Tuesday, November 23
SMU 63, Louisiana Tech - Box Score
UCF 78, ULM 54 - Box Score
Memphis 89, Southern Illinois 76 - Box Score
South Florida 75, New Hampshire 57 - Box Score
Recaps
SMU 63, Louisiana Tech - Box Score
DALLAS – SMU overcame a slow start to defeat Louisiana Tech 63-59 in nonconference action at Moody Coliseum Tuesday.
Jasmine Smith tallied 13 of her 21 points in the fourth quarter, propelling the Mustangs to the victory.
Knotted at 46-46 after three quarters, Smith moved the SMU lead out to five with a triple and pull-up jumper on consecutive possessions. After a free throw from the guest, Smith's floater from just outside the paint found the bottom of the net, moving the cushion out to 53-47, with just over eight minutes to go. A minute later, Smith answered a pair at the charity stripe with a three, giving the Mustangs their largest advantage of the night at 56-49.
The Lady Techsters chipped away and got the game within two at 61-59, but neither side drained another buck. Forced to foul, Louisiana Tech sent Smith to the line with less than one-second remaining. She stepped to the stripe and iced the game with two successful attempts.
LA Tech utilized a 13-2 run, including eight straight to double up the Mustangs after one quarter. The Lady Techsters hit 8 of 14, including all four three-point attempts. SMU shot 25 percent from the field in the first quarter, including 1 of 4 from long distance in the frame.
Jessica Peterson drew a personal in the act of shooting just nine seconds into the second and converted both at the line. She ignited an 11-4 spurt, slicing the deficit to 24-21, midway through the frame.
During the run, Reagan Bradley and Tamia Jones combined for three transition layups in succession, two off a steal. After a two from the guest, Ella Brow made an unselfish play, passing up on a good look at the basket, finding Bradley wide open in the corner. Her shot hit nothing but net.
The Lady Techsters extended the margin back to six twice, before the Mustangs closed with a 5-0 run and trailing by one at the half, 29-28. Bradley sank two of her 11 points in the frame from the line and Smith drained a three.
After intermission, SMU opened with five points on its first position.
Smith drove the lane and converted, despite being fouled. Embry collected her missed free throw and went up strong, finishing her attempt and drawing another foul. After the successful try, Bradley forced a turnover at midcourt and sprinted in for an uncontested layup, compelling LA Tech to call a time out.
The Lady Techsters slowly chipped away at the six-point deficit and a jumper from Keiunna Walker with 2:40 remaining pushed the visitors in front 41-40. Another fast break layup from Bradley evened things at 46-all, with one quarter remaining.
UCF 78, ULM 54 - Box Score
ORLANDO – A convincing run to conclude the first half paved way for the UCF Knights' eventual 78-54 win over the ULM Warhawks at Addition Financial Arena.
When the Knights (3-0, 0-0 American) took the floor for the game's scheduled 6 p.m. tipoff, they did so for just the third time overall since their Nov. 7 season-opener over two weeks ago, and only the second time at home. A cancelation of the Nov. 10 home game against Mercer due to Hurricane Nicole had the Knights on Tuesday gearing up for just their third game in the first three weeks of the 2022-23 campaign.
Trailing 25-22 with 4:21 to play in the second quarter, Destiny Thomas ignited the Knights' offense with a pair of made tries from the free throw line before Rachel Ranke accounted for UCF's final seven points of the half, including the team's second triple of the night. The Knights on the other end held the Warhawks (2-3, 0-0 Sun Belt) scoreless the rest of the way to bring a 31-25 advantage to the second half.
UCF dug itself out of an early 5-0 hole on the strength of a 7-2 stretch that was spearheaded by three Mya Burns points. Laila Jewett gave the Knights their first lead of the evening, 10-8, courtesy of her club's first 3-pointer of the game with 3:50 to play in the initial frame, but UCF's issues on the glass allowed Louisiana Monroe hang around and bring a 15-12 lead into the second quarter.
After winning the battle on the glass by an aggregate total of 80-69 through their first two games, the Knights were out-rebounded 20-9 in the first frame alone, allowing for 10 second-chance Warhawks points to UCF's three in the first 10 minutes.
What the Knights lacked in their early abilities to beat Louisiana Monroe on the glass, they made up for in improved offensive efficiency and stifling defense in the second quarter.
UCF allowed just four field goals in the frame before the halftime break and rode a 9-0 run to its six-point halftime lead. Despite trailing in rebounds 31-19, the Knights shot 37 percent from the field through the evening's first 20 minutes against the 26 percent produced by Louisiana Monroe.
