Saturday, January 29
UCF (RV) 68, Wichita State 50
The UCF women's basketball team handled Wichita State in a 68-50 win over the Shockers in Charles Koch Arena on Saturday afternoon.
UCF (14-3, 6-1 AAC) scored the first five points of the game before Wichita State (11-8, 2-4 AAC) rallied to take an 8-7 lead midway through the first quarter. The Knights closed out the frame on a 6-0 run and held a 13-8 lead at the end of the period.
The Knights poured in 21 points in the second quarter to pull away and led 34-22 at halftime.
UCF scored on four straight possessions to open the second half, ballooning its lead to 20 points, 42-22, just over two minutes into the third quarter. The Knights maintained a double-digit lead over the Shockers for the remainder of the contest.
The Knights held a 46-32 rebounding edge and scored 38 points in the paint. Twelve Knights saw action against the Shockers, with 11 Knights finishing with at least two points.
Four Knights finished in double figures, led by Diamond Battles' 14 points on 6-12 shooting to go along with five assists. Masseny Kaba added 12 points with six rebounds. Brittney Smith tallied 11 points and Tay Sanders chipped in 10. Destiny Thomas pulled down eight rebounds with two blocks. Neila Luma grabbed a season-best eight boards for UCF.
Cincinnati 66, Tulsa 60
The Cincinnati Bearcats women's basketball team overcame a 21-point deficit to secure a 66-60 victory over Tulsa Saturday afternoon in Fifth Third Arena.
Cincinnati improves to 10-10 overall and 3-5 in conference play. Tulsa moves to 13-4 and 3-3 in conference play.
Down 21 points at the 3:31 mark of the second quarter, the Bearcats went on a 54-27 run to double their points from the first half.
Freshman guard Braylyn Milton's second three point shot of the third quarter tied the game up for the first time, 45-45.
Sophomore guard Jillian Hayes then took advantage of a Tulsa turnover at the end of the third quarter on a made layup with two seconds left to give the Bearcats their first lead of the game, 48-47.
Cincinnati and Tulsa would trade baskets back and forth to start the fourth quarter. Tulsa's Wyvette Mayberry tied the game up twice off back-to-back three point shots, making the score 60-60 with 1:51 left in the game.
Hayes would make a key driving layup with 1:30 left in the game and it was all Bearcats from there, with Milton and junior guard Jada Scott recording two more baskets to secure the 66-60 win.
Niang led four Bearcats in double figures with a new season high 18 points. Sophomore guard Jillian Hayes stuffed the stat sheet with 14 points, 11 rebounds, five assists, and two steals. Junior guard Caitlyn Wilson and freshman guard Braylyn Milton both recorded three 3-point baskets in the game.
Tulsa got off to a hot start in the first quarter, outscoring the Bearcats 13-4 before Caitlyn Wilson's back-to-back three-point shots brought the score to within three, 13-10. Tulsa made one more basket before the end of the first quarter, leading 15-10.
Tulsa went on an 18-2 run to extend their lead 33-12 in the second quarter. Arame Niang stopped Tulsa's run with a driving layup and the Bearcats would go on a 6-0 run before Tulsa scored again. Sofia Gritzali closed out the first half with a jumper for her second basket of the game, Tulsa up 36-20 at the half.
The Bearcats' offense got rolling in the third quarter. Hayes got things started with a steal and a layup and the Bearcats would outscore Tulsa 11-3 to bring UC back within 8 points, 39-31. Tulsa would make a layup, but Niang followed up with a hook shot jumper and Braylyn Milton a three-point shot to close the gap back to five points, 41-36.
Graduate forward Arame Niang recorded 10 points on five field goal shots to highlight the Bearcats' 28 points in the third quarter. The Bearcats outscored Tulsa 28-11 in the third quarter and 18-13 in the fourth quarter.
Memphis 64, Temple 61
The Memphis Tigers pulled off the ultimate comeback today against the Owls of Temple University claiming the 64-61 win.
Following today's game, Memphis moves to 12-6 overall and 3-4 in AAC play.
After finding themselves down by as much as 10 early in the first quarter, the Memphis offense would get the spark they needed.
Following a baseline jumper from Makaiya Brooks, the Tigers would get buckets from Alana Davis, Madison Griggs, Brooks and Maya Stovall to string together an 11-0 run over the final 2:30 of the quarter to take the 14-13 lead.
While the Tigers would continue their offensive streak, their defense was the backbone – holding Temple scoreless for over six minutes and extending their lead out to 18-13 after a steal and score from Jamirah Shutes in the second quarter. Memphis kept their distance from the Owls for the rest of the half and took the 29-21 lead into the break.
The Temple offense would come alive in the third quarter, holding the Tigers to just 12 points and taking back the lead with 2:04 left in the quarter off a lay-up from Mia Davis. Despite the offensive surge from the Owls, the Tigers faced just a three-point deficit heading into the fourth quarter.
Memphis faced an uphill battle in the final 10 minutes of the game and it would be the sharp-shooting of Madison Griggs that would put the Tigers on top.
Griggs would drain back-to-back three-pointers with seven minutes left in the game to get Memphis within one of Temple. After back-and-forth scoring, Griggs would find the net on consecutive long-range baskets again and give the Tigers a four-point advantage.
Temple did all they could to threaten Memphis' lead, but Jamirah Shutes sealed the deal for the Tigers with a bucket and a made free throw in the final 90 seconds of the game to claim the 64-61 win.
Madison Griggs had a day from the floor with 18 points on 7-10 shooting and 4-6 from three-point range. Jamirah Shutes was right there with her with 17 points and a team best five rebounds. The point guard duo of Maya Stovall and Emani Jefferson distributed the ball extremely well today combining for nine of the team's 11 assists.
As a team, Memphis shot 44.6% from the field and 44% from long range.
Tulane 75, East Carolina 55
All five of Tulane's starters scored in double-figures to lead the Green Wave women's basketball team past East Carolina 75-55 Saturday afternoon inside Avron B. Fogelman Arena in the Devlin Fieldhouse, as they captured their third straight win at home.
Krystal Freeman and Dynah Jones led the way with 14 points apiece. Joining Freeman and Jones in double figures were teammates Moon Ursin, Mia Heide and Kaila Anderson as they finished with 13, 10 and 10 points respectively.
Freeman also pulled down a team-best 10 rebounds to collect her sixth double-double on the year, while Anderson dished out a season-best nine assists.
As a team, Tulane connected a 42.0 clip from the field. The Green Wave also held a 46-35 advantage on the glass. In addition, the Green Wave won the turnover battle 12-10.
With the win, Tulane moves to 12-7 overall and pulled even to 4-4 in American Athletic Conference play. The Green Wave's win also marked their 20th all-time victory over ECU. Tulane now leads the series 20-9.
The Green Wave trailed for less than a minute in the contest and led by as many as 26 points.
Tulane opened up a 23-7 lead at the end of the first quarter, but ECU responded by outscoring the Green Wave 14-4 in the second period to close within six points at the end of the first half (27-21). Tulane struggled from the floor, as it went just 1-15 from the floor in the second quarter.
The third quarter was an entirely different story for the Green Wave, as they shot an eye-popping 80 percent from the floor (12-15) to open up a 21-point lead heading into the fourth quarter. Heide and Ursin combine for 16 points to lead the way for the Green Wave.
In the fourth quarter, Tulane's lead never dipped below 20 points.