Temple 71, UTSA 58
The Temple women's basketball team (7-6, 1-0 The American) defeated the UTSA Roadrunners (6-6, 0-1 The American), 71-58. This marks the fifth straight season that Temple has won its American Athletic Conference opening matchup.
For the fourth time this season, at least five players scored in double figures (East, Gary, Nelson, Piper, and Tucker). Rayne Tucker put up 10 points and 11 rebounds, her third double-double in the last four games. In the fourth quarter, she grabbed her 500th career rebound.
UAB 65, Florida Atlantic 53
Denim DeShields scored a team-high 16 points and led three players in double figures as the UAB women's basketball team won its first-ever American Athletic Conference game with a 65-53 victory over Florida Atlantic.
DeShields was 7-of-11 from the floor and four assists. Maddie Walsh scored 12 of her 14 points in the first half and added eight rebounds while Jade Weathersby scored 12 points. Tracey Bershers and Mia Moore each shared a team high nine rebounds.
The win improves UAB to 10-3 overall and 1-0 in The American. Florida Atlantic is now 5-7 and 0-1.
Wichita State 63, Tulane 60
Wichita State snapped its four-game losing streak with a 63-60 win over Tulane in the American Athletic Conference opener Saturday afternoon in Charles Koch Arena.
In a game with 15 lead changes, the Shockers (5-8, 1-0 The American) outlasted the Green Wave (7-5, 0-1 The American) as Tre'Zure Jobe led the scoring with 21 points and tallied a career-high eight assists, playing all 40 minutes.
Wichita State held the Green Wave, a team which averages .337 from three, to just 4-for-21 (.019) from behind the arc, while the Shockers shot 7-for-21 to tie for the most made three pointers this season.
The Green Wave won the battle of the boards, 40-35, marking the first time this season the Shockers have won a game in which they were out-rebounded.
Tulsa 71, Memphis 62
Four on the Tulsa women's basketball team reached double figures in points to fuel the Golden Hurricane's 71-62 victory over the Memphis Tigers Saturday in the American Athletic Conference opener in Memphis. Delanie Crawford led the way with 18 points, followed by Temira Poindexter with 17 points, Mady Cartwright with 16 points and Ahrray Young with 10 points.
The Hurricane's sixth consecutive win moves them to 11-3 on the year and 1-0 in AAC play, while the Tigers drop to 4-8 and 0-1 in league action.
Though the Tigers won the rebounding battle 45-37, Crawford stepped up for the TU defense by pulling down 11 rebounds to secure her third double-double of the season and fourth in her career. Hadley Periman followed with eight boards and Young had four.
Memphis' Madison Griggs led the Tigers with 19 points, while Alasia Smith had 13 rebounds.
Charlotte 74, North Texas 64
The Charlotte women's basketball team picked up their first American Athletic Conference win in program history on Saturday (Dec. 30) inside Halton Arena as they defeated the University of North Texas Mean Green by a score of 74-64.
Saturday's contest marked the first American Athletic Conference game for both sides, both coming from C-USA where they faced off 16 times since the 2013-14 season.
Preseason Second Team selection in the American Dazia Lawrence stepped up with 23 points (11-20) and three steals to lead Charlotte to victory. Imani Smith played 35 minutes off the bench on her way to finishing with 11 points, 10 rebounds, six assists, three blocks, and two steals in an all-around effort. Jewel Watkins and Fatou Diakite both gave great minutes off the bench as well, combining to score 11 points as they made impact plays on both ends of the floor.
Charlotte out-rebounded North Texas 40 to 31, including four more offensive rebounds. 46 of CLT's points came in the paint, and 22 of them off turnovers. The Mean Green coughed the ball up on 22 occasions, compared to 17 from the Niners. Bench points (22) was a deciding factor in the outcome along with the free throw comparison, where Charlotte shot 72.2% compared to 46.2% from North Texas.
South Florida 70, SMU 61
Freshman guard Vittoria Blasigh put up 16 points and netted three of four total 3-pointers in the final frame in South Florida women's basketball's (9-5, 1-0) 70-61 win against SMU (6-6, 0-1) in American Athletic Conference opening action on Saturday night at the Yuengling Center in Tampa Fla.
Senior forward Evelien Lutje Schipholt added an impressive 14 points, and eight rebounds, to go along with two assists, and a pair of steals. Redshirt junior forward Romi Levy and sophomore wing Carla Brito evenly split 16 points. Brito crashed the glass with 11 boards as well. Redshirt senior guard Aerial Wilson dished out seven assists and now has 406 on her career.
No. 1 South Carolina 73, East Carolina 36
The East Carolina women's basketball team battled hard but ultimately fell to No. 1 South Carolina, 73-36, on Saturday afternoon in Minges Coliseum. South Carolina put three scorers in double figures while the Pirates shot just 19.4 percent from the floor for the ballgame.