UAB 87, Rice 74
Mia Moore scored 22 points and the women's basketball team defeated Rice 87-74 on Saturday afternoon at Bartow Arena.
Moore led four players in double figures and connected eight of her 15 shots, including all two 3-point attempts. Moore also led UAB with nine rebounds for the afternoon. Jade Weathersby had 14 points and was 5-of-8 from the field, while Denim DeShields scored 12 points. Maddie Walsh came away with 11 points and was 4-of-6 from the field and 1-of-1 from the long range.
The Blazers (18-8, 9-5 The American) shot 52 percent from the floor and 8-of-14 from the 3-point range. UAB was also 19-of-22 from the line. The loss drops Rice to 15-10 overall and 9-5 in league play.
The first quarter featured nine lead changes, but the Blazers went into the second quarter with a five-point lead at 20-15. UAB shot 44 percent and held the Owls to 37 percent.
The Blazers continued with their lead for most of the second quarter until Rice was up 37-35 with 41 seconds left to play. Tenley Dowell, who saw action for the first time this season, put the Blazers in the lead with a 3-pointer with seven seconds on the clock. UAB had a 38-37 lead heading into halftime.
Led by Maddie Walsh and Mia Moore, the Blazers were 8-of-12 from the field and 3-of-4 from the 3-point range in the third quarter. UAB shot 67 percent in the third and would hold the Owls to only shooting 32 percent. The Blazers lead would be as many as seven in the frame and the Blazers led by six (59-53) after three.
UAB's fourth quarter lead ballooned to 13 with 29 seconds to go in the contest and the Blazers are now 11-3 at Bartow arena this season. The win over the Owls is also the first time since 2018 UAB has won at home against Rice.
Memphis 72, East Carolina 70
The University of Memphis women's basketball team had the greatest of all comebacks this season behind a 29-point fourth quarter to take the 72-70 win Saturday afternoon over East Carolina University.
With the win, Memphis moves to 9-15 overall and 5-8 in American Athletic Conference play.
A rough offensive outing ensued for the Tigers in the opening quarter. Memphis was held to just 18 percent shooting for the frame and faced a 15-8 deficit heading into the second quarter.
On the defensive end, Memphis did everything it could to hold the Pirates at bay; the Tigers forced East Carolina into seven turnovers in the opening 10 minutes.
Shelbee Brown was the highlight for Memphis in the first half, scoring 11 of her 19 points in the first 20 minutes of play. She netted the first five points of the game for the Tigers while leading the charge in the second half with eight points, a steal and a block.
Brown, along with a three-pointer from Madison Griggs, made up a 7-0 run late in the first half to cut the Memphis deficit to 28-25.
After a free throw from East Carolina made it a four-point advantage, Layken Cox completed an and-one with 55 seconds remaining on the clock to get within one of the Pirates. Back-to-back scores from East Carolina in the final seconds of the frame pushed its lead out to 33-28 heading into the halftime break.
While the Tigers continued to try and cut into the Pirates lead, the East Carolina offense could not be stopped. Memphis faced a 55-43 disadvantage heading into the final 10 minutes of play.
It was all Tigers in the fourth quarter with a 12-0 run to start the frame, Memphis tied the game at 55-55 with seven minutes left on the clock.
East Carolina came back, once again, to build a lead as much as five, but Memphis prevailed with buckets from Smith, Hannah Riddick, Destyne Jackson and a game-tying three-pointer from Griggs with 55 seconds left in the game.
Smith converted the game-winning lay-up off an inbounds play with nine seconds on the clock and blocked both Pirate attempts on the other end to give Memphis the 72-70 victory.
Shelbee Brown had a career day with 19 points and 10 rebounds while Madison Griggs and Alasia Smith each added in 12 points.
Griggs and Smith both reached career milestones Saturday. Griggs surpassed 1,500 points off a three-pointer in the fourth quarter, while Smith reached 1,000 career rebounds when she grabbed an offensive rebound midway through the fourth quarter.
