Wednesday, January 5
Houston 66, Wichita State 61
To open conference play, the Houston women's basketball team defeated Wichita State 66-61 on Wednesday night, despite being without three starters.
Britney Onyeje led Houston (8-5, 1-0 AAC) with 12 points with six rebounds, three assists and two steals. Kamryn Jones recorded a career-high 11 points while Laila Blair also contributed 11. Fatou Diagne brought down 10 rebounds to go with five blocks and eight points in the Cougars' victory.
Blair led the way for the Cougars in the first, draining a 3-pointer to open up the contest. Despite falling behind 9-5 on a Shockers run, Houston closed out the quarter with nine unanswered points as Blair connected on two more treys while Tamara Nard put up three points.
The teams were evenly matched throughout the second quarter. Back-to-back jumpers from Kamryn Jones as well as an Onyeje 3-pointer gave Houston a four-point lead. However, Wichita State went ahead 32-31 in the final seconds of the quarter to go into halftime.
Coming out of the break, the teams traded the lead deep into the quarter. A coast-to-coast layup followed by a free throw from Jones tied the game at 42-all. The Shockers however closed out the quarter with a one-point lead at 47-46.
A 13-0 run from the Cougars highlighted the fourth quarter as Houston took a 61-52 lead. Wichita State brought the game within five points but the lead was ultimately too much and the Cougars took their first conference win of the season, 66-61.
No. 24 South Florida 61, Cincinnati 46
Elena Tsineke scored 21 points, Bethy Mununga had a double-double and No. 24-ranked South Florida blitzed Cincinnati from the outset then held off the Bearcats for a 61-46 win Wednesday night at Fifth Third Arena.
The contest marked the American Athletic Conference opener for both teams. It was the Bearcats' first game since Dec. 22 following a cancellation and postponement due to COVID-19 protocols. The Bulls also had their original conference opener on Sunday against Memphis postponed due to COVID concerns.
Arame Niang's basket 29 seconds in marked Cincinnati's only lead. South Florida (11-4, 1-0) went on a 13-0 run and closed out the first quarter with a 23-4 lead with the help of four 3-pointers, two apiece by Maria Alvarez and Sydni Harvey, all coming in the final four-plus minutes of the first stanza. The two made threes by Harvey marked her only two field goals of the night. The Bearcats (7-6, 0-1) made just 1 of 14 shots for the quarter.
Caitlyn Wilson's 3 with 3:34 remaining brought Cincinnati within 55-46 but they didn't score again.
Mununga scored 14 points and had 15 rebounds and Alvarez scored 13 and distributed a career-high seven assists.
Caitlyn Wilson scored 12 points for the Bearcats and Jillian Hayes 11.
The win over Cincinnati on Wednesday night improves the Bulls to 9-1 in American Athletic Conference openers, and is their ninth-straight conference-opening win … In addition, Jose Fernandez improves his record in league lid lifters to 13-9 all-time.
Elena Tsineke's game-high 22 points against Cincinnati was her 43rd career double-figure scoring game in her 62nd career game … In addition, it was her 11th career 20-plus point performance with the Bulls, and her third in the last four games
Bethy Mununga recorded her 44th career double-figure rebounding game with her 15 rebounds against the Bearcats … In addition, she also recorded her 25th career double-double, her second-straight, and her third in the last four games.
UCF (RV) 54, Tulane 47
The UCF women's basketball team opened American Athletic Conference action with a 54-47 win over Tulane Wednesday evening inside Avron B. Fogelman Arena in Devlin Fieldhouse.
Playing its first game in 18 days, UCF (9-2, 1-0 AAC) started off a bit slow, with seven turnovers in the first quarter, but held a 13-10 edge over Tulane (8-4, 0-1 AAC) at the end of the opening 10 minutes. The second period followed a similar pattern, and the Knights took a 25-21 advantage into halftime.
Tulane came out of the locker room with a spark, using a 5-0 burst to take a 26-25 lead, but a 5-0 response from Diamond Battles and Tay Sanders put the Black and Gold back in front. The Green Wave remained in striking distance, knotting the score on two occasions, including a 33-33 mark with 2:23 left in the frame.
A clutch three-pointer from Alisha Lewis, followed by back-to-back steals on the defensive end leading to layups for Lewis and Sanders broke the tie and pushed UCF in front by seven, 40-33, heading into the fourth quarter.
The Knights maintained control in the final period, never allowing Tulane to get closer than five, to secure their first victory of 2022.
Masseny Kaba became the 20th member of UCF's 1,000-point club at the scoring her 1,001-career point with 2:51 remaining in the contest.
