Friday, December 30
Temple 80, Memphis 69 – Box Score
Tulsa 55, East Carolina 47 – Box Score
South Florida 69, Tulane 61 – Box Score
Wichita State 61, Cincinnati 49 – Box Score
Houston 60, SMU 44 – Box Score
Recaps
Temple 80, Memphis 69 – Box Score
PHILADELPHIA – The Temple women's basketball team (6-7, 1-0 The American) opened conference play with an 80-69 victory over the Memphis Tigers (8-6, 0-1 The American). The Owls dominated play for a majority of the game, gaining a lead of as many as 21 points in the third quarter. Point guard Aleah Nelson starred for the Cherry & White, tying for the game-high with 20 points, as well as eight rebounds, and a game-high six assists.
Memphis came out of the gate on fire. The Tigers got out to an early 7-0 lead in the first two minutes. Memphis maintained the lead for the reminder of the period, building it to as many as ten points. Tarriyonna Gary led the team in scoring in the first frame, with five points.
The Owls were hot from beyond the arc to start the second. Gary had one, while Nelson hit three three-pointers in four attempts in the quarter. Her second triple pulled the Owls within one with 5:30 to go. As a team, the Owls shot 71% from beyond in Q2. Temple took the lead with 4:11 remaining in the quarter off a Caranda Perea layup, putting TU up 32-31. The Tigers regained briefly at 33-32, it would be the last time they led for the game. Memphis did not score in the final three minutes, finding themselves on the wrong side of a 13-0 Temple run until Dstyne Jackson hit the free throw with eight seconds on the clock. The Owls concluded the period on a 21-3 span.
Aleah Nelson stayed hot to start the second half, staying perfect from beyond, going three for three for nine points before the five-minute mark in the quarter. At the media timeout, Temple had outscored Memphis 17-7. Jasha Clinton contributed six, while Aleah Nelson had nine in the 3rd quarter alone. Memphis went on a quick 6-0 run due to a Temple TO, but a Gourdine driving layup with 1:36 remaining was the first of two Temple baskets to close out the third quarter.
Multiple whistles led to a slow start to the 4th, as both teams scored totaled for eight points at the 7:00 mark. Memphis scored three consecutive baskets of their own, forcing Diane Richardson to call a timeout, pulling Temple's lead down to 14 with under 4:00 in the 4Q. Both teams struggled offensively late in the quarter. Temple didn't score a basket for over four minutes, while Memphis hit only one of their last seven shots. The lack of Temple offense allowed Memphis to pull within 11, but the Tigers had too little, too late.
Tulsa 55, East Carolina 47 – Box Score
GREENVILLE - Temira Poindexter, Maddie Bittle and Delanie Crawford all scored in double figures to lead Tulsa to a 55-47 win over East Carolina on Friday night at Minges Coliseum in Greenville, N.C. The Golden Hurricane moved to 11-3 on the season and 1-0 in American Athletic Conference play, while the Pirates fell to 9-5 overall and 0-1 in the league.
Poindexter had a team-best 20 points, while Bittle added 13 and a team-high seven rebounds, and Crawford had 12 points. Ahrray Young had four assists and four steals, while Hadley Periman had four blocks.
Tulsa will return to action on Wednesday, January 4 against Wichita State beginning at 6:30 pm at the Donald W. Reynolds Center.
Delanie Crawford hit back-to-back three's to start the scoring for TU, but ECU pulled to within one (6-5) at the 5:54 mark. The Golden Hurricane went on an 8-0 run and then climbed to a 12-point lead (19-7) before owning a 19-9 advantage at the end of the frame.
ECU cut their deficit to just five (22-17) with 7:18 on the clock in the second quarter, but two free throws and a three-pointer, all by Poindexter, put TU back up by double digits (27-17) with 6:29 to play in the frame. The Golden Hurricane climbed to a first half best 14-point lead (31-17) but two made layups by the Pirates gave TU a 31-21 advantage at halftime.
TU inched ahead to a 17-point lead (41-24) with 4:23 on the clock in the third quarter, but ECU closed out the frame with an 8-2 run to pull to within 11 (43-32) with 10 minutes to play.
A made layup by Morgan Moseley to start the fourth quarter pulled the Pirates to within single digits (43-34) for the first time since the 7:00 minute mark of the second quarter. TU went back up by 14 (48-34), but the Pirates went on a 10-0 run and pulled to within four (48-44) before a jumper by Poindexter with 2:51 stopped the 4:43 scoring drought for the Golden Hurricane.
In the final 2:51 off the clock, TU held East Carolina to just three made free throws, while Bittle made three free throws and Poindexter had a layup for the final eight-point win.
South Florida 69, Tulane 61 – Box Score
NEW ORLEANS—The University of South Florida women's basketball team ended the calendar year with its first American Athletic Conference win of the season as the Bulls handed Tulane a 69-61 loss on Friday night. The victory improves South Florida to 12-4 on the year and 1-0 in The American while the Green Wave fall to 10-4 overall and 0-1 in league play. The win also extends the Green and Gold's winning streak at Avron B. Fogelman Arena in the Devlin Fieldhouse to 12 games.
Elena Tsineke led the Bulls with a season-high 25 points while Dulcy Fankam Mendjiadeu added 19 points and 13 rebounds and Sammie Puisis chipped in with 14 points.