Once the Warhawks finally found the scoreboard again with their second triple of the night, they had been held without a point for over seven minutes of gametime and trailed the Knights by 10.
Ranke opened the third frame with her second 3-pointer of the night before Thomas, who scored a team-leading 16 points, added four more. The latter would pace UCF with eight points during a third quarter that saw the Knights outscore Louisiana Monroe 24-13.
Taylor Gibson represented UCF's driving force in putting the game on ice in the final frame, scoring 10 of the Knights' 23 fourth-quarter points to finish with 14 on the night. Ranke joined her two teammates in double-digit scoring with 15 points.
The Knights' halftime adjustments certainly paid dividends. UCF out-rebounded the Warhawks 31-21 through the final three quarters and finished with a season-high 48 percent shooting (29-of-60) from the field, the program's best mark since it shot 53.5 percent (23-of-43) in a 60-35 win over Wichita State on Feb. 16 last season.
Memphis 89, Southern Illinois 76 - Box Score
CARBONDALE, Ill. – The Memphis Tiger women's basketball team picked up their fourth consecutive win tonight after taking down the Salukis of Southern Illinois 89-76.
After tonight's win, Memphis moves to 4-1 for the season.
A high-scoring opening quarter would set the pace for the game. The Tigers would see a 12-6 deficit just three minutes into the game after Tyranny Brown laid in a putback.
Memphis would make a comeback and regain the lead after Tanyuel Welch sank three consecutive free throws with 3:32 left in the quarter. The Tigers and Salukis would trade baskets through the remaining three minutes and Memphis would face a 22-21 deficit going into the second quarter.
A 9-2 run to open the second quarter would put the Tigers back on top. Despite Southern Illinois going shot-for-shot with Memphis, the Tigers would keep their lead through the end of the half after Jamirah Shutes sank a 15-foot jump shot to end the half.
Jada Wright came to life in the second half; the 5th year out of Chicago, Ill. Would score five consecutive points for Memphis to push their lead out to 10 in the first minute of the third quarter.
The Tigers would get their largest lead of the night after Shutes sank the team's first three-pointer of the game and give them a 61-47 lead. Madison Griggs would add in a three-pointer from the opposite wing at the end of the quarter to take the 64-55 lead into the final 10 minutes of the game.
Southern Illinois made their comeback to start the fourth quarter with an 8-0 run that cut the Tigers lead to one.
The Tiger offense would continue to push back, getting buckets from Shutes, Emani Jefferson, Destyne Jackson and Hannah Riddick to put themselves back up by nine. After SIU's Promise Taylor broke Memphis' run with a lay-up, Jackson, Shutes and Jefferson would score on consecutive trips down the floor to give Memphis a double-digit lead heading into the final minute of play.
Eight made free throws in the final 74 seconds of the game would lock up the Tigers 89-76 win and give them their fourth consecutive win of the season.
Jamirah Shutes led all scorers tonight with 21 points while Destyne Jackson, Emani Jefferson, Madison Griggs and Jada Wright all contributed double-digit scoring figures. Jefferson led the team with seven rebounds while also picking up three steals.
As a team, Memphis shot 45% from the field while sinking 26 free throws.
South Florida 75, New Hampshire 57 - Box Score
TAMPA — The University of South Florida women's basketball team got a career-high 26 points and 10 rebounds from Carla Brito and 15 points and 12 rebounds from Dulcy Fankam Mendjiadeu as the Bulls defeated New Hampshire, 75-57, for their sixth-straight win to start the season. It marks South Florida's first 6-0 start since the 2016-17 campaign when the Bulls started the season 8-0, the best start in program history. The Wildcats fall to 2-4 on the year.
Sammie Puisis joined Brito and Fankam Mendjiadeu in scoring double figures with 11 points.
Brito and Fankam Mendjiadeu continued their hot shooting from the field against New Hampshire. The tandem, who came into the contest shooting 75 percent and 52.8 percent from the floor, respectively, shot a combined 65.4 percent. On the night, Brito hit on 62.5 percent (10-for-16) of her shots while Fankam Mendjiadeu shot at a 70 percent (7-for-10) clip.
South Florida led at the break 36-26 and extended its lead to 18 points, 53-35, with three minutes left in the third quarter on two free throws by Daniela Gonzalez. The Bulls didn't look back for the remainder of the night.
In the fourth quarter the Green and Gold pushed its lead to as many as 22 points, 71-49, with just over 90 seconds left in the contest on a Gonzalez three.