Wednesday, January 26
UCF (RV) 69, Tulane 67
The captains led the way for the UCF women's basketball team in a 69-67 win over Tulane in American Athletic Conference action in Addition Financial Arena on Wednesday evening.
The captain trio of Masseny Kaba, Tay Sanders and Diamond Battles combined for 57 of UCF's 69 points. They combined to shoot 63.2 percent from the field and Sanders and Battles combined to shoot 50 percent from deep. Battles led the way with 21 points; Sanders added 19 and Kaba finished with a season-high 17.
After a 5-0 start to the game, UCF (13-3, 5-1 AAC) suddenly found itself down by 13 points after the first 10 minutes of play. Tulane (11-7, 3-4 AAC) held a 22-9 lead, outscoring the Black and Gold 17-2 in the final six minutes of the first quarter.
The Knights chipped away at the Green Wave's lead, and a 12-2 run over a two-minute stretch pulled UCF within one, 28-27, with 2:43 left in the second period. Tulane extended its lead back to seven, 36-29, as the teams headed into the locker rooms at halftime.
The visitors pushed their lead back to double digits in the opening minutes of the second half but Diamond Battles closed the third quarter on a 6-0 run by herself to pull the Black and Gold within three, 51-48, going into the final frame.
A 7-0 run to start the fourth quarter – and a 13-0 run dating back to the third quarter – saw UCF gain its first lead since the six-minute mark of the first quarter. A pair of Tulane free throws briefly saw the Green Wave reclaim the lead, but a three-pointer from Alisha Lewis put UCF back in front for good. The Knights held off a late Tulane push to complete the regular season sweep of the Green Wave.
Alisha Lewis dished out eight assists to go along with her eight points. Brittney Smith added six points of her own while Destiny Thomas pulled down six rebounds.
As a team, the Knights finished the game shooting 54.7 percent from the field and had a season-high 20 assists on 29 field goals.
Temple 68, Cincinnati 64
The Temple women's basketball team (9-7, 4-1 AAC) erased a 15-point first half deficit against the Cincinnati Bearcats (9-10, 2-5 AAC) to win its fourth game out of the last five contests on Wednesday evening. Down by 15 points midway through the second quarter, the Owls shaved the deficit courtesy of a 10-3 run before halftime to trim the Bearcats' lead to eight. In the second half, the Owls continued to claw back into the game, taking their first lead of the game with just under four minutes to go in the final quarter. Forward Mia Davis went 12-14 from the free-throw line, as she led the Owls in a strong second half to pull out the victory.
There was a back-and-forth battle to start the game as the two teams were never separated by more than three points throughout the first five minutes of the period. A 7-1 Bearcats' run in the middle of the quarter helped them hold their lead at the end of the frame. The Owls received a majority of their scoring output from Kyra Wood (4) and Davis (8) in the quarter.
The Bearcats got off to a hot start with an 11-2 run to begin the quarter, as Davis and Alexa Williamson sat out due to foul trouble. Perea and Clinton played well in the period, as each of them scored five points apiece. Temple ended the frame on a 10-3 run to decrease their deficit to single digits.
TU had an 8-4 run in the first four minutes of the quarter. Davis scored six points in the period, as she went 4-4 from the free-throw line. Tiarra East scored an and-one in the closing seconds of the quarter to close the gap.
The Cherry and White opened the quarter on a 5-2 run in first three minutes to tie the game at 53. The back-and-forth battle continued throughout the quarter as the teams were never separated by more than two points until the final minute of the game. With under a minute remaining in the contest, a clutch up-and-under from Jiselle Thomas, and good free-throw shooting from Davis and Clinton sealed the game for the Owls.
Tulsa 80, Memphis 68
Rebecca Lescay's 21 points led five Tulsa players in double-figures as the Golden Hurricane captured an 80-68 win over the Memphis Tigers in front of 1,068 fans Wednesday night at the Donald W. Reynolds Center.
With the win, Tulsa takes the season series from the Tigers 2-0. The Hurricane improved to 13-3 and 3-2 in the American Athletic Conference, while Memphis fell 11-6 and 2-4 in league play.
The double-digit victory was the 10th among Tulsa's 13 wins this season after compiling only nine double-figure wins in the previous three seasons.
Lescay converted 10-of-15 field goals on the night, while Maya Mayberry scored 16 points, younger sister Wyvette had 12 points and the freshman tandem of Temira Poindexter and Delanie Crawford each scored 11 points. Imani Jefferson led Memphis with 20 points.
