UTSA 76, Florida Atlantic 60
Senior Kyra White tied her career-high with 23 points, and freshman Idara Udo logged a double-double as the UTSA women’s basketball team breezed past Florida Atlantic, 76-60, in American Athletic Conference action inside the Convocation Center. Additionally, the Senior Day victory saw the ‘Runners secure their 14th win of the season, the most since the 2016-17 campaign.
The Roadrunners (14-12, 8-7 The American) bested the Owls (11-8, 3-3 The American) as White went 9-for-18 from the field, including five three-pointers.
Meanwhile, Udo collected a career-high 13 rebounds and charted 13 points. Joining the pair in the double-digit scoring club, freshman Aysia Proctor dropped 16, and redshirt junior Elyssa Coleman hauled in 11 boards of her own. Also performing well, sophomore Sidney Love dished out a game-high six assists, and senior Jordyn Jenkins scored eight and pulled down seven rebounds.
White was on fire to open the contest, sinking a triple and a jumper to hand UTSA a 5-0 lead. FAU quickly knotted things up ahead of back-to-back Roadrunner triples that came courtesy of White and graduate student Hailey Atwood. The Owls again responded, embarking on an 8-0 run to claim a 13-11 advantage midway through the quarter. From there, Love tied things up with a layup, Udo logged a second-chance bucket, and White nailed a jumper to send UTSA into the second stanza, holding a 17-13 lead.
Proctor opened up the subsequent frame with a three-pointer, and FAU answered with an and-one that issued a 20-16 score line. Consecutive triples from White and Proctor then kick-started a 10-0 surge that allowed UTSA to take a 30-16 edge. The ‘Runners remained hot, outscoring the Owls 17-6 across the period to take a 34-19 lead into the locker room.
A high-scoring third quarter saw the squads exchange blows for the majority of the frame, as an Udo layup combined with a pair of Proctor freebies to work a 54-39 Roadrunner edge. FAU converted a trio of free throws just before the buzzer, sending the game into the fourth quarter with UTSA leading 54-42.
FAU opened the fourth with a three-ball before Jenkins kick-started an 8-0 run with a triple of her own, prompting a 62-49 Roadrunner advantage. The Owls could not spark a comeback as UTSA cruised to a 76-60 Senior Day victory.
Temple 75, Rice 66
The Temple Women's Basketball team (17-10, 11-4 The American) defeated the Rice Owls (15-12, 9-7 The American), 75-66, on the road at Tudor Fieldhouse in Houston, Texas for its fifth consecutive victory.
Scorching three-point shooting from Temple was the highlight, led by 5-5 shooting from long range by Tarriyonna Gary and 4-4 shooting from three-point range by Tristen Taylor. She led the Owls with 20 points on the day. Five Temple players scored in double figures today, including double-doubles by Tiarra East and Rayne Tucker.
Temple's victory over Rice marked the team's fifth consecutive win, which is the Owls' longest winning streak since December of the 2019-20 season. It is also the longest win streak the Owls have had in conference since 2016-17. The Owls stand in sole possession of first place in the AAC after today's victory. The last time Temple led its conference standings this late in the season was during the 2011-12 season, when the Cherry & White led the Atlantic 10. Temple reached the 17-win plateau for the first time since 2015-16 when they finished the season with 23 victories.
Tulsa 72, South Florida 65
Delanie Crawford and Temira Poindexter combined for 51 points to lead Tulsa's come-from-behind victory over South Florida Sunday afternoon in front of 1,393 fans at the Donald W. Reynolds Center.
Tulsa improved to 20-8 and second place in the American Athletic Conference with a 10-5 record, winning 20 games for just the second time in school history and the first since the 2005-06 season when the Golden Hurricane finished 26-6. The win was also the first against South Florida in 14 tries, as the Bulls fell to 16-13 overall and 8-8 in league play.
Tulsa heads to Philadelphia, Pa., for a Wednesday night game against the league's first-place Temple Owls. The Owls, who won the earlier meeting in Tulsa, sit at 11-4 in league play, and 17-10 overall.
Crawford tallied 30 points with 25 coming in the second half, while Poindexter added 21 points and freshman Elise Hill had season-highs of 12 points in 24 minutes. Crawford finished the day connecting on 10-of-15 from the field, 6-of-9 from three-point range and 4-of-4 from the charity stripe.
Crawford was saddled with two early first-half fouls and was held to five points in just seven minutes of play, but Poindexter and Hill combined for 21 of Tulsa's 32 points in the first 20 minutes.
Tulsa trailed 32-16 at the 7:03 mark of the second quarter but trimmed that 16-point deficit to three points at the intermission.
Crawford hit Tulsa's first basket to start the second half, a three-pointer, that tied the score at 35. USF regained the lead and led for most of the period until Crawford knocked down a three-pointer with 0:05 on the clock to put Tulsa ahead 48-47 entering the final period.
The largest lead of the first five minutes of the fourth quarter was a two-point Tulsa lead at the 8:37 mark as a Crawford trey made the score 53-51. Crawford knocked down another long-range shot at the 4:03 mark for a 65-60 lead, and her next three-point attempt also found the bottom of the net for a 68-61 advantage with 3:28 remaining in the contest.
Crawford connected on 4-of-4 from the charity stripe in the final 0:33 to conclude the game with Tulsa's final 10 points.
USF outtrebounded Tulsa 48-32, but the Hurricane scored 16 points off 16 turnovers, while turning the ball over only nine times for its second-lowest output of the season.