Tuesday, January 3
South Florida 77, Temple 55 – Box Score
SMU 61, UCF 51 – Box Score
East Carolina 55, Memphis 47 – Box Score
 
Recaps
South Florida 77, Temple 55 – Box Score
TAMPA — The University of South Florida women's basketball team outscored Temple, 44-25, in the second half as the Bulls picked up their second American Athletic Conference win in as many games with a 77-55 victory on Tuesday night at the Yuengling Center.
 
The win, the Green and Gold's third-straight and sixth in the last eight games, improves South Florida to 13-4 on the season and 2-0 in The American. The Owls fall to 6-8 overall and 1-1 in conference play.
 
Preseason American Athletic Conference Preseason Player of the Year Elena Tsineke poured in a season-high 27 points, just four points shy of equaling her career-high, while Florida State transfer and former McDonald's High School All-American, Sammie Puisis, chipped in with 17 points in the win.
 
Preseason American Athletic Conference First Team selection, Dulcy Fankam Mendjiadeu recorded her fifth consecutive double-double with 16 points and 13 rebounds. Daniela Gonzales had six points and six rebounds for the Bulls off the bench.
 
South Florida trailed after the first quarter, 16-15, and held a slight edge at the break, 33-30, while shooting just 42.4 percent from the field and committing nine turnovers. The Bulls, however, hit another gear in the second stanza shooting 51.8 percent (14-for-27) of their shots from the floor and only handing the ball over four times.
 
South Florida also took advantage of Temple's 18 miscues turning the turnovers into 23 points on the night in addition to outscoring the Owls in the paint, 34-24.
 
SMU 61, UCF 51 – Box Score
DALLAS – The SMU women’s basketball picked up their first conference win on Tuesday, defeating UCF 61-51 in Moody Coliseum.  With the win, the Mustangs are 10-4 overall and 1-1 in The American. The Knights fall to 9-4 overall and drop their conference opener to move to 0-1 in conference.
 
Chantae Embry of the Mustangs led the charge, scoring a game-high and grabbing 13 rebounds for a double-double.  Reagan Bradley added 12 points in the win.
 
Despite going 0-for-8 from behind the arc, the Mustangs were able to find their groove offensively, shooting just under 40 percent (39.3) from the field, scoring 42 points in the paint.
 
Both sides struggled from the charity stripe as the Knights connected on just 10-of-19 (52.6 percent) from the free throw line and the Mustangs hit 13-of-21 (61.9 percent) from the free throw line.
 
SMU used a dominant third quarter to gain a 10-point advantage heading into the fourth. The Mustangs held the Knights to just 25 percent from the field in the third, while outscoring UCF 23-12. It was the only quarter that either team scored above 14 points.
 
East Carolina 55, Memphis 47 – Box Score
MEMPHIS, Tenn. – The East Carolina women's basketball team defeated the Memphis Tigers, 55-47, Tuesday night in Elma Roane Fieldhouse. It was a tight affair that was ultimately decided by a late run as the Pirates claimed the conference win.
 
East Carolina (10-5, 1-1 The American) used a ferocious fourth-quarter effort to storm back for the win. After entering the fourth down by three, a 10-0 run over two minutes and 35 seconds gave ECU a lead it would not relinquish.
 
Danae McNeal was phenomenal in the final quarter, scoring 11 points and knocking in a bounty of free throws. The senior guard led all scorers in the game with 20 on the day to go with a trio of steals. McNeal is averaging 17.25 points per game when recording three-or-more steals and did so again Tuesday.
 
For Memphis (8-7, 0-2 The American), Madison Griggs was as good as advertised and then some. The senior guard – and Memphis career three-point record holder – rained in six three pointers to lead the Tigers with 18 points.
 
As a team, the Pirates racked up nine points off turnovers and 14 points in the paint in the fourth and forced five turnovers. Additionally, the team made seven free throws in the final minutes to ice the game from the line.
 
In her first start of the season, Micah Dennis ran the point like a veteran and got the Pirates organized for 13 assists on 21 field goals. Dennis also scored six points and recorded a pair of steals.
 
Amiya Joyner was solid again, registering her fourth-straight double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds in the game.
 
After struggling to get out on the break a game ago with only six fast break points, ECU was able to get on the run for nine points in the first half alone on Tuesday. This was thanks in part to forcing 14 points in the half which in turn resulted in 15 points off turnovers in the opening 20 minutes.