Sunday, February 6
Tulane 67, South Florida (RV) 55
Tulane University women's basketball (14-7, 5-4) snapped its 19-game losing streak to USF (16-6, 6-2) with an impressive 67-55 win on the road Sunday. The Green Wave proved its strength on the defensive end shutting down any rhythm for the Bulls holding USF to just 33 percent (23-69) shooting from the field and seven percent (2-27) from beyond the arc.
With the victory, Tulane picked up its first win over USF since December 17, 2009, when the Wave beat the Bulls 76-72. The win also moves the Green Wave above .500 in league competition at 5-4.
Redshirt senior Kaila Anderson and redshirt junior Mia Heide led Tulane on the defensive end hounding the Bulls all over the court. Heide held down the paint with three blocks to go with nine points on offense. Anderson showed quick hands with four steals while adding four points and three assists on the other end.
Flipping to the offensive end, Tulane finished with a trio in double figures as Moon Ursin led the Green Wave with 18 points to go with six rebounds. Dynah Jones followed with 13 points while Krystal Freeman posted her seventh double-double of the season finishing with 11 points and 11 rebounds.
As a team, the Green Wave outworked the Bulls on the glass winning the rebound margin 44-39. Tulane also made an impact at the free throw line shooting 20-of-28 in the contest.
Tulane got out to a strong start in the opening frame jumping out to a 10-4 lead just four minutes into the contest. The Green Wave flexed its muscles on the defensive end of the floor limiting USF to 16.7 percent shooting from the floor and 0-for-8 from beyond the arc. Heide and Jones led the attack on the other end of the floor combining for 10 points as Tulane hit the first break leading 16-6.
Both teams continued to search for a consistent offensive rhythm in the second quarter. The Bulls managed to cut into the Tulane advantage, but the Wave mounted its own response stretching its lead to as many as 13 at 27-14 with 4:03 on the clock. Freeman put in some work in the second frame with five points and four boards leading the Green Wave to a 29-20 advantage at the break.
Coming out of the locker room USF chipped away to pull within four of the Wave in the early minutes of the third quarter. However, Tulane did not let the Bull get any closer stretching the lead back out to 13 before heading into the final frame with a 46-37 lead.
In the fourth quarter the Bulls pulled within six on multiple occasions with the final coming at 54-48 with 4:36 to play. The Green Wave answered with six unanswered to build the lead back to double figures where Tulane would keep it the rest of the contest. Ursin and Jones put the game on ice from the charity stripe to close out the 67-55 victory for the Wave.
Temple 60, East Carolina 59
The Temple women's basketball team (11-9, 6-3 AAC) won their second consecutive conference game against the ECU Pirates (8-14, 1-8 AAC) on Sunday afternoon. With Temple up by double digits at the end of the third quarter, ECU attempted to make a comeback with a 13-3 run to begin the final period, but the Pirates fell short, as they missed a critical free throw in the final seconds of the game. Aniya Gourdine, who recorded a triple-double, Mia Davis, and Kyra Wood led the Owls in their victory, as they combined for 51 of the team's 60 points.
There was a back-and-forth battle to start the game, as the two teams were never separated by more than two points throughout the first five minutes of the period. The Owls went on a 10-3 run in the middle of the quarter, but ECU made two layups in the final minutes to decrease their deficit. Temple received all of their scoring output from Davis (7), Wood (5), and Gourdine (4) in the period.
TU got off to a hot start with an 17-4 run to begin the quarter, as the Pirates only scored seven points in the period. The Owls spread the scoring around in the quarter as five different Temple players scored to increase their lead to double digits at halftime.
Davis dominated to start the third quarter, as she scored an and-one while scoring five points in first three minutes of the period. The Cherry and White played good defense to end the quarter as the Pirates only managed one field goal made in the final three minutes of the period.
Taniyah Thompson led the charge for the Pirates in the fourth quarter, scoring the first 13 points of the quarter to decrease Temple's lead to one. Temple received the majority of its scoring output from Wood (5) and Gourdine (4). The Owls held on to their lead thanks to a missed ECU free throw in the final seconds to secure the victory.
Houston 60, SMU 55
Bria Patterson and Tatyana Hill both recorded double-doubles in Houston's 60-55 win over SMU in Dallas on Sunday afternoon.
Patterson recorded 12 points to go with 11 rebounds for her first double-double of the season and second of her career. Hill scored 11 points with 11 rebounds for her second double-double of the season and eighth of her career. Hill also tallied a career-high six blocks in the game.