Alisha Lewis and Tay Sanders each finished with 13 points to lead UCF. Masseny Kaba and Diamond Battles added eight points for UCF. Destiny Thomas pulled down 11 rebounds and had a career-best five blocks. Battles and Lewis each had five assists while Battles and Thomas led UCF with three steals each.
UCF won its conference opener for the fifth-straight season, improving to 7-2 overall in its American Athletic Conference openers.
The Knights held their eighth opponent below 50 points this season. The Green Wave entered the contest averaging 74.6 points per game and UCF held them to a season-low 47 points.
UCF held a 47-41 rebounding advantage. Tulane came into Wednesday's contest leading the conference and ranked fourth nationally in rebounds per game (46.36) and sixth in defensive rebounds (31.4).
The Black and Gold used 20 offensive rebounds to score 12 second chance points. UCF finished with a season-high six blocks.
Tulsa 72, Memphis 69
Maddie Bittle had a career-high 22 points to help lead Tulsa to a 72-69 win over Memphis on Wednesday night at the Elma Roane Fieldhouse in Memphis, Tenn. This was TU's first win at Memphis since the 2015-16 season, snapping a four-game losing streak for the Golden Hurricane at the Elma Roane.
"Maddie is playing with a lot of confidence," Head Coach Angie Nelp said. "She does a great job on offense and defense, and I'm glad she has found her rhythm. Her plays in transition were key for our team tonight."
The Golden Hurricane moved to 11-1 on the season and 1-0 in American Athletic Conference play, while the Tigers fell to 9-3 overall and 0-1 in the league. Tulsa returns to action on Saturday, January 8 at Houston beginning at 4:00 pm at the Fertitta Center.
Wyvette Mayberry contributed 15 points, while Temira Poindexter added 12. Bittle also pulled down a team-best six rebounds, Rebecca Lescay recorded six assists, Poindexter had five blocks and Jessika Evans posted two steals.
"It is absolutely tough to win on the road, but I'm so proud of these girls and their fight," Nelp said. "I am so proud of each one that stepped up in different ways and at different times to help us get this win, but also give credit to Memphis as they are a tough team, and they play hard."
A free throw by Bittle and a three-pointer by Poindexter to start the final quarter put Tulsa up 55-53 with 9:10 on the clock, and then a three-pointer by Bittle gave TU a 60-56 advantage at the 6:50 mark. The four-point lead was the biggest by either team in the final quarter as there were another four lead changes and one tied score throughout the remainder of the contest, but TU came out on top by three as Poindexter made two big free throws with just three-seconds on the clock for the final score.
Tulsa shot a solid 50-percent from the field and 46-percent from behind the arc but was just 60-percent (6-of-10) from the free throw line, while Memphis shot 39-percent from the field, 32-percent from three-point range and 76-percent (13-of-17) from the line.
Tulsa owned a 19-11 lead in assists, a 9-2 advantage in blocks and a 7-5 edge in steals, while Memphis had a 41-30 advantage in rebounds.
Memphis had a 16-6 lead in second chance points, a 23-10 lead in points off the bench and a 34-20 lead in points in the paint, while Tulsa had a 14-6 lead in fast break points.
In the first half, Tulsa got outrebounded 23-16 and allowed 16 second chance points, but in the second half the Golden Hurricane didn't allow a second-chance basket.
"We talked about second chance points at halftime and about doing our work early and getting in position even before the ball is shot, and those numbers show me our fight, and our ability to respond and adjust to the game and the way it is being played."
Tulsa owned a 22-15 lead at the end of the first frame and had a nine-point advantage three-times in the first 10 minutes. Bittle had a team-best eight points in the quarter as TU hit 56-percent of their attempts and held the Tigers to just 28-percent from the field.
Memphis battled back in the second quarter, outscoring the Hurricane 20-14, and making it a one-point game at the buzzer with the Hurricane taking a 36-35 advantage into the locker room. TU hit over 55-percent of their attempts in the first half, while UM shot nearly 39-percent. The biggest Memphis advantage was a 23-16 lead in rebounds, which resulted in a 16-4 advantage in second chance points.
Memphis never led in the first half, but Emani Jefferson scored a layup to start the third quarter and put the Tigers up, 37-36, with 8:37 on the clock. UM continued on for a 9-0 run to take a 44-36 advantage with 7:13 on the clock in the quarter. A three-pointer by Wyvette Mayberry ended TU's scoring drought and the Hurricane battled back to cut their deficit to just three, 49-46, on another Wyvette Mayberry trey with 2:39 left in the frame. With one quarter to play, Memphis owned a 53-51 advantage.
The Tigers were led by Madison Griggs with 15 points, while Jamirah Shutes added 12, and Lana Davis and Tyler Frierson both had 11 points. Jefferson had team-bests of 10 rebounds, six assists and two steals.