Wednesday, January 19
Temple 56, East Carolina 41
The Temple women's basketball team (8-6, 3-0 AAC) won their third game in a row on Wednesday night over the East Carolina Pirates (8-10, 1-4 AAC), 56-41. The Owls ended the second period on a 13-2 run to take a 15-point advantage heading into the second half, and never looked back from there. Midway through the third quarter, Temple stretched its lead to 21 points and coasted the rest of the way for the victory.
Williamson led the way early on for the Owls as Temple charged out to a 6-2 lead in the opening minutes of the contest. ECU answered back midway through the quarter with a run of their own to take a 10-8 lead which would be their only lead of the game. A three-pointer from Clinton and a pullup jumper from Gourdine shortly after gave the Owls a four-point lead heading into the second quarter.
The Owls defense clamped down on the Pirates attack in the second quarter, holding ECU to only four points in the period. A 13-2 run in the second quarter gave the Owls control of the game as TU jumped out to a double-digit lead as the quarter came to a close.
A relatively even third quarter kept the game within reach for the Pirates. Seven third quarter points for forward Caranda Perea maintained the lead for the Cherry & White. Perea knocked down to three-point baskets in the span of a few minutes.
A quiet fourth quarter for both sides gave the Owls the win as both teams combined for 20 points.
Tulane 81, Memphis 74
Redshirt senior Moon Ursin checked off another milestone as she reached the 1,000-career point plateau while leading Tulane University women's basketball (10-6, 2-3) to an 81-74 victory over Memphis (10-5, 1-3) Wednesday in Avron B. Fogelman Arena in the Devlin Fieldhouse. Ursin posted 16 points as the Green Wave overcame a 10-point deficit after the first quarter by outscoring the Tigers in each of the final three frames.
All five Tulane starters reached double figures in the scoring column with Dynah Jones pacing the team with 17 points. Ursin notched her eighth double-double in the contest pairing 10 rebounds to go with her 16 points. The Destrehan, Louisiana, native also added six assists to her stat line on the night. Krystal Freeman followed with 13 points while Mia Heide finished with 12 points and five boards. Arsula Clark rounded out the double-digit scorers for the Green Wave posting 10 points, six rebounds and four assists.
As a team, Tulane shot 48 percent from the field and 47 percent from beyond the arc in the game. The Green Wave put in work in the paint outrebounding the Tigers 38-31 and outscoring them in the lane 28-20.
The Green Wave and Memphis traded scores throughout most of the opening quarter with five ties in the first six-plus minutes. The Tigers made the closing push in the frame going on a 13-2 run to end the quarter and leave Tulane trailing 27-17.
Memphis held the lead throughout the entire second quarter, but the Green Wave rallied with second chance points and free throws to score the final eight points of the half. Tulane cut its deficit down to 38-37 heading into the locker room after outscoring the Tigers 20-11 in the frame. Jones and Freeman led the offensive attack in the first 20 minutes for Tulane ending the opening half with 10 and seven points, respectively.
Tulane came out of the locker room with the hot hand opening the second half with a 7-0 run to take the lead 44-39 just over a minute into the quarter. Tulane stayed hot throughout the frame as it shot its best field goal percentage of the night hitting at a 66.7 percent clip in the third quarter. Usrin poured in seven points in the quarter to help the Green Wave take a three-point lead at 62-59 into the final 10 minutes of play.to a five-point lead heading into the final 10 minutes of play with a score of 59-62.
The Olive and Blue came out firing again to begin the fourth quarter extending its lead to 12 with nine unanswered points in the first three-plus minutes of the frame. The Tigers clawed their way back to cut the Tulane advantage down to four with 49 seconds remaining, but the Green Wave put the game on ice by knocking down their free throws to secure the 81-74 victory. The Green Wave would hold their biggest lead of the night at 12 points with 6:44 left to play in the fourth. The Tigers would try and claw their way back into it, but Tulane would hold them off and take the game 81-74.
South Florida (RV) 66, Tulsa 63
Elena Tsineke scored a game-high 30 points and Dulcy Fankam Mendjiadeu added 17 points and 11 rebounds as the University of South Florida women's basketball team returned to the friendly confines of the Yuengling Center to defeat visiting Tulsa, 66-63.
The win improves the Bulls record to 13-5 overall and 3-1 in the American Athletic Conference, while the Golden Hurricane falls to 12-3 on the year and 2-2 in league play. The victory also marked the Green and Gold's 700th win in program history.
Playing in its first game at home since Dec. 29, South Florida led at the end of the first quarter, 19-14, however, the Golden Hurricane outscored the Bulls in the second quarter, 22-12, to take a 36-31 lead into the locker room at the break.
Tulsa extended its lead to as many as 10 points in the third stanza, 51-41 with just over three minutes left, but it was the final 10 minutes where the Bulls took control.
South Florida started the fourth quarter on an 8-0 run to take a two-point lead, 56-54, on a driving layup by Tsineke with just under five minutes left. After exchanging leads with the Golden Hurricane, the Bulls secured the win hitting eight of their 10 free throws in the final two-plus minutes, including 6-for-6 from Tsineke. In all, South Florida went 10-for-14 from the charity stripe in the fourth quarter.
In addition to Tsineke – whose 30 points was one point shy of her career-high – and Fankam Mendjiadeu, Cristina Bermejo added a season-high seven points and a career-best nine rebounds in the win.
CIncinnati 71, Houston 56
University of Cincinnati women's basketball won its first game in conference play on the road by defeating Houston,71-56, at the Fertitta Center on Wednesday night.
Junior guard Caitlyn Wilson led the Bearcats with 17 points and four three-pointers, while Jadyn Scott tallied a career-high 13 points.. Akira Levy dished eight assists to go along with 10 points and Jillian Hayes filled up the stat sheet with 16 points, five steals, five assists and six rebounds.
Houston was led by senior forward Tatyana Hill who finished the game with 12 points. Cincinnati shot 41% from the field and held the Cougars to 31% shooting. UC also took advantage of Houston shooting a season low 11.1% from the three-point line.
Cincinnati improves to 8-9 on the season and 1-4 in American Athletic Conference action. Houston falls to 9-9 on the season and 2-3 in the AAC.
The Bearcats' offense got off to a blazing hot start. Wilson got things going with a layup for the first basket of the game. A block by Scott led to a jumper by Hayes, who would then go on to steal the ball from Houston which led to a Braylyn Milton three-point basket. Eight Bearcats would go on to score in the first quarter – highlighted by Emerita Mashaire and Wislon's three-point field goals. The Bearcats ended the first quarter up 26-11.
The second quarter got started with a Hayes' jumper in the paint off a Cougars' turnover. Wilson would add another three-point basket for the Bearcats' largest lead of the game, 36-16. Houston ended the quarter on a 9-0 run to shorten UC's lead to 36-25.
Hayes would break the Bearcats' scoring drought in the third quarter with a pull-up jumper and UC would go on an 11-0 run to extend its lead back to 20, 47-27. Levy would close out the third quarter with a three-pointer to make the score 56-38.
The Cougars would keep things interesting in the fourth quarter byoutscoring the Bearcats in the fourth 18-10.