Sunday, December 12
No. 17/19 South Florida 64, VCU 57
Elisa Pinzan scored 24 points and Dulcy Fankam Mendjiadeu scored 10 straight in a fourth-quarter rally to lead No. 17 South Florida to a 64-57 win over VCU on Sunday.
VCU built a 27-26 halftime lead to 16 with a 15-0 run and led 49-36 heading into the fourth quarter.
Pinzan opened the fourth quarter with a 3-pointer and after a VCU basket, then Sara Guerreiro hit a 3-pointer for the Bulls. Fankam Mendjiadeu then scored the next 10 points, the final basket making it 52-51. Pinzan ended the 16-0 run with a 3-pointer.
VCU missed nine straight shots during the USF run and was 2 of 15 in the fourth quarter.
After Pinzan's 3, she scored the last nine USF points by going 9 of 10 from the foul line. Pinzan finished 6 of 8 from the field.
Fankam Mendjiadeu was 10-of-11 shooting in her first start to finish one point shy of matching her career-high. She also had nine rebounds and Bethy Mununga had 12 as the Bulls owned the boards 42-20 and got 15 on the offensive end for 16 points.
UCF (RV) 61, Mercer 47
The UCF women's basketball team used consistent scoring across all four quarters to extended its win streak to six in a row with a 61-47 win over Mercer in Hawkins Arena on Sunday afternoon.
"This was a big win because (Mercer) is going to be an NCAA team," UCF head coach Katie Abrahamson-Henderson said. "They've been to the NCAA Tournament five years in a row with this team and they have all seniors. They're very experienced so this was a really big road win for us."
UCF (7-1) scored the first seven points of the game, but Mercer (6-5) responded and the squads ended the first quarter tied at 13-13.
The teams traded baskets over the first five minutes of the second frame before Shania Meertens, Masseny Kaba and Destiny Thomas put together a 5-0 spurt to and gain some separation. The Knights closed out on a 6-0 run in the final 90 seconds to take a 30-22 lead into halftime.
Four quick points in the opening minute of the third period pushed UCF's lead to 12 points, 34-22. The Bears were able to close the gap to six points, 36-30, with 4:29 left, but an 8-0 run put the Knights back in front by double digits, 44-30, with just under two minutes remaining. UCF maintained its double-figure lead for the rest of the contest.
Brittney Smith and Masseny Kaba stepped up offensively for the Knights. Smith stuffed the stat sheet with a season-high 18 points, down nine rebounds, three assists, two blocks and a steal. Kaba added 10 points with six boards and three assists.
Tay Sanders added nine points and dished out a career-best five assists. Diamond Battles collected a season-high four steals for the Black and Gold.
UCF outrebounded Mercer, 42-26, and held a 34-10 advantage on points in the paint. The Black and Gold had balanced scoring as nine Knights finished with at least two points.
Tulsa 78, Central Arkansas 46
Tulsa won its eighth straight game for a new school record 8-0 start to the season as the Golden Hurricane grabbed a 78-46 victory over Central Arkansas on Sunday afternoon at the Donald W. Reynolds Center.
The previous best start in school history came in the 2004-05 season when the Hurricane began the campaign 7-0.
Tulsa dominated the contest from start to finish by taking a double-digit lead, 10-0, in the first 3:02 of the contest and never relinquished the double-figure advantage. UCA got the score to as close as 15 points early in the second half, but the Hurricane pushed its lead to as many as 36 points in the final 20 minutes.
Without leading scorer Maya Mayberry, it was younger sister, Wyvette, that led the Hurricane by tying her career-high with 24 points. A pair of freshmen also scored in double digits as Delanie Crawford set a new career-high with 15 points and Temira Poindexter added 13 points
Mayberry had a new career-high five treys, converting 5-of-6 from behind the arc, while knocking down 8-of-14 field goals and 3-of-3 from the free throw line. She added six rebounds, four steals and three assists.
All of Crawford's points came from behind the arc as she made 5-of-7 treys and tied her career-best on the boards with eight rebounds. It was Crawford's first multiple three-point game of the season.
Tulsa shot 47 percent from the field, 48 percent from behind the arc with a season-high 13 made three-pointers and was 9-of-9 from the line. UCA ended the contest by shooting 34 percent from the field and 25 percent from three-point range. The Hurricane had a 38-32 edge in the rebounding battle, while outscoring UCA in the paint 30-16.
"In preparing for this game we wanted to come in and get off to a great start," Head Coach Angie Nelp said. "I was really proud of our players for the way they started this game. I was just glad that Wyvette and Delanie were able to get their open looks, they had teammates that found them at the right times and the fact that they took great shots in rhythm. I'm really proud of them for having career nights."
"We focused a lot on rebounding for this team. Central Arkansas rebounds extremely well. We knew we would have to win that rebounding battle early if we were going to jump out like we did," added Nelp.
The Sugar Bears cut Tulsa's 19-point halftime lead to 15 points by scoring the first four points of the third period, but the Hurricane responded with an 11-2 run to take a 49-23 lead at the 6:49 mark. Tulsa converted 3-of-3 treys during its run to take the 26-point lead early in the period.
The Hurricane increased its lead to 30 points at 56-26 on a Mayberry fast-break layup and the next time down the court Madi Washington's trey put Tulsa ahead by 33.
