Saturday, Feb. 13
No. 14/15 USF 67, Tulsa 46
Bethy Mununga had 19 points and 15 rebounds and No. 14/15 South Florida played its first game in a month, beating Tulsa 67-46 on Saturday.
USF (11-1, *9-0 AAC), which hasn't played since Jan. 13 due to COVID-19 issues within the program, won its program-best 10th straight game including eight by double digits.
Sydni Harvey made four 3-pointers and scored 14 points for the Bulls. Elisa Pinzan had 13 points and matched a career best with six steals. The pair each had seven of the Bulls' 19 assists. Mihaela Lazic added a career-high 10 points.
Wyvette Mayberry scored 18 points off the bench to lead Tulsa (5-9, 4-9 AAC), which is winless against the Bulls (0-9). The Golden Hurricane missed 14 of 15 from long range and finished 18-of-62 shooting (29%) from the floor.
Mununga had 13 points and 10 rebounds in the first half as USF closed on a 10-0 run for 33-20 halftime advantage. The Bulls held a double-digit lead the rest of the way.
USF hosts Cincinnati on Wednesday at 7 p.m.
UCF 70, Cincinnati 51
The UCF women's basketball team picked up where it left off, posting a 70-51 win over Cincinnati in Fifth Third Arena on Saturday afternoon.
Playing its first game in 16 days, UCF (10-2, 8-1 The American) scored the first four points and never trailed as the Knights completed the season sweep of Cincinnati (4-13, 3-10 The American). Brittney Smith and Alisha Lewis combined for 49 of UCF's 70 points, with Smith grabbing 12 rebounds for her first double-double of the season.
The Knights held a 15-8 advantage at the end of the first quarter. While the Bearcats were able to pull within one on two occasions in the second frame, baskets from Lewis and Smith pushed UCF's lead to seven, 30-23, at halftime.
The Black and Gold began to pull away in the third quarter, going ahead by 14 points, 45-31, on a fastbreak layup from Ahna Burney with 2:39 left to play. UCF led 49-35 heading into the final period. The final tally of 70-51 marked the Knights' largest lead of the game.
Smith led all scorers with a career-high 25 points, shot 76.9 percent (10-13) from the field and collected five of her 12 rebounds on the offensive glass. Lewis drained six three-pointers en route to her career-high 24 points.
Diamond Battles joined Lewis and Smith in double figures, scoring 11 points to go along with a game-high six assists. Ahna Burney collected a game-high four steals.
UCF forced Cincinnati into 21 turnovers, covering those into 23 points. The Knights scored 32 points in the paint.
Tulane 79, Wichita State 63
The Tulane University women's basketball team continued its winning ways Saturday night inside the Avron B. Fogelman Arena in the Devlin Fieldhouse, as it posted a convincing 79-63 victory over Wichita State to pick up its sixth straight win.
Tulane's win over Wichita State moved the Green Wave to 14-5 overall on the year. In addition, the Green Wave picked up their 10th league win of the season, which marked the first time since the 2015-16 campaign that Tulane has posted 10-or-more conference victories.
"I thought we did a much better job on the boards," Tulane head coach Lisa Stockton said. "We shot really well. We shared the ball really well too. I think Salma Bates has given us such great minutes and that has certainly made a difference for us."
The victory also pulled Tulane head coach Lisa Stockton one win closer to 600 for her career. She now has 599 total wins.
The Green Wave's 79 points marked their fourth highest scoring output this year and its second-highest in conference play.
As a team, Tulane connected at a 50.0 percent clip and held a 41-33 rebounding advantage. The Green Wave also posted a strong effort from long range, as they connected on nine 3-pointers. Tulane has now connected on eight-or-more 3-pointers in three of the last five games.
Senior Krystal Freeman led the way for the Green Wave, as she scored a game-high 20 points, connecting on 8-of-17 from the floor. Freeman's scoring effort marked the 12th time this season she has scored in double digits and the fourth time she has scored 20-or-more points.
Joining Freeman in double figures were teammates Salma Bates, Dynah Jones, Jerkaila Jordan and Arsula Clark, as they scored 15, 13, 12 and 10 points, respectively.
Tulane controlled the first half, as it outshot Wichita State 50.0-31.3 percent and took a 36-25 lead into the locker room. The Green Wave shut WSU down in the second quarter, holding the Shockers to just six points in the second quarter.
The Green Wave came out of the locker room hot, as they connected at a 55 percent clip and finished the third quarter with 27 points. The 27 points were the second-most the Green Wave have scored in a quarter in league play this season, as they hung 30 on Temple on Jan. 30. Both Freeman and Jordan paced Tulane in the third quarter, as they scored eight points apiece.
