Tuesday, Jan. 28 - Wednesday, Jan. 29
Highlights
ECU 71, Memphis 65
Clutch free throw shooting down the stretch helped the ECU women's basketball team hold on for a 71-65 win over Memphis on Tuesday night inside Minges Coliseum.
ECU (4-16, 1-6 AAC) snapped a 12-game losing streak and picked up its first conference win of the season. The Pirates had four different players score in double-figures, led by Taniyah Thompson's 20 points. Dominique Claytor stuffed the stat sheet, finishing with 16 points, five rebounds, seven assists and six steals. Ryann Evans had 12 points to go with six rebounds and four steals of her own. Lashonda Monk struggled from the field, but hit six straight free throws in the final 90 seconds of the game and scored 10 points and handed out seven helpers of her own.
Memphis (10-10, 1-7 AAC) was carried by Jamirah Shutes who scored a game-high 32 points, shooting 5-of-5 from three-point range and making nine of ten free throws. Alana Davis shot 8-of-10 to finish with 17 points of her own.
Monk, ECU's leading scorer, had been quiet up until the final minute of the game, scoring just four points and making a single three. However, with ECU leading by one after a 4-0 Memphis run and just 43 seconds remaining, she was able to draw a critical foul and head to the free throw line. The Greensboro native knocked down both tries. After Shutes scored two points for Memphis, Monk was again sent to the charity stripe and again, she made both attempts. Following one Memphis free throw, Monk was fouled for the third straight possession and had the chance to put ECU up by four points with under 30 seconds remaining. Monk nailed her fifth and sixth straight free throws, giving ECU the cushion it need to pull out the victory.
USF 74, Houston 45
Elena Tsineke scored a career-high tying 20 points, and led two other players in double figures, as the University of South Florida women's basketball team dominated Houston, 74-45, en route to its third-straight win Wednesday night at the Yuengling Center.
Tsineke, a freshman guard from Thessaloniki, Greece, shot 9-for-19 (47.4 percent) from the field in the win, and was joined in double digits in the scoring column by Sydni Harvey with 15 points and Bethy Mununga with 11 points. Shae Leverett grabbed a season-high 14 rebounds and Tamara Henshaw hauled down 11 boards.
Dymond Gladney led Houston with 16 points including a pair of 3-pointers.
The Bulls controlled the game from the opening tip, jumping out to an 18-2 lead at the end of the first quarter, and a 40-18 advantage at the break, never looking back. USF shot 16-34 (47 percent) from the field during the first 20 minutes of play behind Tsineke's 14 first half points.
The Bulls pushed their lead to as many 29 points twice in the final minutes of the game, on jumper by Henshaw and a three-point shot by Cristina Bermejo.
Temple 67, UCF 65
In a game of runs, Temple held on for the final surge, outlasting visiting UCF in American women's basketball action on Wednesday night. The Owls improve to 13-8 overall, 5-3 in conference play. UCF falls to 11-8, 3-4 in the AAC.
Despite seeing a lead as large as 12 slip away, Temple got hot when it counted, coming up with a two big defensive stops to finish out a gritty win.
After a 30-30 halftime tie, Temple had a huge start to the third quarter, going up 48-36 and seemingly creating breathing room. However, UCF answered, getting the lead down to one.
A back-and-fourth fourth quarter saw the Owls do just enough down the stretch, as Temple won its fifth conference game of the year.
The Owls out-rebounded UCF 41-30 working around 18 turnovers. The Knights out-shot Temple by a slim 44% to 43% margin, but Temple racked up nine makes from long range while UCF had just three triples in the game.
Sophomore Marissa Mackins led Temple with 22 points and five rebounds. Redshirt sophomore Ashley Jones tallied 13 points while graduate student Lena Niang scored 12 with a team-best nine rebounds.
Courtaija Sanders led UCF with a season-high 14 points, and was joined in double figures by Kay Kay Wright (13) and Masseny Kaba (10).
SMU 64, Wichita State 44
SMU women's basketball won its second consecutive game with a 64-44 win over Wichita State on Wednesday night inside Moody Coliseum.
Kayla White led the team with an 18-point performance, one of four Mustangs in double figures. On the other end of the floor, the Mustangs kept the Shocker offense at bay all night. The defense forced a season high 30 turnovers leading to 23 points.
For the second time in as many games, the Mustangs never trailed at any point. Reagan Bradley found Paige Bayliss on a jumper seven seconds in to set the early tone. The Mustangs led by three after one.
After the Shockers tied it up a 15 in the second quarter, the Mustangs went on a 7-0 run keeping Wichita off the scoreboard for 4:57 of game time. The Mustangs extended the lead to 10 heading into the break, 32-22. SMU held Wichita to 4-of-15 shooting in the quarter. Kayla White led all scorers with 11 first half points.
SMU (9-10, 3-4) continued to push the lead in the third quarter. Johnasia Cash contributed 8 points in the period. Kayla White's three near the buzzer sent SMU up 19 heading to the fourth.
The Mustangs extended the lead over Wichita State (11-10, 3-5) all the way to 26 in the fourth quarter as they cruised to their second straight victory by 20+ points.
Reagan Bradley had another strong game on both ends. The freshman finished with 11 points, seven assists and three boards. Bradley continues to climb the SMU freshman assist leaderboard. Bradley trails leader Tomi Hollis (95) for the most ever by a Mustang freshman with over a month of season to play.
Tulane 50, Tulsa 46
The Tulane University women's basketball team defeated Tulsa, 50-46, in the Reynolds Center.
Tulane (12-9, 7-1) outshot Tulsa (6-15, 1-7) .378-.267 from the floor and .500-.238 from three. The Green Wave logged 38 rebounds, 10 steals, seven assists and seven blocks, while the Golden Hurricane recorded 36 rebounds, 12 assists, 12 steals and two blocks.
Senior Kayla Manuirirangi led the team with 18 points. She shot 5-8 from the floor, 4-6 from behind the arc and 4-4 at the free throw line. Junior Krystal Freeman grabbed a team-high six rebounds and five steals and added 10 points. Sophomore Mia Heide blocked four shots and snagged five rebounds.
For Tulsa, Morgan Brady recorded a season-high 18 points. Kayla Moutry scored seven points and Kendrian Elliot had six points and six boards.
Tulane opened the second half with a 9-2 run to take a 35-21 lead with 6:16 left in the third quarter. The Green Wave held Tulsa scoreless for more than four minutes of the third period during the run. The Olive and Blue took a 41-27 lead into the fourth quarter.
Tulsa scored the first 10 points of the fourth quarter to cut the Tulane lead to 41-37. Tulane stopped the run with a free throw from sophomore Mia Heide and a three from Manuirirangi. Tulsa cut the lead to 48-46 with five seconds remaining, but junior Arsula Clark knocked down two free throws to set the final score at 50-46.
The Golden Hurricane grabbed an early lead, but the Green Wave closed the first quarter on an 11-3 run to take a 15-7 lead after one. Five different Tulane players scored in the opening period.
Both teams traded baskets to open the second quarter then Tulane ended the quarter with a 6-0 run and went into halftime with a 26-19 lead.
UPCOMING SCHEDULE
