Saturday, January 28
Wichita State 69, Cincinnati 50 – Box Score
SMU 61, Tulsa 54 – Box Score
Temple 63, UCF 56 – Box Score
#25 South Florida 67, Memphis 62 – Box Score
Recaps
Wichita State 69, Cincinnati 50 – Box Score
CINCINNATI – Ambah Kowcun and Jane Asinde combined for 45 of Wichita State's 69 points in a 69-50 win at Cincinnati Saturday afternoon.
Wichita State (13-8, 3-5 The American) completed the season sweep of Cincinnati and closes out the series as members of the American having won the final four meetings.
Jane Asinde recorded her seventh double-double of the season behind a career-high 23 points and 14 rebounds. Asinde was a career-best 9-of-11 from the free throw line, while also converting 7-of-12 from the field.
Ambah Kowcun returned to action after missing the last three games and dropped a career-high 22 points behind five three-pointers. Kowcun was 6-of-11 overall and 5-of-6 from the free throw line.
Wichita State shot 39 percent overall and got to the free throw line where they went 21-of-27. The Shockers rebounded from a 27-turnover performance vs. ECU with a season-low nine today vs. Cincinnati.
Defensively, Wichita State held Cincinnati to 32 percent from the field, 6-of-22 from beyond the arc and forced 18 turnovers.
Through the first six minutes of action Wichita State had built a 12-3 lead with all 12 coming from Colbert (6) and Kowcun (6). On the defensive end, Wichita State forced Cincinnati into missing seven of its first eight attempts from the field.
Cincinnati finished the opening quarter just 3-of-15, allowing the Shockers to take a 16-8 lead into the second.
Wichita State's hard work in building a lead would vanish with the start of quarter No. 2. The Bearcats scored the first eight points to immediately tie the game at 16. As quickly as Cincinnati racked up those eight points in the first 1:35, the Bearcats cooled off just as fast. They would score just four points the remainder of the quarter.
Wichita State didn't exactly light it up over the final 8:25, but managed to take a 25-20 lead into the locker room. The two teams combined to shoot 15-of-53 in the first half and neither team was above the 31 percent mark.
Asinde (7), Kowcun (7) and Colbert (6) combined for 20 of Wichita State's 25 points in the half.
Asinde and Kowcun continued to carry the Shockers in the third quarter. The duo scored 17 of Wichita State's 21 points in the third and helped the Shockers win the quarter, 21-11. With less than a minute left in the period, Kowcun converted a driving layup to make it 46-31.
Wichita State kept the foot on the gas and put the game away early in the fourth quarter. With 7:42 remaining, Wichita State stretched the lead to 20 for the first time behind a pair of Daniela Abies free throws.
Following a Cincinnati three-pointer, Wichita State would score the next seven points to push the margin to 24, 62-38.
That 24-point margin would prove to be the largest of the game.
SMU 61, Tulsa 54 – Box Score
TULSA – The SMU women's basketball team pulled off its largest comeback of the season, rolling from down 14 to defeat Tulsa 61-54 at the Reynolds Center Saturday afternoon.
Savannah Wilkinson led the Mustangs (14-6, 5-3 The American), with a team-high 14 points and seven rebounds. Jasmine Smith also scored in double figures, adding 10 points and grabbing nine rebounds while tying her career-high with five steals.
A strong second half performance propelled the Mustangs to victory. SMU outscored Tulsa 33-22 in the final two quarters. Smith gave SMU its first lead (42-40) of the day with 1:19 left in the third quarter. SMU is 13-0 when leading after three quarters.
SMU didn't let up in the fourth period, holding the lead from the 7:28 mark to the final buzzer. The Mustangs tied a season-high with 14 steals, including career highs by Smith (5) and Chantae Embry (3). Tulsa finished with 24 turnovers.
The Mustangs were down by as many as 14 (16-2) in the first period before rattling off a 10-2 run to finish the quarter.
Trailing 18-12 entering the second frame, SMU continued to chip away at the Golden Hurricane lead. Tulsa led 32-29 at halftime despite SMU outscoring them 17-14 in the quarter.
