Sunday, November 21
UCF 57, Belmont 45
Defense was key again for the UCF women's basketball team as the Knights held Belmont to their season low in a 57-45 win in Addition Financial Arena on Sunday.
UCF (3-1) went on an 8-0 run while holding the Bruins (3-2) scoreless over the final 2 minutes and 53 seconds of the contest.
The Knights got off to a slow start, scoring just 14 points while shooting 19 percent from the floor, but trailed by just four points, 18-14, at halftime.
In the third quarter, UCF found itself trailing by four points, 23-19, with 6:45 remaining in the frame. Over the next two minutes, fifth-year seniors Masseny Kaba and Tay Sanders put together a 7-0 run to put the Knights in front. Once Kaba gave her team the lead, the Knights began to build on it.
Alisha Lewis capped off a 9-0 run with a buzzer-beating three-pointer to put the Black and Gold up by 10 points, 37-27, heading into the final period.
The Bruins squad, which was ranked 17th in the nation in made three-point field goals entering Sunday's game, hit four treys in the fourth quarter, but UCF had an answer for every Belmont bucket. The defense locked in down the stretch, not allowing Belmont to score after the final media timeout.
UCF responded to its cold-shooting first half by shooting 68.2 percent from the floor in the second half and nearly doubled its first half point total in the third quarter alone, pouring in 23 points in the frame.
The Black and Gold held a 41-24 rebounding edge and grabbed 15 offensive boards.
Three Knights finished in double figures, led by Diamond Battles' 16 points and seven rebounds. Alisha Lewis added 14 points and dished out four assists. Masseny Kaba nearly had a double-double, with 11 points, eight rebounds and four assists. Tay Sanders matched Kaba and Lewis with four assists and grabbed four of her seven rebounds on the offensive end.
Wake Forest 73, East Carolina 52
A dominant second-quarter was too much for the East Carolina women's basketball as the Pirates fell to Wake Forest 73-52 on Sunday night.
The Pirate defense was all over the floor in the first quarter. ECU forced six Wake Forest turnovers in the first 10 minutes, scoring seven points off those miscues. Da'Ja Green led the way offensively, scoring six points, including hitting a three for the third straight game. That allowed the Pirates to take a 16-13 lead after one quarter.
The Demon Deacons grabbed control of the game in the second quarter, mainly thanks to free throws and defense. East Carolina could score just six points in the second frame, four from Tylar Bennett and two from Taniyah Thompson. On the other end, the Demon Deacons shot 6-of-7 from the free throw line and scored 23 points in the quarter, taking a 36-22 lead into the break.
In the third quarter, the Pirates could not put together a sustained run that would have gotten them back into the game. ECU never scored more than four straight points, with Wake Forest extending the lead to 56-36.
Despite the deficit, Danae McNeal and Alexsia Rose both continued to attack the Wake Forest basket. They each scored six points in the fourth quarter, with Rose hitting four free throws down the stretch.
For the second time this season, McNeal led the Pirates in scoring, finishing with 13 points, including 10 after halftime.
Rose scored a career-high 11 points for ECU, reaching double figures for the first time in her career. Coming off handing out a career-best eight assists against Hampton, Rose added five more assists against the Demon Deacons.
Tiara Chambers was the leader on the glass for the Pirates, finishing with a team-high seven rebounds while adding in eight points.
No. 2 UConn 60, No. 23/22 South Florida 53
Sophomore Paige Bueckers and freshman Azzi Fudd combined to score 39 points to lead No. 2 UConn to a 60-53 win against No. 23 USF Sunday in the Inaugural Bad Boy Mowers Women's Battle 4 Atlantis.
With the win, the Huskies remain undefeated with a 3-0 record and advance to the championship game on Monday. UConn will face the winner of the No. 1 South Carolina at noon on ESPN2, while the Bulls (3-2) will play No. 9 Oregon at 2:30 p.m. Monday on ESPNU.
"Every time we play these guys (USF), must be 20 to 25 times in eight years, it's always the same. They grind it out. They run their stuff. They're so disciplined. They're so well-coached. Their kids all buy in, and they scream for each other and defensively, they don't give you anything inside. You have to make jump shots against them, and I thought that was a really gutty win for us," said UConn head coach Geno Auriemma.
Bueckers led all players with 21 points on 8-of-16 shooting. The 2021 Associated Press National Player of the Year and the BIG EAST Preseason Player of the Year also dished out seven assists and hit three 3-pointers. Fudd, the BIG EAST Preseason Freshman of the Year, had the best performance of her young career with 18 points, connecting on 6-of-10 shots, including 6-of-9 from 3-point range.
In a tightly-contested matchup of former American Athletic Conference (AAC) rivals, UConn led for most of the game, but USF stayed within striking distance. The Huskies led 34-25 at halftime, but the Bulls scored 20 points in the third quarter and limited UConn to 11 to knot the score at 45-45 heading to the fourth quarter.
"I thought for the most part, that first half we defended really well," said USF head coach Jose Fernandez. "We gave up the straight line drives. The glass was really important to us. Holding them to six offensive rebounds, that was a thing and that's what we stressed. That's what hurt us at Tennessee, so I'm glad that we fixed that issue yesterday. We did a good job on the glass today.
"The pick and roll coverages hurt us there in the second half. Overall, short-term memory and we got to respond, get ready to play tomorrow, whoever we're gonna play, but I'm proud. I thought we defended we made multiple plays and that was your typical second, third weekend NCAA Tournament game."
