Sunday, December 11
Tulsa 95, Central Arkansas 51 – Box Score
Tulane 67, Southern 52 – Box Score
Penn 62, Temple 61 – Box Score
#8 NC State 65, South Florida 57 – Box Score
Kansas 72, Wichita State 52 – Box Score
Seton Hall 63, UCF 56 – Box Score
Recaps
Tulsa 95, Central Arkansas 51 – Box Score
TULSA, Okla. –– Tulsa cruised to a 95-51 win over the Central Sunday afternoon at the Donald W. Reynolds Center as Temira Poindexter led four double-figure scorers with a game-high 21 points.
Tulsa won its fifth straight game and moved to 8-2 on the season, while UCA fell to 4-4.
Poindexter added five rebounds and five assists to go along with her 21 points, while fellow sophomore Delanie Crawford chipped in with 16 points followed by seniors Maya Mayberry with 14 and Maddie Bittle with 12. The foursome combined to shoot 71-percent from the field (22-of-31) and 70.5-percent from behind the arc (12-of-17) for the game. Bittle also dished out a career-high eight assists.
Tulsa led from start to finish, scoring its first points just 0:23 into the game on a three-pointer by Poindexter, and led by as many as 47 points before closing out the game with its sixth largest victory in school history with the 44-point win.
The Hurricane shot season-highs of 59-percent from the field on 26-of-61 and 57.7-percent from three-point range, knocking down 15-of-26. Tulsa held the Sugar Bears to 33-percent from the field and just 23-percent from beyond the arc.
Tulsa's 95 points was a season-high, breaking the previous high of 92 points against both ORU and South Carolina State, and was also the fifth most points scored in Tulsa history, and the most since pouring in 98 points against Houston on March 3, 2018.
Tulsa jumped out to an 8-0 lead and took its first double-digit lead at the 6:49 mark on two Maddie Bittle free throws that made the score 13-2. Tulsa's largest lead of the first period was 19 when Poindexter's traditional three-point play put the Hurricane ahead 26-7 with 2:16 remaining in the period.
The Hurricane shot 75-percent in that first quarter, converting 9-of-12 from the field and 5-of-7 from beyond the arc for 71-percent as Crawford hit all three of her trey attempts for a team-high nine points in the quarter. Tulsa led at the first break by a score of 26-10.
Tulsa ended the first half with a 48-27 lead on a solid shooting half of basketball, connecting on 55-percent of its field goal and shooting 53-percent from three-point range.
Tulsa outscored Central Arkansas 25-10 in the third quarter to take 73-37 lead into the final period. The Hurricane began the second half like it opened the game on an 8-0 run and had its largest lead of the quarter of 38 points before finishing the period with a 36-point advantage.
The Hurricane continued its hot-shooting during the third stanza, knocking down 67-percent of its field goals and 75-percent from three-point range. Tulsa took that shooting through the fourth quarter as the Hurricane built its lead up to as many as 47 points in the final quarter.
Tulane 67, Southern 52 – Box Score
NEW ORLEANS – A pair of significant scoring runs helped Tulane University women's basketball race past Southern 67-52 in Avron B. Fogelman Arena in the Devlin Fieldhouse on Sunday. The Green Wave used runs of 11-0 in the first quarter and 15-0 in the third to hold off the Jaguars and improve to 7-3 on the season.
Three players tallied double figures in scoring for Tulane as Dynah Jones led all scorers with 17 points on 6-of-11 shooting. The New Orleans native also added four rebounds and a pair of assists. Kahia Warmsley followed with her second consecutive double-digit scoring performance finishing with 13 points to go with five rebounds. Freshman Amira Mabry rounded out the top scorers for the Wave shooting a perfect 5-of-5 from the floor to tally 12 points while adding six rebounds.
The Green Wave put forth a strong effort on the glass outrebounding the Jaguars 48-24. Marta Galic led all players with 12 rebounds marking her fifth game this season with double-digit rebounds.
