Thursday, November 11
Tulsa 77, Duquesne 62
Tulsa women's basketball's Angie Nelp recorded her first win as a head coach with a 77-62 win over Duquesne on Thursday night at the Donald W. Reynolds Center. The Golden Hurricane moved to 1-0 on the season, while the Dukes fell to 0-2 overall.
TU's 15-point win tonight was the largest in a season opener since 2004 when the Golden Hurricane beat UTSA by 18 points (80-62).
Freshman Temira Poindexter had a team-best 23 points, while senior Maya Mayberry added 20 points. Sophomore Wyvette Mayberry had a team-best six rebounds, while Poindexter, Jessika Evans and Delanie Crawford all had five boards. Maddie Bittle had four assists and four steals to lead the Hurricane in both categories.
Tulsa had a 16-9 lead in assists and a 9-6 advantage in steals, while both teams had 34 rebounds.
Tulsa took a six-point lead twice in the first frame, including an 18-12 advantage with 1:18 to play, but the Dukes hit two free throws and a field goal to pull to within two after the first 10 minutes, 18-16.
A three-pointer by Tess Myers put Duquesne on top, 19-18, but Tulsa outscored them 21-3 throughout the remainder of the quarter to take a 39-22 advantage into halftime. TU shot a solid 45.2-percent from the field in the first 20 minutes, while DU shot 23.8 percent in the half and just 10-percent in the second quarter.
The Golden Hurricane scored the first seven points of the third quarter to climb to a 24-point lead (46-22), but the Dukes evened out the scoring for a 19-19 frame to trail by 17 with 10 minutes to play.
Duquesne had a 21-19 scoring edge in the fourth frame and both teams shot over 46-percent in the 10-minute period.
Tulsa shot 44-percent from the field, 31-percent from three-point range and 83-percent from the line, while Duquesne shot 35-percent from the field, 47-percent from behind the arc and 76-percent from the line.
Tess Myers had a team-best 17 points while Precious Johnson added 12 for the Dukes. Libby Bazelak had a team-leading six rebounds.
South Florida 72, Alabama State 37
Sydni Harvey scored 16 of her 22 points in the first quarter to lead No. 21 South Florida in a 72-37 rout of Alabama State on Thursday night.
Dulcy Fankam Mendjiadeu added 14 points and three steals for South Florida (2-0). Maria Alvarez scored 10 points.
Harvey made all four of her 3-point attempts in the first quarter as the Bulls built a 21-5 lead and pushed it to 39-14 at intermission. She was 7 of 11 from the field and 6 of 8 from long range overall.
South Florida used an 8-0 run over a four minutes stretch and a 15-3 run in just under six minutes, in the first quarter, to take control of the contest from the get-go. The Bulls shot an impressive 62.5 percent (6 of 8) from behind the three-point arc in the first 10 minutes and never looked back. The Green and Gold eventually extended their lead to as many as 42 points with 8:45 left in the contest on an Aerial Wilson layup.
Ayana Emmanuel scored 12 points for Alabama State (0-2).
The Bulls honored alum and WNBA All-Star, Courtney Williams during the game. Williams, who led the Bulls to four straight 20-win seasons (2012-16), will be inducted into the USF Athletics Hall of Fame on Saturday.