Wichita State 74, Tulsa 65
Wichita State senior DJ McCarty put up a career-high 26 points in the Shockers' 74-65 bounce-back victory over Tulsa Saturday afternoon in Charles Koch Arena.
McCarty shot 8-for-18, dished out a game-high five assists and recorded two steals in her highest scoring game since Nov. 2022.
Her 36 minutes were the most she's played all season as she has slowly built up her minutes since sitting for a four-game stretch in the middle of the season to focus on rehabbing her knee.
After falling to Tulsa 93-70 on Jan. 20, the Shockers came into this game looking for revenge.
The Shockers out-rebounded the Golden Hurricane 43-37, forced 22 turnovers and held the American Athletic Conference leading scorer, Temira Poindexter, who averages 20.4 points per game, to 5-for-17 and 14 points.
The game saw nine lead changes and 15 ties before Wichita State pulled away at the end of the fourth quarter.
The Shockers scored 30 points in the paint as Daniela Abies recorded her eighth double-double of the season with 19 points and 13 rebounds, leading the team in rebounds for the 20th time this season.
Sierra Morrow also finished in double figures for the second-straight game with 11 points, just missing a double-double with nine rebounds.
Raissa Nsabua recorded a game-high four steals and scored seven points, while Jayla Murray put up eight points for the Shockers.
Delanie Crawford led the Golden Hurricane with a game-high 29 points before fouling out in the last 20 seconds of the game.
After a back-and-forth first half where Crawford hit a buzzer beat to make it a two-point game in favor of Wichita State going into halftime, DJ McCarty came out in the third quarter and hit her first threes since Dec.16, draining her first one to tie it up at 40-40 and her second to tie it up again at 50-50.
The Golden Hurricane took a three-point lead at the end up the third with a three pointer by Katia Gallegos.
Neither team led by more than five until the fourth quarter when Tulsa took a six-point lead, their biggest of the game, hitting another of its 11 made threes in its first possession of the quarter.
A made layup by Abies and a pair of free throws apiece from her and McCarty regained the lead for the Shockers with 5:49 to play.
Tulsa tied it up twice more, but McCarty's third three pointer of the afternoon and a trio of Tulsa turnovers sparked the momentum Wichita State needed to finish out the game on an 11-2 run.
Wichita State improves to 8-18 (4-10 The AMerican) with its first home win since defeating Memphis on Jan. 17 as Tulsa falls to 18-8 (8-5 The American) in its third-straight road loss.
Florida Atlantic 67, South Florida 55
Florida Atlantic women's basketball () dominated the South Florida Bulls from start to finish, earning a 67-55 road victory on Saturday inside the Yuengling Center.
The win marked the Owls first against the Bulls since Dec. 28, 2001, snapping a three-game skid.
The Owls traded baskets with the Bulls through a 4-4 tie. South Florida held a 6-4 advantage, before Devyn Scott knocked down Florida Atlantic's first triple to give the Owls their first lead of the day, 7-6. The Bulls retook the lead at 8-7, but another triple from Alexa Zaph sparked an 11-7 run to give the Owls a three-point advantage after the opening period, 18-15.
Janeta Rozentale opened the second with a layup to extend the Owls' lead to five, 20-15, however the Bulls responded, producing an 11-7 run to cut the Florida Atlantic lead to just one, 27-26, with 1:34 remaining in the half. Dyllan Hanna netted a jumper and Jada Moore closed out the half with an and-1 to extend the Owls lead back to six heading into the halftime break, 32-26.
Florida Atlantic continued to battle as South Florida cut the Owls' advantage to just one after a 5-0 run to open the third, 32-31. The two squads traded baskets through a 37-36 Florida Atlantic lead, however the Owls kept their foot on the gas as they closed the quarter on a 13-8 run to kick their lead back out to six entering the final 10 minutes of play, 50-44.
The Bulls closed within three, 56-53, at the 6:06-minute mark, but that was as close as South Florida would get. The Owls locked in over the final six minutes of play, closing the contest on an 11-2 run to secure the 12-point victory, 67-55.