Friday, December 17

Memphis 56, Howard 50	Box Score
No. 16 South Florida 62, High Point 46	Box Score
Northwestern 68, Temple 58	Box Score
Wichita State 67, North Texas 64	Box Score
Colorado (RV) 78, SMU 55	Box Score

Memphis 56, Howard 50

After their game on Tuesday against Towson got canceled, the Tigers played their first game in 13 days when they took on the Bison of Howard University. While Memphis struggled to find their footing in the game, the Tigers would hold steady in the end and secure the 56-50 win.
 
Following tonight's win, Memphis moves to 8-2 overall.
 
Memphis jumped out to an early lead to start the game; after back-to-back baskets from Tyler Frierson and a deep three-pointers from Madison Griggs, Jamirah Shutes would add in a driving lay-up as well as two made free throws to give the Tigers the 17-8 lead.
 
Howard found their shooting hands in the second quarter, opening with an 11-0 run to take their first lead of the night.
 
Brooklyn Fort-Davis led the way for the Bison with seven of her 12 points of the game in the second quarter.
 
Shutes would kick-start the Memphis offense in the second quarter with a three-pointer from the corner with just over six minutes left in the half. Frierson would add in back-to-back fast break lay-ups while Maya Stovall wove her way to the basket for a lay-up to keep the Tigers in the game.
 
Memphis and Howard would take a 28-28 tie into halftime.
 
It was a battle in the second half, but the Tigers fight was too strong.
 
Jatyjia Jones opened with four straight points while to give Memphis the lead. The Bison would battle back and stay within reaching distance, but Griggs would drain her second deep buzzer-beater of the year when she sank one as time expired to give the Tigers the 41-40 lead going in to the final 10 minutes.
 
Memphis would hold their lead through the entire fourth quarter and got help from 11 made free throws from Griggs, Shutes and Emani Jefferson. The Tigers would hold on for the 56-50 win and move to 8-2 overall.
 
Tyler Frierson and Jamirah Shutes led the way with 12 points each while Madison Griggs added in eight points off the bench.

No. 16 South Florida 62, High Point 46

Dulcy Fankam Mendjiadeu scored 19 points on 7-of-10 shooting and USF coach Jose Fernandez got his 400th career win as the No. 16 Bulls beat High Point 62-46 on Friday night.
 
Fernandez — who was, in November of 2000, elevated from recruiting coordinator to head coach after just months at USF — took over a moribund program that hadn't finished better than one game over .500 since moving to Division I in 1982. After going 4-24 in his first season, Fernandez has helped the Bulls to seven NCAA Tournament bids, 16 postseason appearances in the last 17 years, and nine 20-victory seasons.
 
"I've been here a long time," Fernandez dead-panned after the game. "I should have a lot of wins."
 
The Bulls missed their first seven field-goal attempts and committed two turnovers in the first 5 minutes as High Point (3-6) scored eight of the first nine points but USF closed the first quarter on a 13-4 run to take a two-point lead. Nakyah Terrell made a layup to open the scoring in the second and make it 14-all but Bethy Mununga answered with a 3-pointer and South Florida led the rest of the way.
 
Mununga shot 6 of 8 from the field and finished with 16 points for USF (8-3). Elena Tsineke added 14 points and five assists and Elisa Pinzan had 10 assists to go with two points on 1-of-3 shooting.

Northwestern 68, Temple 58

The Temple women's basketball team (5-5, 0-0 AAC) suffered its second consecutive loss on Friday night, falling to Northwestern (9-3, 1-0 Big Ten) by a score of 68-58. Forward Mia Davis took the headlines in the contest scoring her 2000th point for the program, but her 16 points were not enough to bring home a win for the Owls. Trailing by three points early in the fourth quarter, an 11-4 Northwestern run was too much for Temple to overcome as the Wildcats pulled away for the victory.
 
The Owls got off to a hot start in this one, particularly on the defensive end as Temple led for the majority of the first quarter. An early three-pointer from Emani Mayo and five early points from Mia Davis got the Owls on the front foot. Davis broke the 2000-point barrier midway through the first quarter. A late 6-0 run gave the Wildcats the lead headed into the second period.
 
The second quarter was once again a back-and-forth affair as the Owls nipped at the Wildcats' heels throughout the period, trailing by one possession for the majority of the quarter. Northwestern's Laya Hartman and Temple's Clinton traded three-point baskets midway through the quarter. The Owls' downfall in the period was free-throw shooting, as Temple shot just 4-10 from the charity stripe.
 
The Owls opened the second half firing on all cylinders as back-to-back three-pointers from Clinton and Aniya Gourdine trimmed the deficit. Shortly after, however, a three-pointer from Northwestern's Paige Mott kept the Owls at arm's length. The Cherry & White clawed back in the game thanks to defensive performances as the Owls head the Wildcats scoreless for three straight minutes midway through the quarter. A baseline jump shot from Jalynn Holmes brought the Owls back within one possession late in the period before Northwestern answered back with a bucket of its own.
 