Reagan Bradley tallied six points, five rebounds and four assists. Embry scored nine points, five rebounds and a career-high three steals. Jessica Peterson added seven points and recorded six rebounds. SMU forced 24 turnovers and outrebounded Tulsa by a 48-40 margin.
Temple 63, UCF 56 – Box Score
PHILADELPHIA - The Temple Women's Basketball team won its second straight game Saturday afternoon, defeating the UCF Knights, 63-56. The Owls stiffed UCF on the defensive end, allowing just 56 points, tied for the second lowest point total the Cherry & White have allowed this season.
Aleah Nelson led all scorers with 28 points, the second most any Owl has scored this season to her own 33 against Duquesne. UCF's Destiny Thomas scored 14 points and grabbed 12 boards.
The contest started off exceptionally slow, with only three points scored in the first four minutes of play. Tarriyonna Gary scored the first six points for Temple on a pair of three pointers. Things picked up in latter half of the period. The teams traded baskets, with UCF able to establish a slim advantage (12-10, UCF). Gary led all scorers in the first with six points.
UCF came out strong in the second quarter, taking a 17-10 lead with five straight points out of the break. The Cherry & White counter punched with an 8-0 run featuring back-to-back triples from point guard Nelson. Nelson knocked down a third, but it was called back due to an offensive foul (18-17, TU). Temple powered to a 28-24 lead thanks to strong transition offense, but UCF scored twice in the last 90 seconds to tie things up entering the half. Nelson and East combined for 16 of TU's 18 points (eight each). East also grabbed four rebounds in the quarter.
Temple established an lead early in the third thanks to back-to-back three pointers from Gary (38-33, TU). UCF climbed back to within one, but a Carnada Perea shot from deep gave the Owls a four-point cushion going into the media timeout. UCF scored the next five points to take a 43-41 lead. Perea hit second-chance layup as time expired to retie the match. Gary led all scorers with six points in the third.
The final frame started off razor tight, with neither side to able to get any separation in the first couple minutes (47-47). Temple scored the next six points, with three buckets from three different scorers (53-47, TU). The Owls' defense down the stretch was crushing. UCF did not score a basket from the field for nearly seven minutes of game time in the fourth quarter as Temple built a nine-point lead. Aleah Nelson scored the last eight points of the game for TU as the Owls claimed victory, 63-56.
Nelson's 28 are the most points any Owl has scored since Dec. 30 against Duquesne when she dropped 33. Temple's 19 offensive rebounds are the most from the Cherry & White this season. Makalya Waleed grabbed a career-high five rebounds alongside two steals. Temple was perfect from the line (12-12). 10 came from Nelson.
#25 South Florida 67, Memphis 62 – Box Score
MEMPHIS — The University of South Florida women's basketball team won its 20th game in a season for the 11th time in program history with a 67-62 victory at Memphis in Elma Roane Fieldhouse on Saturday afternoon. The win improves the Bulls to 20-4 on the year and 9-0 in the American Athletic Conference. The Tigers fall to 12-9 overall and 4-4 in league play.
The win is also the 10th straight for South Florida and its 13th win in the last 15 games.
Elena Tsineke poured in a game-high 23 points and Dulcy Fankam Mendjiadeu had 17 points and 13 rebounds in the win. Fankam Mendjiadeu hit another impressive milestone, grabbing her 1,000th career rebound with her ninth of the game.
Sammie Puisis also made her way into double figures in the scoring column with 14 points.
The Bulls led 34-24 at the half and by 11 points, 52-42, at the end of the third quarter.
South Florida extended its lead to a game-high 14 points, 57-43, with 8:23 left in the game on a three-point shot by Sammie Puisis. Despite holding that same margin twice over the next two minutes, Memphis battled back to cut the Bulls' lead to five points in the final two minutes but couldn't get any closer.
Fankam Mendjiadeu hit a layup with just over a minute left and Tsineke hit two free throws with under 30 seconds left to secure the win.
With the win, South Florida Head Coach Jose Fernandez recorded his 117th career conference win in The American, just one shy of tying UConn Head Coach Geno Auriemma's 118 league wins in the AAC, and two from becoming The American's all-time leader in conference wins.