Thursday, March 17
Houston 63, Louisiana Tech 52
The Houston women's basketball team held off Louisiana Tech 63-52 on Thursday night at the Thomas Assembly Center.
Bria Patterson led the team with 18 points to go with seven rebounds, one assist, one block and two steals. Louisiana native, Tiara Young posted 17 points including a career-high five steals in the game.
The Cougars (17-15, 7-9) got out to a quick start going on a six-point run making the score 14-8 in the first quarter. The Bulldogs tied the game in the second but Houston regained control and finished the half against 35-28.
Houston pulled ahead by double-digits in the third and maintained the lead all the way through the fourth quarter taking the win 63-52.
Tulane 80, Jacksonville 36
A stellar shooting night by the Tulane University women's basketball sends the Green Wave past Jacksonville State 80-36 Thursday night to advance to the WNIT Round of 32. Tulane shot a scorching 66.7 percent from beyond the arc and 51.7 percent from the floor to roll past the Gamecocks in Avron B. Fogelman Arena in the Devlin Fieldhouse.
With the victory, the Green Wave moves on to face Alabama in the WNIT Round of 32. This marks Tulane's eighth trip to the Round of 32. The Wave beat Alabama earlier this season 69-66 on November 14, 2021, in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.
A Tulane trio finished with double figures in scoring with redshirt senior Moon Ursin leading the way with 15 points and six rebounds. Krystal Freeman followed with 14 points and five rebounds while Dynah Jones tallied 10 points and four assists.
The Green Wave knocked down a season-best 12 three-pointers in the contest. On the other side of the ball, Tulane shut down the Jacksonville State offense holding the Gamecocks to single digits in the first two quarters and limiting them to just 22.4 percent shooting from the field.
Jacksonville State put the first points of the night on the board, but Tulane would go on a 9-2 run to have the lead 9-4 midway through the first. The gap wasn't big enough for Tulane as they would continue to pull away and have an 11-point lead heading into the second quarter.
The Wave stayed hot with Sierra Cheatham opening the quarter with a three-pointer to kick-start a 12-0 run to put Tulane up 31-8. The Gamecocks couldn't get back in it as Tulane held them to a 16.7 percent shooting in the second quarter and would head into the locker room with a 38-13 lead.
The third quarter was a carbon copy of the first half with Tulane continuing to pull away from Jacksonville State. The Wave shot a cool 61.1 percent from the field and 83.3 percent from three-point range on their way to extending its lead to 39, up 65-26.
Keeping an easy hold on their lead in the fourth, the Green Wave subbed in their bench for the remainder of the game. It made no difference as they would total 30 points off the bench in the contest with 11 members of the Wave getting on the scoresheet as they sealed an 80-36 victory.
Tulsa 75, North Texas 62
Maddie Bittle scored a team-best 23 points, while three others scored in double figures to lead Tulsa to a 75-62 win over North Texas on Thursday night at The Super Pit in Denton, Texas. The Golden Hurricane moved to 17-10 overall, while the Mean Green concluded their season with a 17-13 mark.
Tulsa will play Wyoming, a 76-73 overtime winner Thursday night over Idaho State, in second round action. The game will be played in Laramie on Sunday at 2 p.m. (MT).
Wyvette Mayberry added 15 point, while Maya Mayberry and Delanie Crawford both scored 12 points. Jessika Evans pulled down a team-best nine rebounds, while Bittle and Crawford both had seven to help TU outrebound the Mean Green, 38-30.
Tulsa shot 44.8-percent from the field, 28.0-percent from behind the arc and 94.1-percent (16-of-17) from the free throw line, while North Texas shot 43.4-percent from the field, 36.4-percent from three-point range and 50-percent from the line.
Tulsa had a 10-9 edge in assists, a 7-3 advantage in steals and a 3-1 lead in blocks.
TU missed their first six shots, but Temira Poindexter scored on a layup and earned the and-one, making the score 4-3 North Texas with 6:03 on the clock in the first frame. Tulsa took their first lead, 7-6, on a Bittle layup with 3:47 on the clock, and then a layup by Jessika Evans put the Hurricane up for the remainder of the quarter with 2:08 to play. TU owned a 16-12 advantage at the end of the frame, finishing the quarter with a 38.9 field goal percentage but was just a 16.7 from behind the arc.
Poindexter picked up her second foul with just 9:22 on the clock in the second quarter, and then Rebecca Lescay had her second foul with 5:26 to play in the frame as both players spent the majority of the quarter on the bench.
With neither team having more than a four-point lead, six lead changes and four tied scores the second quarter was tightly contested, but it was the Golden Hurricane that took a 35-32 lead into halftime.
TU maintained the lead throughout the third quarter until a three-pointer by Quincy Noble put the Mean Green up 49-48 with 2:48 to play in the frame. There were three more lead changes with the Hurricane owning a 57-53 lead with one quarter to play. TU shot just 16.7 percent from three-point range in the first half, but battled back and hit 3-of-7 attempts for 42.9-percent in the third quarter.
Bittle outscored the Mean Green, 7-3, to start the third quarter and gave TU an eight-point lead, 64-56, with 6:26 on the clock. The Golden Hurricane climbed to a game-high 18-point lead at the 2:36 mark of the final frame and earned the 13 point win.
North Texas was led by Amber Dixon with 23 points, while Noble added 15 and owned a team-best eight rebounds.
Tennessee Tech 73, SMU 62
The SMU women's basketball season ended Thursday night with a 73-62 loss against Tennessee Tech in the first round of the WNIT in Moody Coliseum. Savannah Wilkinson scored a game-high 20 points and pulled down 10 rebounds for her 14th double-double of the season. The London, England, native finished the season tied for third in a season at SMU and in the top 20 nationally this year in double doubles.
Kayla White scored 16 points to finish her career 22nd all-time in points at SMU with 1,068. Sydne Wiggins, who was honored before the game for eclipsing 1,000 career points, finished with 10 points to finish the season with 268 points.
Tennessee Tech (21-10) had three players of its own in double figures scoring, with Anna Jones scoring 19 and Mackenzie Coleman and Anna Walker each adding 13. The Mustangs finished the season with a 14-15 record overall, including a win in the American Athletic Conference Championship for the first time since 2017, and advanced to the postseason under the direction of first-year head coach Toyelle Wilson.