For the game, the Hurricane knocked down 51-percent of its field goals and the nation's second-best three-point shooting team was 44-percent from behind the arc tonight. In the second half, Tulsa shot over 60-percent by making 17-of-28 from the floor and connected on 56-percent from three-point range on 5-of-9.
"Our defense really sparked our offense. We were able to rebound, push the ball and move the ball quite a bit, and then got open shots for each other. We had a very balanced attack offensively. I am very proud of our players for finding each other. Sometimes when those first shots don't fall, one of the things I love about our team is the confidence they have to take that next shot," said Tulsa Head Coach Angie Nelp.
Tulsa took a double-digit lead on its first basket of the second half and extended that advantage to 18 points at the end of three.
The Hurricane increased their nine-point halftime lead to 13 in the first two minutes of the third period for a 41-28 advantage. Memphis cut Tulsa's margin to nine points on a Coriah Beck three-pointer, but Crawford answered with a three of her own the next time down the floor for a 48-36 Hurricane lead with 4:51 remaining in the third stanza.
Tulsa closed out the quarter outscoring the Tigers 14-8 over the final four minutes to take an 18-point lead at 62-44 heading into the final period.
The Hurricane outscored Memphis 30-21 in the third quarter and converted 84.6 percent of its field goals, making 11-of-13, and was 4-of-5 from three-point range for 80 percent.
Memphis scored the first five points of the final period before Maya Mayberry knocked down her third trey of the game to push Tulsa's lead back to 16 at 65-49 with 6:44 remaining.
The Hurricane kept its double-digit lead for all but 0:48 of the final quarter.
Memphis cut its deficit to nine points once in the final 10 minutes when Lanetta Williams' basketball made it a nine-point game at 75-66 with 1:31 left on the game clock. Tulsa got a layup from Lescay and three free throws from Wyvette Mayberry in the final 0:43 for the 12-point victory. The Tigers made six of its final eight field goals to close out the contest.
The two teams combined for just 21 first quarter points as Memphis held an 11-10 lead after one period.
Tulsa scored the first four points of the second quarter to take a 14-11 lead at the 9:15 mark before the Tigers recaptured the lead at 18-16. Crawford's three-pointer with :32 on the clock broke an 18-18 tie as the Hurricane closed out the first half on a 14-5 run for a 32-23 halftime lead. Lescay scored six of Tulsa's final eight points of the half.
At the break, the Hurricane was shooting 42-percent from the field, while holding the Tigers to 35-percent. Both teams converted only 2-of-7 three pointers through the first 20 minutes. Tulsa scored 16 points in the paint and had a 9-2 advantage for fast- break points.
Maya Mayberry had nine points and Lescay totaled eight to lead Tulsa's first-half scorers.
South Florida (RV) 62, SMU 56
The University of South Florida women's basketball team had four players record double figure points and three post double-doubles as the Bulls won their third-straight game, and their 10th game in the last 12, with a 62-56 win over SMU at Moody Coliseum.
South Florida improves to 15-5 on the year and 5-1 in the American Athletic Conference and now sits atop the conference standings in first place with Central Florida. The Mustangs, who came into the game in first place, fall to 9-7 overall and 3-1 in league play.
In addition, the victory marked the 100th win for the Bulls as a member of The American.
The twin-tower tandem of Dulcy Fankam Mendjiadeu and Bethy Mununga led the way for the Bulls en route to the win. Fankam Mendjiadeu had a game-high 19 points and 12 rebounds and Mununga added 17 points – all coming in the second half – along with a game-high 13 rebounds. Mununga had 12 of her 17 points in the third quarter. Elisa Pinzan and Elena Tsineke each netted 10 points apiece, with Pinzan adding 10 assists.
South Florida led 18-16 at the end of the first quarter and extended its lead to as many as nine points, 28-19, with 4:35 left in the half, behind an 8-0 run that was capped by a Fankam Mendjiadeu layup off a SMU turnover. The Mustangs, however, closed out the half with its own 13-0 run, and a 15-2 stretch over the last four-plus minutes, to take a 34-30 lead into the locker room at the break.
Mununga got the Bulls going in the second half scoring the first 10 points of the third quarter but South Florida could not pull away as the two teams sat tied at 50 at the end of three despite shooting 72.7 percent (8-for-11) from the field.
SMU's Kayla White gave the Mustangs a slight 52-50 lead with 8:37 left in the game, however, those were the last points that SMU saw for just over eight minutes. The Bulls proceeded to lock down the Mustangs defensively, holding them to 0-for-14 shooting from the field, and scoreless, until Jasmine Smith hit a layup in the lane with 31 seconds left in the contest.