After a slow start by the Wave and the Jaguars in the opening three minutes, a three by Rachel Hakes sparked an 11-0 run by Tulane to take a 16-5 advantage. Hakes and Jones combined for 10 points in the first quarter to help the Green Wave hold a 16-7 lead at the end of the frame.
Tulane and Southern exchanged buckets through the first six-plus minutes of the second quarter with the Wave maintaining at least a seven-point advantage. However, this time it was the Jaguars that closed the quarter on a scoring run tallying the final 10 points of the frame. Tulane still held the advantage heading into the locker room leading 24-23.
The Jaguars pulled with one (27-26) in the opening minutes of the second half, but the Green Wave mounted a strong response going on a 15-0 scoring run to go up 42-26 with four minutes left in the third quarter. Tulane outscored Southern 22-11 in the frame to take a 46-34 lead into the fourth.
The Tulane lead was cut back to single digits early in the final quarter, but it bounced right back to double figures quickly as the Wave expanded its lead to as many as 18 in the frame. Mabry went a perfect 3-of-3 and scored eight points in the fourth as Tulane closed out its victory 67-52 over Southern.
Penn 62, Temple 61 – Box Score
PHILADELPHIA – The Temple women's basketball team (4-6, 0-0 American) fell in a heartbreaker to Big 5 rival Penn (6-5, 0-0 Ivy) 62-61 at The Palestra. The game was airtight through the entire fourth quarter, with six lead changes in the final frame alone. Penn's Kayla Padilla scored the game-winning bucket with six seconds left on the clock. The Owls had an opportunity to score on the following possession but turned it over on a traveling violation. Penn ran the clock out on the next play.
Penn got out to an early lead, carving out an 8-2 advantage. The Cherry & White responded by bringing wing Tiarra East off the bench for five quick points. Penn made a basket to extend the lead back to five points, Jasha Clinton scored the final five points of the quarter to even things up at 12. East and Clinton led Temple in scoring with five each.
The two sides opened the second up trading baskets. East continued her strong play with the first four points. With Penn leading 19-18, East scored the next five points, including two steals and scored layups on back-to-back possessions. Aleah Nelson splashed back-to-back threes sandwiching a Penn basket to conclude an 11-2 run for the Owls. Penn scored the final six of the half. Nelson and East were the only two players in Cherry & White to score in the second quarter. East had nine, while Nelson had eight. East concluded the first half with 14 points to lead all scorers.
Temple dominated the first five minutes of the third. TU outscored Penn 15-2 coming out of the break. After trading early buckets, The Cherry & White began a 13-0 run. Four Owls scored, including East adding four more points to her total. Penn responded with a 16-4 run of their own to cut into the lead and tighten things up before the fourth. Clinton (seven) and East (six) led the scoring for Temple in the period.
Temple played well in the first few minutes of the fourth, jumping out to a five-point lead with 7:23 left on the clock. Penn's Padilla hit back-to-back threes to retake the lead, before Temple struck back with a 4-0 run. Penn drained a three with 3 minutes left on the board to ties the game back up at 57. The Owls scored four straight points to go up 61-57 with 26 seconds left on the clock. Penn scored the final five points to take the win.
#8 NC State 65, South Florida 57 – Box Score
(AP) RALEIGH, N.C. — Diamond Johnson scored 14 points before a first-half injury and short-handed No. 8 North Carolina State pieced together enough offense combined with tenacious defense to defeat South Florida 65-57 on Sunday.
Jakia Brown-Turner had 13 points and Camille Hobby 10 for N.C. State (9-1), which played a home game for the first time in nearly a month.
Johnson, a point guard, departed with a lower-body injury after making six of 10 shots. She scored 11 of N.C. State's first 19 points before leaving with four minutes left in the first half with an apparent right ankle injury with the Wolfpack holding a 27-18 edge.
Johnson returned to the bench late in the third quarter in a walking boot.
The Wolfpack won its fifth in a row.
Elena Tsineke scored 17 points for South Florida (8-3), which faced its fourth consecutive Top 25 opponent. Sammie Puisis added 14 points, Carla Brito had 11 and Dulcy Fankam Mendjiadeu added 10 points and 17 rebounds.