Neither team led by more than five points in the first half, that coming when Puisis hit her first trey of the night with 4:27 left in the quarter to put the Bulls up, 13-8. South Florida led after 10 minutes, 18-15, however, Tulane outscored the Bulls, 14-10, in the second quarter to take a slight 29-28 lead into the locker room at the break.
South Florida looked to take control of the contest in the third using a 15-3 run over the last seven-plus minutes of the quarter, capped by a jumper from Tsineke with 12 seconds left and a layup by Puisis off a Green Wave turnover 10 seconds later to give the Bulls their biggest lead of the game, to that point, 49-40.
Tulane cut the Bulls' lead to as few as three points, 58-55, with 3:24 left in the game but could not get closer the rest of the way. South Florida closed out the game by hitting six of its eight free throws in the final minute.
Wichita State 61, Cincinnati 49 – Box Score
WICHITA – Behind a career-high 24 points from Trajata Colbert, Wichita State defeated Cincinnati in the American Athletic Conference opener, 61-49, Friday night in Charles Koch Arena.
Wichita State (11-3, 1-0 The American) starts conference play 1-0 for the first time since 2014-15 as members of the Missouri Valley Conference.
Colbert was nearly unstoppable down low. The fifth-year senior was 9-for-16 from the floor on the way to her 24-point night, while adding eight rebounds and two steals. DJ McCarty added 15 points, five assists and four steals. Jane Asinde just missed a double-double with eight points and 15 rebounds. She also swiped a career-high tying four steals.
Wichita State attempted only four three-pointers and shot 38 percent from the floor, but shot 26 free throws compared to just seven for Cincinnati.
Despite making five more three-pointers, Cincinnati finished the game at 31 percent overall and gave up 15 points off 15 turnovers. The Bearcats did however set a new Charles Koch Arena record with 14 blocked shots. Malea Williams had seven of them, also a Koch Arena record for an opponent.
A fast-paced, competitive first quarter saw it tied at 15 after 10 minutes. Wichita State hit six of its first 10 attempts and finished at 50 percent for the period. Five turnovers helped Cincinnati who connected on only 6-of-16 tries.
Cincinnati's shooting woes carried over to the second quarter where they went just 3-of-15, including a scoring drought over the last 5:04 of the period. Wichita State was able to grab the lead going into the locker room thanks to the drought, but only by four, 26-22. The Shockers missed six of their final seven attempts and couldn't take full advantage.
Wichita State shot 41 percent for the half and held Cincinnati to 29 percent. McCarty led the Shockers with eight first half points, followed by Asinde and Colbert with six each.
The Bearcats' troubles on the offensive end would extend to the 4:20 mark of the third quarter. They missed their first seven shots and Wichita State pushed the margin to double digits, 32-22.
Five straight from Cincinnati forced a Wichita State timeout but the Shockers answered with four unanswered from Colbert to make it a 10-point game with less than 2:00 left in the third period.
Cincinnati refused to go away. Caitlyn Wilson would score the final five points to pull the Bearcats within five, 37-32, at the end of three quarters.
Leading by five entering the final 10 minutes, Wichita State immediately pushed the lead to 10. Cincinnati had one last comeback attempt in them when they pulled within 47-41 and 3:54 remaining, but that would be as close as they would get. A three-point play from Colbert and a corner triple from Shamaryah Duncan on back-to-back possessions gave the Shockers a 53-41 lead and only 2:16 to go. The lead grew to as many as 16 after two Duncan free throws and a run-out Jeniah Thompson layup.
Free throws inside the final minute from McCarty and Colbert officially iced the win to close out 2022.
Houston 60, SMU 44 – Box Score
HOUSTON – Graduate forward Tatyana Hill's 1,000 career point milestone highlighted the night as the University of Houston women's basketball team opened its American Athletic Conference schedule with a 60-44 victory over SMU on Friday at Fertitta Center.
The Cougars (4-10, 1-0 The American) earned their first victory in American play with relentless defense on the court after creating a sizable lead prior to halftime. The Mustangs (9-4, 0-1 The American) fought to come back but Houston's stellar overall play was too much for SMU to handle as it delivered a dominant performance to open its conference slate.
Hill's 1,000-point milestone came after nine points on the night paired with a season-high five blocks and a tie for her season-high six steals. Junior guard Laila Blair led the Cougars with 18 points, riding on a streak of 13 games while scoring 10 or more points. Houston has now won eight of the last nine games against SMU, extending its winning streak to three games against the Mustangs.
In the first quarter, the Cougars jumped off to a strong start after sparking a 6-0 run to open the game. Houston continued to dominate at both ends of the court as it ended the first quarter with a 13-6 lead.
The Cougars carried their momentum into the second quarter as they established a 20-12 lead. A powerful defensive presence propelled consistent trips down the court as Houston took its first double-digit lead in the second quarter. Holding on tight to its lead, the Cougars went to the locker room with a 31-21 lead.
Blair led the Cougars with 12 points in the first half while Hill posted seven rebounds.
Houston continued to press full court and establish its game in the third quarter. Late in the period, the Cougars happed on a 13-0 run while holding the Mustangs scoreless for 4:45 before Houston took a 50-29 lead at the end of the third quarter.
SMU pushed late in the fourth quarter to cut into the sizable deficit but Houston strengthened its grip on the game to hold on and take the victory and build on its conference schedule.