Wednesday, January 11
East Carolina 72, Temple 51 – Box Score
Tulane 76, Wichita State 53 – Box Score
South Florida 58, Memphis 45 – Box Score
Recaps
East Carolina 72, Temple 51 – Box Score
PHILADELPHIA – The East Carolina women's basketball team defeated the Temple Owls, 72-51, on Wednesday afternoon in an American Athletic Conference matchup at Temple's Liacouras Center. The Pirates were led once again by Danae McNeal with yet another career high of 28 points.
East Carolina (12-5, 3-1 The American) held an ordinarily excellent shooting Temple (7-9, 2-2 The American) team in check for just about the entire game. The Owls shot a mere 38.2 percent from the field and 26.7 percent from deep while turning the ball over 25 times.
McNeal has been on an absolute tear of late and turned in another fantastic performance Wednesday with her 28 points while also finding herself at the foul line seemingly constantly, hitting 9-9 from the stripe, including 8-8 in the third quarter. This was the senior guard's second-straight game with a career high in scoring after her 26-point outing against Tulane earned her an American Athletic Conference Player of the Week nod on Monday. McNeal scored 23 of her points in the second half alone.
It was in that third quarter when the Pirates took the game over, squashing any hopes of a Temple victory with a 17-0 run over the first 5:56 of the period and 25-11 overall. ECU led by as much as 29 in the period and it never even looked that close.
Micah Dennis had her best game running the point, setting the tone early with nine points and four rebounds in the first half while running the East Carolina offense to its best-looking performance of the year. The senior out of Canada finished the game with nine points, six rebounds, two assists and two steals.
Though her double-double streak finally ended, three-time reigning AAC Freshman of the Week Amiya Joyner had yet another strong performance, shaking off a slow start on her way to a sturdy line of eight points, eight rebounds and three blocks. Fellow freshman Bobbi Smith also had a notable outing with seven points, four steals, three boards and a pair of blocks.
Notably for the Pirates, the win in Philadelphia on Wednesday was the program's first ever on the road against the Owls and continues the team's best start to a season, and to conference play, since 2013-14.
Tulane 76, Wichita State 53 – Box Score
NEW ORLEANS – A hot shooting first quarter spurred Tulane University Women's Basketball (11-6, 1-3 The American) to earn its first American Athletic Conference victory of the season by defeating Wichita State (11-6, 1-3 The American) 76-53 in Avron B. Fogelman Arena in the Devlin Fieldhouse on Wednesday. The Green Wave scored 31 points on 72 percent shooting in the opening quarter to set the tone in Uptown against the Shockers.
Three players tallied double figures in scoring for Tulane with Rachel Hakes leading all scorers with 19 points. Hakes shot 70 percent (7-of-10) from the floor and dished out four assists. Kyren Whittington posted 16 points and swiped four steals. Rounding out the leaders for the Green Wave was Marta Galic with 11 points to go with seven rebounds.
DJ McCarty led Wichita State in the contest with 16 points while Jane Asinde followed with 10 points and 11 boards.
The Green Wave put on an offensive clinic in the first quarter shooting 72.2 percent from the field while knocking down three from downtown. Hakes and Whittington each tallied 10 points in the frame to lead Tulane to a 31-16 lead after the opening 10 minutes.
Tulane pushed its advantage to as many as 19 points just under three minutes into the second quarter. The Shockers battled to pull within 12, but Kahia Warmsley delivered the final blow the half sinking a three off an offensive rebound with 31 second left to send the Wave into the locker room with a 47-32 advantage.
In the third quarter the Green Wave flexed its muscles on the defensive end of the floor holding Wichita State to only six points on 3-of-15 shooting. Tulane also turned the Shockers over seven times to help the offense put up 18 in the frame to take a 65-38 lead into the fourth.
The Wave maintained its distance in the final 10 minutes never letting the Shockers get closer than 19 points down the stretch. Kierra Middleton pushed the Tulane lead back beyond 20 with a three-pointer with 6:32 to play and the Green Wave did not look back closing out the win 76-53.
South Florida 58, Memphis 45 – Box Score
TAMPA — The University of South Florida women's basketball team used a 9-0 run to close out the third quarter as the Bulls pulled away from visiting Memphis for a 58-45 victory at the Yuengling Center on Wednesday night. The win marked the fifth straight for South Florida, and the eighth win in its last 10 games, as the Green and Gold improves to 15-4 on the year and 4-0 in the American Athletic Conference. The Tigers fall to 9-8 overall and 1-3 in The American.
Elena Tsineke scored a game-high 14 points while Dulcy Fankam Mendjiadeu added 12 points and 15 rebounds. Sammie Puisis chipped in with 10 points in the win.
The Bulls, who led 17-8 after the first quarter, but only 29-26 at the half, outscored Memphis 18-8 in the third stanza, with the nine points of their run coming in the final three minutes. During the stretch the Bulls took a six-point edge, 40-34, started by a hook shot by Fankam Mendjiadeu, and closed the quarter with a 13-point lead, 47-34, on a driving layup by Aerial Wilson. Wilson finished the night with five points, five rebounds, and four assists while also drawing five charges on the defensive end of the floor.
Both Fankam Mendjiadeu and Wilson started their collegiate careers with the Tigers before transferring to South Florida before the 2021-22 campaign.
The Bulls extended their lead to as many as 14 points on a three by Tsineke with just under eight minutes left and didn't let Memphis get any closer than nine points the rest of the way.