N.C. State's lead dipped to five points early in the third quarter before it was extended to 50-39.
The Wolfpack led 34-25 at halftime, with the Bulls managing just eight second-quarter points, including Puisis' 3 at the buzzer.
South Florida hit three 3s in the first quarter on the way to a 17-11 edge. Johnson posted the game's next eight points, giving the Wolfpack a lead that wasn't relinquished.
Kansas 72, Wichita State 52 – Box Score
LAWRENCE, Kan. – Kansas put to an end to Wichita State's win streak with a 72-52 win Sunday afternoon in Allen Fieldhouse.
Wichita State (8-2) lost for the first time since Nov. 12 and fell to 7-33 all-time vs. the Jayhawks. Kansas led for all but 38 seconds of playing time and remained unbeaten this season with the win.
Curtessia Dean scored a team-high 12 points on 5-of-10 shooting, marking her second straight game in double figures.
Wichita State was held to a season-low 32 percent shooting and held to 3-of-12 from beyond the arc. Kansas converted on 42 percent of its attempts, despite missing 15-of-21 from three-point range.
A defensive battle saw Kansas leading 13-7 after the first quarter, but an 11-0 run between the end of the first quarter and start of the second gave the Jayhawks a 19-7 advantage.
Wichita State started to settle in as the second quarter wore on, behind a five-point flurry off the bench from Aniya Bell. The Shockers would close the gap to 31-23 behind a last second field goal from Curtessia Dean. Dean had seven first half points, tied for a game high.
The Shockers finished the opening half shooting just 30 percent from the field, while Kansas converted on 43 percent of its attempts. Both teams committed nine turnovers, but the Jayhawks held the advantage in points off those turnovers, 10-4.
To open the third quarter, Kansas scored the first five points to push the deficit back to double digits. It would remain there for the remainder of the period.
The Jayhawks outscored the Shockers 23-12 in the quarter and finished on an 8-1 run to take their largest lead, 54-35.
Kansas pushed the lead to as many as 26 in the fourth quarter.
Seton Hall 63, UCF 56 – Box Score
ORLANDO – Despite a historic display by senior forward Destiny Thomas, the UCF Knights fell just short of their comeback bid Sunday afternoon, dropping their second straight game and their first at home, 63-56, to the Seton Hall Pirates at Addition Financial Arena Sunday evening.
Thomas was a force to be reckoned with on the glass throughout the contest, grabbing down a career-high and program record-tying 24 rebounds that aided the Knights in almost erasing a Pirates lead that grew at one point to 15 points in the third quarter.
Trailing 51-38 entering the fourth quarter, the Knights were gained their first bit of offensive traction against the Pirates since their 18-point first quarter. Thomas paced the team with three of its seven quarter-opening points and Laila Jewett added two more to bookend UCF's 9-2 run.
Mya Burns drained her second 3-point field goal of the afternoon on the heels of three Seton Hall free throws to bring the Knights again within six points at 56-50, and a Burns layup minutes later kept the Knights within striking distance, but UCF was unable to close the gap completely despite winning the fourth quarter 18-12.
The two squads went back-and-forth throughout a high-scoring but close first quarter that saw ties at three, eight, 15 and 17 points before Seton Hall pulled away at the break. Bryana Hardy scored four of the Knights' first five points, and a pair of Burns free throws and her first triple of the evening gave UCF its first lead of the game at 11-10.
Burns paced the Knights with eight points in the first quarter and would finish with 15, marking her third game in her last four with double-digit points after failing to reach the benchmark in each of her first four games this season.
The affairs got away from UCF a bit in a second quarter that saw the Pirates outscore the Knights 15-8 and give UCF a 36-26 halftime deficit, but the Knights again began chipping away in the third quarter.
Jewett made her first 3-point try of the game to open the period and Thomas scored five points on 2-of-3 shooting during the quarter, but the Knights were unable to stifle Seton Hall on the defensive end and found themselves behind by 13 entering the final frame.
Thomas scored a team-leading 16 points to record her fifth double-double in eight games this season, and Kiera Brown notched a season-high eight points after combining for four through her first three games this season.