school record with eight triples to lead the Tigers, marking the fifth time this season she has hit at least four three-pointers in a game this season. Five Tigers in all scored in double-digits in the commanding Memphis victory before the holiday break.

Memphis' lead grew to as many as 22 in the third quarter on a second-chance lay-up by Dulcy Fankam Mendjiadeu. Griggs hit two of her eight three-pointers in the third quarter to help the Tigers distance themselves from the Devilettes.

The Devilettes didn't go down easy against the Tigers as Mississippi Valley State cut the Memphis lead down to 11 with 7:02 remaining in the game with an 8-0 run. Griggs' fourth triple of the game snapped the Devilettes run and ultimately ignited a fourth quarter where Griggs hit five consecutive three-pointers for Memphis.

Just as quickly as the Devilettes cut the Memphis lead down to 11, the Tigers answered to go up by 31 with 1:12 on the clock. Memphis ultimately outscored Mississippi Valley State 31-13 in the final period of action, including an 18-0 run that ran out the clock.

Virginia Tech 84, Wichita State 63
Virginia Tech knocked down 18 three-pointers in 30 tries to shoot past Wichita State in the final game of the Puerto Rico Coqui Classic, 84-63, Saturday afternoon.

Wichita State (7-5) went 1-1 in its two games in Puerto Rico, both first time meetings with its opponents. Virginia Tech's 18 three-pointers were a season high for a Shocker opponent, while also outrebounding WSU by 16 – another season high.

Maya Brewer scored a team-high 14 points, marking her fourth game of the season with 10-plus points. Mariah McCully extended her streak of games in double digits to six straight after adding 10. Ashlei Kirven set a new career best with 12 points to go with seven rebounds.

The Shockers were outscored by 45 points beyond the arc after WSU only made 3-of-13 attempts from long range. WSU shot 36 percent from the field overall and 16-of-20 from the free throw line.

Dayton 94, ECU 68
The West Palm Beach Invite came to an end for the ECU women's basketball team as the Pirates fell to Dayton 94-68 on Saturday afternoon at Palm Beach Atlantic's Rubin Arena.

ECU slides to 3-9 on the year while Dayton improves to 6-7.

ECU was led in scoring by Taniyah Thompson who finished with a career-high 29 points, including a career-best six three-pointers and five free throws. Thompson also set a new personal-high on the boards, pulling down eight rebounds. Dominique Claytor and Lashonda Monk both chipped in 12 points with Monk dishing out six assists to go with six rebounds.

In the second quarter, while the ECU offense went cold, Wilmoth took over the game for the Flyers. Jordan Wilmoth scored 12 points in the frame, shooting 5-of-5 from the floor and making a pair of free throws. Only four points each from Thompson and Claytor kept the Pirate deficit from growing even larger. The score at halftime was 42-26 in favor of Dayton, while Thompson and Claytor combined for 20 of ECU's 26 points.

The third quarter could not have started much better for ECU, as Thompson came out of the locker room and knocked in back-to-back triples. However, in what would become a theme of the quarter, Dayton always had an answer. The Flyers made two straight threes of their own.  Thompson once again tried to drag ECU back into the game, connecting on two more three-pointers.

UCF 69, Wright State 53
The UCF women's basketball team extended its win streak to three games with a 69-53 victory over Wright State to close out the UCF Holiday Tournament on Saturday afternoon in Addition Financial Arena.

For the second day in a row, Kay Kay Wright led all scorers with 24 points. She also had three steals, two assists and was 8-for-8 from the charity stripe. Over the two-day tournament, the senior guard scored 54 points while shooting 51.4 percent from the floor.

 UCF (7-4) opened the game on a 9-0 run and led by as many as a dozen in the first quarter but Wright State (5-6) was able to cut its deficit to seven, 21-14, at the end of the opening 10 minutes.

The Raiders pulled within three in the opening minute of the second quarter, but Kay Kay Wright stepped up in the second frame. The Orlando native scored eight points, including a buzzer-beating three-pointer to push the Black and Gold advantage back to double digits, 37-25, heading into halftime.

The Knights cruised in the second half, never relinquishing their double figure lead. UCF picked up its seventh win of the season and the third of the week to close out the tournament.

Cincinnati 69, Pittsburgh 53
University of Cincinnati women's basketball picked up its fifth win in a row Saturday with a 69-53 decision against the Pittsburgh Panthers at Fifth Third Arena.

Armed with a 50-42 lead heading into the fourth quarter, the Bearcats (8-4) put together an efficient final period, outscoring Pitt (3-8) 19-11 on 9-of-12 shooting from the field to come away victorious. The victory vs. the Panthers represents UC's first win over Pitt since 2013 and the first against an Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) team since 2011.