Wichita State climbed to within nine points in the fourth quarter with 3:18 to go, but that was as close as the Shockers would get for the remainder of the game. Tulane closed the game on a 9-2 run to secure the win.
Houston 71, Memphis 50
University of Houston sophomore guard Miya Crump and junior forward Tatyana Hill each posted 15 points to lead the Cougars to a 71-50 win over Memphis inside the Fertitta Center on Saturday afternoon.
The Cougars, who improved to 12-5 overall and 9-4 in American Athletic Conference play, overcame a 7-0 deficit two-and-a-half minutes into the game. Houston forced 22 Memphis turnovers in the game and erupted on a 14-3 run late to take a 25-18 lead at the end of the first quarter.
Memphis would not threaten the rest of the way. The Cougars outscored the Tigers 15-4 in the second quarter, opening that period on an 11-2 run, and took a 40-22 lead into the locker room at the break.
Hill fell just one rebound shy of posting a double-double and added two steals in the win.
Alana Davis led Memphis with 13 points, while Jamirah Shutes came off the bench to post 12 points with three rebounds and a pair of assists. Jatyjia Jones led Memphis with nine rebounds.
The win marks the Cougars fourth straight victory and third regular-season sweep over a conference opponent this season. Houston owned the paint, outscoring Memphis 46-26 down low. The Cougar reserves played a big role in the win, outscoring the Memphis bench 30-20.
Crump's 15 points marked her sixth straight game with 10 or more points. Hill had a perfect shooting day, going 6-of-6 from the field and 3-of-3 from the free throw line.
The Houston defense picked up 14 steals for its 10th game this season with 10 or more steals. For the second straight game, UH had all three freshmen see time on the court, each scoring at least one field-goal.
This marks the teams second straight win by 20 or more points.
Temple 58, East Carolina 57
A big second half from the Temple women's basketball team lifted the Owls past ECU, 58-57, in a nail-biter. With the win, the team improves to 8-8 (8-5 AAC) while the Pirates fall to 6-11 (4-8 AAC).
How It Happened
> Temple had a sluggish first half, keeping it close in the first quarter before ECU ran away with the game.
> The game saw 15 lead changes and seven ties, with the Pirates holding the largest lead of the day (12) in the third quarter.
> Both teams played it tight in the fourth quarter, with neither leading by more than three points.
> The Owls were able to seal the win on a jumper from Mia Davis in the final second of the game.
Statistically Speaking
> Davis led both teams with 20 points, while Jasha Clinton's 13 rounded out Temple's double digit scorers. Davis was also a perfect 9-for-9 at the charity stripe.
> The Owls shot 36.5 percent (19-of-52) from the field, sinking 7-of-14 in the second half.
First Quarter: Temple 16, ECU 12
> The Owls and the Pirates played fairly even, with neither team finding much separation.
> ECU struck first, going up 5-0 on a trey and a layup.
> Temple got on the board with a pair of free throws from Davis, pulling within two (7-5) after three more free throws.
> A lone foul shot from Davis tied the game (8-8), with an Alexa Williamson layup giving the Cherry and White its first lead with under five minutes remaining.
> ECU would tie the game at 12 on a layup from Dominique Claytor, but another pair of Davis free throws and a layup from Emani Mayo gave Temple the lead at the break.
Second Quarter: ECU 31, Temple 21
> Temple looked disorganized in the second quarter, committing seven turnovers and scoring just five points.
> ECU was able to capitalize on the Owls' miscues, scoring 12 points off turnovers.
> The Pirates' defense held Temple to a nearly seven-minute scoring drought, with a free throw from Clinton getting Temple back on the board.
> The Cherry and White sank just two buckets in the quarter, while the Pirates went 7-of-13 from the field.
Third Quarter: ECU 44, Temple 43
> The Owls opened the quarter hot, scoring 11 of the first 16 points.
> Temple chipped away at ECU's lead, with a Davis trey cutting the deficit to one (38-37).
> A pair of Pirate free throws increased their lead to three, but a long field goal from Clinton would tie the game with just under two minutes left.
> The Cherry and White took its first lead since opening the second quarter on a free throw from Rayniah Walker.
> The teams traded buckets and the lead with with under a minute, but a pair of made free throws from ECU would give the Pirates the advantage at the break.
Fourth Quarter: Temple 58, ECU 57
> Both teams suffered droughts after the first media timeout, finally getting back on the board and trading buckets.
> ECU took a two-point lead with less than a minute left on the clock on a turnaround jumper from Maddie Moore.
> A three from Asonah Alexander gave Temple a one-point lead with 41 second on the clock, but a pair of ECU free throws put the Pirates back on top (57-56).
> Wiith just 15 seconds remaining, Davis drainged a jumper and gave the Owls the victory.