A quick bucket from Davis got things started for Temple in the fourth quarter as the Owls found themselves down by three points. From there, however, an 11-4 run from the Wildcats was too much for the Owls to comeback from. A few free throws for Northwestern in the closing minutes iced the game for the Wildcats.

Wichita State 67, North Texas 64

A 10-0 run erased a five-point deficit in the game's final minute to give Wichita State a huge road win at North Texas, 67-64, Friday night.
 
Wichita State (9-2) trailed 62-57 with just under a minute remaining and proceeded to score 10 straight points to complete an impressive comeback over a tough North Texas team. The win was Wichita State's best of the season to date and moved them to 9-2, which ties the best 11-game start in school history.
 
Asia Strong registered her second double-double of the season behind a season-high tying 17 points and a new career-high 15 rebounds. Trajata Colbert added 14 points – eight after halftime – and six boards. DJ McCarty made her first start of the season with Seraphine Bastin out with an injury and tallied 12 points, six rebounds and four assists. Mariah McCully chipped in 12 points.
 
Wichita State finished the game just 2-of-13 from beyond the arc, but did most of its damage inside, scoring 40 of its 67 points in the paint. They shot 45.6 percent overall compared to just 34.2 percent for North Texas. The Mean Green entered the matchup shooting 37.9 percent from long range, but made only 4-of-26 attempts on the night.
 
Wichita State led for more than half of the opening quarter behind seven early points from Strong. Six straight points put the Shockers up five, but a North Texas 10-1 run over the final 3:38 put the Mean Green in front, 21-17 after 10 minutes.
 
The Shockers were 7-for-13 from the field in the first quarter, but 10 turnovers resulted in 11 points on the other end for UNT.
 
North Texas then opened the second quarter ice cold. They didn't score until the 4:01 mark, which allowed the Shockers to regain the lead, 23-21. Wichita State would outscore the Mean Green, 13-9, in the second period to tie the game at 30 at halftime.
 
Wichita State's defense held UNT to 29 percent shooting, including 1-of-9 from beyond the arc. North Texas was able to get the Shockers into first half foul trouble, as six different Shockers went into the locker room with two fouls.
 
Strong carried the load on the offensive end, tallying a team-high nine points in the first half.
 
Amber Dixon spearheaded a North Texas scoring run to open the second half, scoring nine points to put the Mean Green in front, 44-37, with 4:21 left in the quarter. That lead would quickly vanish, as Wichita State held UNT scoreless for the remainder of the period.
 
During North Texas' drought, Wichita State scored the quarter's final eight points to take a 45-44 lead into the final frame.
 
Wichita State continued to hold a slim lead for the first 5:43 of the fourth quarter until a Jazion Jackson three-pointer put UNT in front, 53-51. They would stretch the margin to five on an Aly Gamez triple with 1:51 to go.
 
From there Wichita State took over. Strong started the comeback with a putback off her own miss to make it 62-59 with 55 seconds on the clock. Following a UNT missed jumper, McCarty grabbed the defensive rebound and took it the other way for a quick two points, making it a one-point game with 38 ticks to go. Barely 13 seconds later North Texas committed an unforced turnover, which led to a breakaway, uncontested layup for McCarty.
 
McCarty came up with yet another key play on the heels of a UNT timeout by drawing a charge with 17 seconds left. McCully converted on both free throw attempts to give Wichita State a three-point lead.
 
Jane Asinde hit the final two free throws after another empty trip for UNT to seal the road win.

Colorado (RV) 78, SMU 55

The SMU women's basketball team became the first team to score at least 55 points against Colorado, but the effort was not enough as the Buffaloes remained undefeated with the victory Friday night in the CU Events Center.
 
Colorado entered the contest, SMU's first in 10 days, receiving votes in both top-25 polls and ranked ninth nationally in scoring defense, holding opponents to 49.4 points per game. The Mustangs battled with a strong second half performance, scoring 36 in the final 20 minutes, including a 19-14 advantage in the third quarter.
 
Savannah Wilkinson scored 15 points to lead SMU, and Jasmine Smith scored a season-high 13 points. Kayla White also reached double figures, scoring 11 points. Paige Bayliss scored eight points with a team-high seven rebounds, and Wilkinson pulled down six boards.
 
SMU shot 42.1 percent (24-of-57), while Colorado finished with a 45.5 percent shooting percentage (30-of-66). The Buffaloes made nine 3-pointers while the Mustangs managed just two, and Colorado went 9-for-9 on free throws.
 
Colorado held SMU to 19 points in the first half, while putting up 21 and 20 in the first and second, respectively, taking a 41-19 lead at the break. The lead held up as the Buffaloes (10-0) defeated the Mustangs (4-6) 78-55, winning the second half by just one point.