The Cougars (11-11, 4-6) got out to an early lead as back-to-back layups from Blair and Britney Onyeje push Houston to a 12-5 lead. Four straight points from SMU brought the game within three before Fatou Diagne close the quarter with a jumper to make the score 14-9.
The two teams traded points to start the second quarter before Houston found its 3-point shooting. Trey's from Dymond Gladney, Laila Blair and Patterson pushed the Cougars to a 29-24 lead going into halftime.
In the third quarter, the Cougars continued to drive towards the basket. Five-straight points from Houston gave it a 34-26 lead, but SMU answered back with a 7-2 run and a 3-pointer tied the game at 38-38. A jumper from Onyeje closed the quarter with Houston ahead 40-38.
Houston controlled the game in the fourth quarter going on a 10-3 scoring run to make the score 55-47. The Mustangs sent the Cougars to the charity line for their final 10 points ultimately giving Houston the win 60-55.
Tulsa 65, Wichita State 58
After scoring just 22 points in the first half, Tulsa outscored Wichita State 43-28, in the second half to claim a 65-58 win on Sunday afternoon at Charles Koch Arena in Wichita, Kan. The Golden Hurricane moved to 14-5 overall and 4-4 in American Athletic Conference play, while the Shockers fell to 11-10 overall and 2-6 in the league.
After 19 games, Tulsa has already reached its most wins (14) in the last eight years, the most in a season since finishing 18-14 in the 2014-15 season.
"It was a tough game and a little too close for comfort, but our girls fought hard and battled through the adversity," Head Coach Angie Nelp said. "When this team sticks together and plays as hard as they did today that is all you can ask for and I'm just grateful that I get to be a part of this team. At halftime, we talked about confidence and continuing to believe in each other and that the baskets would fall in the second half and they did."
Temira Poindexter had a team-best 22 points, nine rebounds and two blocks, while Maddie Bittle added 16 points and Maya Mayberry scored 10. Wyvette Mayberry and Rebecca Lescay both had a team-best three assists.
Wichita State had a 44-40 lead in rebounds, a 15-11 advantage in assists and a 5-2 edge in blocks, while both teams had three steals.
Tulsa shot a just 21-percent from the field and 23-percent from behind the arc in the first half, but turned it around for 45-percent from the field and 45-percent from three-point range in the second half to finish the game shooting 40-percent overall. TU also hit 11-of-14 free throw attempts for 78-percent.
TU's 39 three-point field goal attempts is a new school record, topping the previous most (34) set against UConn on January 17, 2017.
WSU was 35-percent from the field, 21-percent from behind the arc and 73-percent from the line in the contest.
Tulsa and Wichita State combined for just 2-of-16 from the field in the first five minutes of the game as TU owned a 4-2 advantage with 4:53 on the clock, and the Hurricane ended the frame with an 11-6 advantage.
TU was 4-of-19 from the field for 21-percent and went 1-of-10 from three-point range in the quarter with Maya Mayberry hitting the lone trey at the 2:52 mark, while the Shockers hit 25-percent of their attempts, including 0-of-2 from behind the arc, and missed their one free throw attempt in the quarter.
Delanie Crawford scored a layup for the Hurricane, giving TU a 13-6 advantage, to start the second quarter, but WSU scored the next 13 points to take a 19-13 lead with 4:54 on the clock. Jessika Evans ended TU's scoring drought with a jumper at the 4:24 mark, but Wichita State outscored Tulsa, 11-7, to close out the first half with a 30-22 lead.
TU was just 22-percent from the field in the first half, including 5.3-percent (1-of-19) from behind the arc, and hit 71-percent of their free throw attempts. WSU more than doubled their field goal percentage from the first to second quarters to shoot 41-percent from the field, 33-percent from behind the arc, and 88-percent from the free throw line in the first 20 minutes.
Poindexter came out and hit two big three's to start the third quarter for Tulsa, pulling TU to within two, 30-28, at the 8:32 mark. She then hit a trey at the 6:03 mark to tie the game at 34-all, and TU took the lead on a three-point basket by Maya Mayberry with 4:56 to play in the frame.
The Golden Hurricane climbed to a seven-point advantage, 43-36, but the Shockers chipped away at the deficit to trail by just one, 43-42, with 1:47 remaining in the quarter. Both teams scored just one more basket each to begin the fourth quarter tied, 45-45.
There were five lead changes and three tied scores in the fourth quarter with the largest advantage in the frame being the final score difference of seven points.
Wichita State was led by Asia Strong with 15 points, while Trajata Colbert scored 14 and Seraphine Bastin had 12. Jane Asinde pulled down a team-best 11 rebounds and had three blocks.