After trailing by as many as 13 points early in the second quarter, and by eight, 42-34, with just over five minutes left in the third stanza, the Bulls used 9-0 run to take the lead, 43-42, on a Bethy Mununga runner in the lane. South Florida then took its biggest lead of the contest on a rebound putback by Shae Leverett with 19 seconds left in the quarter, before Bueckers hit a fall-away three to tie the contest at 45-all at the end of the third.
Fudd opened the fourth quarter with a 3-pointer and Bueckers followed a few minutes later with a layup to push the Huskies lead to 50-45. Dulcy Mendjiadeu Fankam's layup pulled USF within three points at the 5:55 mark, but the Bulls couldn't get any closer as UConn held USF to just eight points in the fourth quarter to earn the 60-53 win.
Elena Tsineke and Mununga led the Bulls with 17 and 15 points, respectively. Mununga and Leverett each grabbed a game-high eight rebounds in the loss, while Tsineke grabbed a career-high seven.
Tulsa 69, Oral Roberts 55
Tulsa used a big first quarter for an early double-digit lead en route to a 69-55 victory over the ORU Golden Eagles Sunday afternoon in the Mayor's Cup Game at ORU's Mabee Center.
The Hurricane moved to 4-0 for the first time since the 2004-05 season, when Tulsa started 7-0, and it also marks just the second time in school history Tulsa has started with four wins on the season. The Mayor's Cup win over its' cross-town rival is the third straight for the Hurricane.
Maya Mayberry led the Hurricane with 17 points, while sophomore Jessika Evans and freshman Delanie Crawford each scored career-highs with 16 and 13 points, respectively. Wyvette Mayberry had a game-high eight rebounds and Crawford led the Hurricane with five assists and added six boards.
"It was our defense early on that set the tone for us. We held them to two single-point quarters in the first half," said Tulsa Head Coach Angie Nelp.
Tulsa finished the game shooting 40.6 percent from the field and 38.5 from three-point range, while ORU ended at 36.4 percent after a paltry first half from the field. The Hurricane had a season-low seven turnovers, while turning over ORU 14 times.
Leading wire-to-wire, Tulsa jumped out to a 16-1 lead with 3:39 remaining in the first period. Evans put Tulsa out to a 5-0 start with a three-pointer and layup, while Crawford made it 8-0 on a trey. The Hurricane knocked down 4-of 5 treys and 6-of-12 of its first shots in the contest.
Tulsa led 25-6 at the end of one period while shooting 52.6 percent from the field (10-of-19) and holding ORU to just 14-percent on 2-of-14. The Hurricane converted 5-of-8 first-quarter three-pointers for its 19-point advantage. Evans led all scorers in the first 10 minutes with eight points.
ORU scored its first point of the game at the 5:25 mark on a free throw, but Maya Mayberry quickly made the score 11-1 on her first three-pointer. Evans knocked down her second three of the first quarter putting the Hurricane ahead 14-1 and Wyvette Mayberry's driving layup made it 16-1. ORU didn't score its first field goal until the 3:09 mark of the first period on a Delaney Nix layup.
"We were able to get out in the first quarter and get in transition, run and get open looks and which opened the gates for us to do more defensively. It's always easier to play defense when you're making shots then when you're on your way running back. I thought our players did a really good job playing both ends of the floor for that time," added Nelp.
After ORU opened the second quarter with two points, Tulsa went on a 7-0 run to take a 32-7 lead. The Golden Eagles, though, went on an 8-2 run to end the second quarter. Tulsa's Wyvette Mayberry's layup with 0:04 on the clock stopped a 3:59 second quarter scoring drought for the Hurricane to close out the half.
The two teams were even in the second period scoring just nine points apiece as Tulsa went into intermission with a 34-15 lead.
Tulsa had five second quarter turnovers after just one in the first period. The Hurricane also cooled off in the second period, connecting on just 3-of-13 field goals and 1-of-5 from three-point range.
At halftime, Evans had a game-high 11 points on 4-of-7 overall and 3-of-4 from behind the arc. Wyvette Mayberry had highs of five rebounds and three assists. Tulsa shot 40.6 from the field and 46.2 from three-point range in the first 20 minutes, while ORU was held to 18.5 from the floor and was 0-of-10 from three-point range. Tulsa forced 10 first-half ORU turnovers.
The Golden Eagles were a different team in the second half, coming out of the gates on an 8-0 run and cutting Tulsa's lead to 34-23 in the first 2:03, thanks mainly on two treys by Ariel Walker, the first three's of the game for ORU. Rebecca Lescay's jumper stopped the ORU run with Tulsa's first basket of the period at the 7:36 mark.
"We knew that the fight was not done yet when we went into the locker room at halftime," said Nelp. "We talked about resetting, it's 0-0 and we're going to have to go out and fight just as hard in the second half as we did the first."
"This rivalry is real. You can tell there's a little bit extra," added Nelp.
Walker knocked own two more three-pointers as the Golden Eagles trimmed Tulsa's lead to just six points, 36-30, at the 5:36 mark and again at 39-33. Tulsa finished out the third quarter on a 10-3 run to take a 49-36 lead into the final quarter of play.
The six points were as close as ORU would get as Tulsa maintained a double-digit lead for the entirety of the final quarter. The Hurricane had its largest fourth-period lead of 16 points at 69-53 when Evans sank a jumper with 0:55 left on the game clock.
After getting outscored by the Hurricane 34-15 in the first half, the Golden Eagles came back in the second half and held a 40-35 edge.