Tuesday, December 21
Ole Miss 61, No. 18/16 South Florida 53
Madison Scott scored 12 points, Angel Baker had 11, and Mississippi's defense took over in the third quarter to propel the Rebels to a 61-53 win over No. 18 South Florida at the West Palm Beach Invitational on Tuesday.
It was the first game against a ranked team this season for the Rebels (12-1). It was their first win over a ranked team outside the SEC since 2007.
The Bulls (8-4) were playing their seventh game against a ranked or Power Five team and fell to 4-3. Sydni Harvey scored 17 points, hitting 4 of 6 from 3-point range, and Elena Tsineke added 10.
Bethy Mununga and Dulcy Fankam Mendjiadeu each grabbed a game-high eight rebounds.
USF scored two baskets in the final minute of the first half to lead 30-26 at halftime.
Ole Miss was 4 of 6 to start the third quarter as USF missed its first two shots and had two turnovers before Tsineke tied the game at 34 at the 6:06 mark.
Then the Bulls went cold, missing 12 straight shots before a 3-pointer by Harvey ended a 13-1 run with 4:11 left in the game.
The Rebels, who led 47-38 at that point, went 9 of 14 from the foul line in the final two minutes. USF hit three shots, two of them 3-pointers, but two turnovers kept the Bulls from getting close.
USF was 1 of 10 in the third quarter and shot 27% in the second half while the Rebels shot 55% after the break.
Houston 78, Corpus Christi 51
The women's basketball team continued its five-game win streak beating Texas A&M Corpus Christi 78-51 on Tuesday afternoon in the Fertitta Center.
Tatyana Hill led all scorers with 15 points to go with nine rebounds and three steals. Bria Patterson added 10 points with two steals as Dymond Gladney had seven points and five assists with three steals.
Houston (7-5, 0-0) got out to an early lead in the first quarter as Laila Blair connected on a 3-pointer before the Cougars went on an 11-0 run to make the score 17-10. Houston closed out the quarter with six straight points for its first double-digit lead of the game at 23-12.
Corpus Christi brought the game within seven to start the second quarter but back-to-back layups from Kamryn Jones gave Houston a 27-16 lead. Eight unanswered points from the Cougars brought the score to 26-18 and Houston pushed to a 20 point lead going into halftime at 41-21.
The Cougars fended off the Islanders enough to maintain a double-digit lead throughout the third quarter, despite a scoring drought. A 3-pointer followed by a jumper and a layup put the Cougars ahead with another 20 point lead at 56-35 to end the quarter.
Back-to-back 3-pointers from Eryka Sidney gave the Cougars momentum in the fourth quarter as Houston secured the win over Corpus Christi, 78-51.
East Carolina 85, UMES 57
In the final game of 2021, the East Carolina women's basketball team finished the year with a flourish as the Pirates beat UMES 85-57 on Tuesday afternoon.
East Carolina finishes its nonconference slate with a 7-6 record, including 6-1 at home while Maryland Eastern Shore drops to 4-8 on the year.
Coming into the game averaging 12 points in the first quarter over her first three games, Taniyah Thompson did not reach that mark in the opening frame but the junior guard did score eight points, including knocking down both of her three point attempts. Thompson was not the only Pirate to shoot well early, as East Carolina shot 9-of-17 (.529) from the floor and 2-of-5 (.400) from three in the first quarter. But UMES kept right with the Pirates, with Amanda Carney leading the Shorehawks with nine points. At the end of the first, ECU's lead was a slim 21-18.
ECU added another 21 points in the second quarter, thanks to good ball movement and dominance in the paint. The Pirates had six assists on eight field goals in the second frame and outscored UMES 14-4 in the paint. Alexsia Rose handed out four of those assists while eight ECU players scored, led by five more from Thompson. On the other end, the East Carolina defense clamped down, holding UMES to 3-of-16 (.188) shooting and forced four turnovers. A 9-2 run to close out the half staked ECU to a 42-26 lead.
Thompson and the Pirate defense combined in the third quarter to put the game out of reach. Thompson scored 13 points in the third quarter, outscoring UMES 13-4 on her own. Meanwhile, East Carolina did not allow the Shorehawks to hit a single field goal in the frame, holding them to 0-of-10 shooting and allowing just four free throws.
ECU rattled off a 13-0 run over the first five minutes and after two UMES free throws, the Pirates finished the quarter on an 11-2 run to take a 66-37 lead.
If there was one blemish on ECU on the day, it was the fourth quarter which saw the Pirates give up a season-high 27 points, as UMES shot 12-of-19 (.632) in the final 10 minutes. The bright spot on the other end was the three-point shooting with the Pirates knocking down 5-of-8 (.625) from beyond the arc. Danae McNeal and Rose each hit a pair while Paige Lyons knocked down one of her own.
Thompson finished with 26 points and five rebounds. It is her fourth straight game with at least 20 points and the sixth time overall. She has also finished in double-figures in 11 of 13 games.
Rose and McNeal both reached double-figures in scoring. Rose had 12 points to go along with a team-high six assists. McNeal had 10 points and added three rebounds.
Kansas 68, Wichita State 55
A poor shooting night proved to be the difference in a battle of two Sunflower State teams Tuesday night, as Kansas knocked off Wichita State, 68-55.
Wichita State (9-3) suffered its first home loss of the season in a matchup with a Kansas program that hadn't happened since 2011.
Mariah McCully scored a game-high 23 points, marking her fifth straight game in double figures and second 20-point output of the season. Trajata Colbert just missed a double-double with 10 points and eight rebounds.
Wichita State missed 12 of its 14 three-point attempts, with McCully connecting on both in the final minutes of the fourth quarter and shot just 31 percent overall. Kansas converted on nearly 50 percent of its attempts and cashed in 7-of-23 from beyond the arc.
KU opened up a 9-1 lead near the halfway mark thanks to Wichita State missing its first seven attempts. The whole first quarter was a struggle offensively for both teams. KU shot just 33 percent and committed six turnovers, while the Shockers made just 3-of-21 attempts (14 percent).
The Jayhawks extended their lead to 16-7 to open the second quarter, but a furious 12-1 run, capped by a 2-on-1 fast break layup for Strong gave the Shockers their first lead at the 4:45 mark.
The final four-plus minutes saw the lead change sides four times, and would end with KU after a last second three-pointer from Holly Kersgieter. Kansas took a 25-23 lead into the break despite shooting 3-of-14 from three-point range and committing 10 turnovers.
For Wichita State, the first half on offense was a struggle. The Shockers finished the half 0-for-5 from beyond the arc and shot 26 percent overall.
KU came out and scored the first five points to extend the margin to seven and would hold a lead between 5-8 points for much of the quarter. McCully did her best to keep the Shockers within striking distance, scoring seven points in the frame.
Wichita State had a chance to pull within three in the final seconds, but a 2-on-1 fast break resulted in a Wichita State turnover and a KU three-pointer on the other end to make it 48-40 after three quarters.
An 11-4 start to the final quarter, capped by a 7-0 run pushed KU to a 59-44 lead with only 4:36 to play. Wichita State briefly cut the deficit to single digits, but the Jayhawks iced it at the free throw line in the final minute.