Sunday, December 19
Tulsa 92, South Alabama 62
Maddie Bittle scored a career-high 19 points to lead Tulsa to a 92-62 win over South Alabama on Sunday afternoon in the GSU Holiday Classic at the GSU Sports Arena in Atlanta, Ga. The Golden Hurricane moved to 10-0 on the season, while the Jaguars fell to 6-6 overall.
With the win, TU set a new school record for the longest winning streak in school history.
Rebecca Lescay added 18 points, while Wyvette Mayberry had 16 points and Maya Mayberry scored 14 points. Wyvette Mayberry was just one assist away from a double-double as she finished the game with nine, while Bittle and Lescay were just two rebounds away as they each pulled down eight, and Lescay added seven assists and a team-best four steals.
Tulsa shot a solid 52-percent from the field and 53-percent from behind the arc in the contest, while holding South Alabama to just 32-percent from the field and 16-percent from three-point range.
"Our team shot the ball extremely well, and after yesterday, where we didn't start the game shooting the way we wanted, we started the game and shots fell for a lot of our players today," Head Coach Angie Nelp said. "Our team is so balanced and so many that can contribute all over the stat sheet and that is what we saw today. I'm proud of our team effort, and the way we can find each other and share the ball each game is really paying off for our team."
TU finished with 14 three-pointers in the contest, just one shy of the school record (15) set against Valparaiso during the 2014-15 season. The Golden Hurricane's 92 points was also the seventh-most in school history.
Tulsa had a 44-40 edge in rebounding, an outstanding 25-9 lead in assists and a 7-6 lead in steals, while South Alabama had a 5-4 edge in blocks.
Tulsa had a 7-6 edge with 6:42 on the clock in the first quarter, but then went on an 11-0 run to climb to an 18-6 advantage at the 3:13 mark and owned a 26-12 lead at the end of the frame. Bittle had a team-best eight points in the first 10 minutes. TU shot 62-percent from the field and 85-percent (6-of-7) from behind the arc, while the USA shot 23-percent from the field and 14-percent (1-of-7) from three point range in the frame.
TU continued to inch ahead in the second quarter, including a 28-point lead, 54-26, with just under a minute to play, but two free throws made by the Jaguars ended the frame. TU bettered their field goal percentage in the second quarter, hitting 66.7-percent of their attempts, while South Alabama also improved to 35.7-percent.
Tulsa tied the school record with 54 points in the first half and took a 26-point lead, 54-28, into halftime. Bittle and Lescay each had 10 points to lead the Golden Hurricane.
In the third quarter, Tulsa climbed to a 37-point advantage, 80-43, at the buzzer off a layup by Wyvette Mayberry.
South Alabama outscored Tulsa, 19-12, in the final frame as the Hurricane claimed the 30-point win.
The Jaguars were led by Nadia Howard with 14 points, while Mahogany Vaught and Dee Haymer both added nine points, and Vaught had seven rebounds.
East Carolina 79, UNCW 50
Behind one of the best offensive performances of the season, the East Carolina women's basketball team blew out UNCW 79-50 on Sunday afternoon.
East Carolina improves to 6-6 on the season with a 1-5 road mark while UNCW drops to 2-7.
For the third straight game, Taniyah Thompson got off to a hot start in the first quarter. Thompson came into the day averaging 10.5 points in the opening frame over her past two games and she was even better on Sunday. The junior guard shot 6-of-7 from the floor and 3-of-3 from beyond the arc in the first 10 minutes, outscoring UNCW 15-11 all by herself.
Thompson was not the only Pirate to find success on the offensive end, Da'Ja Green had five points and three assists and ECU shot 11-of-17 from the floor and 4-of-7 from three in the opening frame. That helped East Carolina run out to a 26-11 lead.
While East Carolina's offense came back to earth in the second quarter, the defense made sure the lead continued to balloon. The Pirates held UNCW to just 3-of-8 shooting and forced nine turnovers. On the other end, six different Pirates scored and ECU had five assists on nine field goals. That led to a 46-22 lead at the break.
After scoring two points in the second, Thompson was again at the forefront of ECU's offense in the third. She added 10 more points to give her 27 in the game while also grabbing three rebounds. The Pirate defense held UNCW to 30.8% shooting and extended the lead to 63-36 heading into the fourth.
The highlight of the fourth quarter came when Thompson buried a baseline jumper to crack the 30 point mark as neither team shot the ball well in the final quarter.
Thompson finished with a career-high 31 points, the first 30-point game by a Pirate since Lashonda Monk scored 32 at Cincinnati on Dec. 20, 2020. The junior guard added six rebounds and was +31 in 33 minutes of action.
Green narrowly missed her season-high in points, scoring 12 points while adding five assists and three rebounds.
Raven Johnson finished with 11 points and eight rebounds, both of which are season-highs for the graduate student.
Chambers scored eight points, added six rebounds and blocked three shots.
East Carolina made a season-high 33 field goals, shooting above .500 for the second time this season as the Pirates finished 33-of-64 (.516) from the floor.
The Pirates outscored the Seahawks 26-12 in bench points, 38-20 in points in the paint, 26-8 in points off turnovers and 14-6 in second chance points.
Cincinnati 87, NC A&T 77 (2OT)
The University of Cincinnati women's basketball team won in double-overtime over North Carolina A&T on Sunday afternoon at Fifth Third Arena. It is their third straight win as they improve to 7-4 on the season.
Akira Levy set season-highs in points (22) and assists (12) in a double-double effort, the first this season for the Bearcats.
Cincinnati shot a season-best 47.9% from the field and made 81% of their free-throws all while holding their opponents to 34.6% from the field.
The Bearcats started as fast as they have all season when freshman guard Braylyn Milton made a lay-up seven seconds after tip-off for the fastest UC basket this season. Junior forward Jadyn Scott had two baskets off feeds from graduate forward Arame Niang and junior point guard Akira Levy which gave Cincinnati a 10-7 advantage.
Cincinnati went 7-for-7 during a stretch from 3:33 in the first quarter till 8:43 in the second quarter for a 24-19 lead. Sophomore guard Jillian Hayes made a strong move in the post before a wild attempt by junior point guard Akira Levy off a foul went in and produced a three-point play. Milton grabbed the offensive rebound and put it back in at the buzzer for a 35-27 lead at half.
Cincinnati started the second half on a 7-0 run, consisting of a Hayes jumper, sophomore center Nevaeh Dean lay-up and a Levy three pointer for the largest lead of the game, 42-29. Hayes would continue her scoring as she accounted for eight out of the first 17 points in the third quarter.
Levy would secure the first double-double on the season with her assist to Niang for a 64-59 lead in the fourth quarter. The visitors would fight back and their efforts rewarded on a last-second heave to tie the game at 66 and force overtime. It was the first overtime game of the season for the Bearcats.
Hayes made the first two baskets to start the extra period and Jadyn Scott's timely offensive rebound and basket gave the Bearcats the 72-70 lead. The visitors would tie it but miss the opportunity to win it at the buzzer as the game went to a second overtime.
Junior guard Caitlyn Wilson made a clutch three-pointer and Levy had a lay-up in traffic that pushed the Bearcats advantage to 78-72 in double overtime. Niang's emphatic and-one along with Levy's 6-6 from the free throw line put a bow on a 87-77 Bearcats victory.