Tulsa ended the third quarter ahead 61-28 as the Hurricane outscored the UCA 23-9 in the period. Mayberry led the way for Tulsa with eight points, three rebounds and two steals in the third quarter.
The Hurricane took its largest lead of 36 points at three different times in the fourth quarter. Mayberry's layup at the 7:34 mark gave Tulsa its first 36-point advantage, two Washington's two free throws made it 73-37 and Rebecca Lescay's layup put Tulsa ahead 75-39.
UCA outscored Tulsa in the final five minutes 7-3 but it was Tulsa finishing with a 32-point advantage for its second straight 30+ win margin of the season.
Tulsa began the game on a 12-0 run in the first four minutes as the Hurricane converted 5-of-7 field goals and 2-of-2 from the three-point line with all five starters scoring in the early going. UCA got its first points at the 5:59 mark on a jumper by Ruth Balogun to make the score 12-2. The Hurricane outscored the Sugar Bears 14-5 the remainder of the first 10 minutes.
Tulsa ended the first quarter with a 26-7 lead as Poindexter scored with 0:02 on the clock for the 19-point advantage. Poindexter led the Hurricane with nine points, while adding three rebounds and two assists in the first 10 minutes.
The Hurricane had a 10-0 edge in points off turnovers and a 14-4 advantage score points scored in the paint in the first quarter, while knocking down 58 percent of its shots and 44 percent from three-point range.
The two teams played even in the second quarter with each scoring 12 points. Lescay's fast-break layup at the 6:17 mark to give Tulsa its largest lead of the half at 22 points, 31-9. The Hurricane then went on a 4:29 scoring drought before Mayberry's three-pointer at the 1:48 mark snapped the drought for Tulsa.
Tulsa cooled off in the second quarter, connecting on just 25 percent of its treys, while UCA wasn't much better at 26.3 percent.
At halftime, Tulsa held a 38-19 lead while converting 45 percent of its field goals compared to UCA's 25 percent. Mayberry led the Hurricane with 11 points, followed by Poindexter with nine points.
Cincinnati 82, Xavier 73
The University of Cincinnati women's basketball team beat their crosstown rivals Xavier University 82-73 in the 43rd Annual Skyline Chili Crosstown Shootout at Fifth Third Arena Sunday afternoon.
The Bearcats shot 42.4% from the field and 74% from the free throw line. The Bearcats tied their season-best six made three pointers with four coming from junior guard Caitlyn Wilson alone.
Sophomore forward Malea Williams had a career-day with 14 points, two rebounds, and two blocks in 18 minutes. Junior point guard Akira Levy continued to play well with 13 points, seven assists, four rebounds, a block, and a steal.
This was the first Crosstown Shootout since 2019 after COVID-19 canceled last season's meeting.
Xavier started out on a 5-0 run before graduate forward Arame Niang's lay-up got the Bearcats started. Cincinnati forced three turnovers following the start then went on an 8-0 run. Wilson and Williams hit back-to-back threes and Williams' smooth turnaround jumper got the game to within three, 18-15 Xavier with the lead.
The Bearcats forced five turnovers in the first five minutes to then go on an 8-2 run to tie the game at 23. Levy got her own miss and put it back in,Niang twisted her way for a well-earned lay-up and junior guard Jada Scott scored her first basket of the season to tie the game, 23-23. Xavier would go on a 5-0 run before Wilson hit back-to-back three's to cut the lead to one. Freshman point guard Lojain Elfatairy's first points of the season gave UC the lead 31-30 until Xavier hit a buzzer-beater to claim the 32-31 halftime lead.
Williams had nine of the first 19 Bearcat points after halftime.Niang had back-to-back jump shots fall before Williams' lay-up cut it to a one-point deficit for the home side. Sophomore guard Jillian Hayes scored her first basket of the day and Williams went on a 5-0 run. Despite the offense, Xavier would lead 53-50 at the end of the third quarter.
Cincinnati had an emphatic 6-0 run to start the fourth quarter punctuated by Niang's lay-up and one. Levy had a spinning lay-up to tie it at 61 and the Bearcats would never squander the lead, on the way to an 82-73 win. The Bearcats shot 60% in the final frame while holding Xavier to three made shots.
Houston 63, Louisiana-Lafayette 51
The women's basketball team continued its undefeated season in the Fertitta Center with a 63-51 win over Louisiana on Sunday afternoon.
Britney Onyeje led all scorers with 16 points adding three rebounds and three steals. Tatyana Hill posted 10 rebounds to go with three assists and three blocks while Bria Patterson boasted seven rebounds, three assists and three steals.
Bria Patterson got the Cougars (5-5, 0-0) off to a good start with a 3-pointer to open the game. Houston then secured a 5-0 run to get up to an early lead of 8-2. Louisiana closed the gap but the Cougars were able to hold onto the lead at 18-14 to end the quarter.
In the second quarter, the Ragin' Cajuns found their momentum putting up six unanswered points as the Cougars managed eight points. Louisiana took its first lead of the game going into halftime at 29-26.
Houston found its rhythm in the third quarter going on a 10-0 run including a trey from Onyeje and back-to-back 3-pointers from Blair. The Cougars finished the quarter ahead 42-37.
Two free-throws from Fatou Diagne opened the fourth quarter and Houston maintained its lead all through the quarter. Houston closed out its scoring with another 10-0 run including 3-pointers from Dymond Gladney and Onyeje before securing the win 63-51.