Junior forward IImar'I Thomas scored a game-high 17 points to go along with five rebounds and two assists. Senior guard Sam Rodgers tallied 15 points, four rebounds, four assists, and three steals, while freshman guard Jada Scott added season highs of eight points, two assists, and a steal. In addition, senior forward Angel Rizor contributed eight points, eight rebounds, five assists, and three steals.

In the Red & Black's second of a three-game homestand to end 2019, the two teams went back and forth in the first quarter with the home team taking a 14-10 advantage into the second. In the next stanza, the Bearcats kept the pressure on the Panthers, outscoring them 19-15 to lead 33-24 at the halftime break.

Out of the locker room, competition was tight in the third period with Pitt using a 13-6 run over the final four minutes to bring the score to 50-42, UC, with 10 minutes left to play. A quick 4-0 burst by the Bearcats early in the final quarter set the stage for their strong finish down the stretch.

UNLV 61, USF 51
The University of South Florida women's basketball team was hoping to enter the holiday break on a winning note, however, UNLV had other ideas as the Lady Rebels handed the Bulls a 61-51 loss in the consolation game of the Duel in the Desert at Cox Pavilion in Las Vegas, Saturday afternoon. USF falls to 7-6 on the year, while UNLV improves to 4-8.

The Bulls, who failed to put anyone in double figures in the scoring column, were led by Kristyna Brabencova and Shae Leverett with nine points apiece. Tamara Henshaw scored eight points and grabbed a game-high 13 rebounds. It marks Henshaw's fourth time this season where she grabbed double-digit rebounds, and her fourth consecutive game of hauling down 10-or-more.

The Bulls led at the end of the first quarter, 20-16, only to go the next 10-plus minutes – spanning the end of the first quarter and beginning of the second – without scoring a point, until Henshaw hit a short jumper with 5:40 left in the first half to make the score, 23-22, UNLV. The Bulls kept it a one possession game the rest of the half, however could not regain the lead, as they trailed the Lady Rebels at the break, 31-29.

Both teams went basket-for-basket for most of the third quarter, until USF took a two-point lead on a layup by Brabencova with just over one-minute left in the quarter. That was the last lead that the Bulls held the rest of the way.

Colorado 62, Tulane 52
The Tulane University women's basketball team fell to Colorado, 62-52, at Avron B. Fogelman in the Devlin Fieldhouse in the Tulane Classic.

Junior Krystal Freeman led the Green Wave with 18 points and five rebounds, while freshman Irina Parau added 12 points. Junior Kaila Anderson added a team-high four assists.

The Green Wave and the Buffaloes traded blows to start the first quarter then Colorado closed the period on a 10-0 run to take a 24-15 lead. Freeman and Parau combined for 11 of the 15 points for Tulane in the first.

After trading buckets to start the second quarter, the Olive and Blue went on an 11-2 run to tie the game at 29 with five minutes left in the half. Senior Kayla Manuirirangi and Freeman led the charge scoring all 11 points on the run for the Green Wave. Manuirirangi added eight points for the Green Wave on the day.  The score was tied at 33 going into halftime.

Colorado took a 43-40 lead with three minutes left in the third quarter then Tulane went on an 8-2 run to close the period to take a 48-45 lead going into the fourth quarter. The Buffaloes closed the game on a 17-4 run to win the game 62-52.

Tulsa 61, Colorado State 55
Kendrian Elliott, Kayla Moutry and Alexis Gaulden all scored in double figures to lead Tulsa to a 61-55 win over Colorado State on Saturday night at the Donald W. Reynolds Center.  TU moved to 4-8 on the season, while CSU fell to 6-7 overall.

Elliott's 19 points mark the 33rd double-digit scoring game of her career and 11th this season, while Kayla Moutry scored a career-high 13 points in the contest, and Gaulden earned her second career double-double with 12 points, and a team-best and career-tying 12 rebounds.

There were six lead changes and one tied score in the first 10 minutes, but Tulsa had an 18-16 lead at the end of the frame.  Elliott led TU with eight points, going 3-of-3 from the field, including 2-of-2 from behind the arc.

The Golden Hurricane climbed to a 10-point advantage, 37-27, at the 3:16 mark of the third quarter, and owned a 46-34 lead with one quarter to play.  With just three seconds on the clock in the frame, Moutry stole the ball on a bad pass by CSU and shot a 35-foot three-pointer at the buzzer for the quarter score.

The Rams battled back in the fourth quarter, pulling to within three (54-51) at the 1:52 mark of the period, but two made layups by Elliott put TU back up by seven (58-51) with 46 seconds remaining in the contest.  It was a free throw battle to close out the game, as Tulsa hit 3-of-6 and Colorado State was 4-of-4, but the Golden Hurricane finished with the 61-55 win.

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