Tulsa Cruises to 79-51 Win Over Grambling State

Wednesday, December 2

Reynolds Center

7:00 pm

Tulsa

2-5

Grambling State

2-4

Grambling State

Tulsa

Tulsa Cruises to 79-51 Win Over Grambling State

12/2/2015 9:34:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

By: Stephanie Hall

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Kelsee Grovey scored a game-high 21 points as Tulsa (2-5) cruised to a 79-51 victory over Grambling State (2-4) Wednesday night in front of 302 fans at the Donald W. Reynolds Center.

Ashley Clark added 16 and Teanna Reid 11 points, as the Hurricane team shot 51-percent from the field and 48-percent from three-point range. Tulsa also dished out 18 assists on the night. Freshman Tyjae' Scales had a game-high 12 rebounds, while adding seven points as fellow freshman Crystal Polk added six points and eight boards, both playing 20 minutes for the Hurricane.

"I am really pleased with what we did offensively tonight," said Tulsa Head Coach Matilda Mossman. "You wonder where some of that scoring was in some of the previous games, and not just the scoring but the percentage. We took really good shots, we moved the ball a lot better, we shared the basketball and we gave up good shots for great shots."

"On the defensive end we have to be better. Even though we got a lot of rebounds, they got a lot of offensive boards so we have to be better from a block-out standpoint," added Mossman.

Leading 41-23 at intermission, the Hurricane began the second half on fire, scoring 19 points in the first seven minutes and took a 60-32 lead at the 3:08 mark. Reid, who went 0-of-3 in the first half from three-point range, came out and hit her first three second-half treys within the first five minutes, pushing Tulsa's lead to 27 points, 56-29, at the 5:33 mark.

Tulsa led 65-41 at the end of three quarters.

The Hurricane took its biggest lead with 2:33 remaining in the game as Ashley Hughes knocked down one-of-two free throws to put Tulsa ahead 78-48.

Tulsa totaled 48 points in the middle two quarters, scoring 24 points in each the second and third periods. The Hurricane managed just 14 fourth quarter points, but held Grambling to just one point per minute as the Tigers finished with 10 points in the fourth quarter.

After Grambling scored the game's first two points the Hurricane out-scored the Tigers 10-4 over the next three minutes to take the six-point lead at the 6:37 mark. Tulsa maintained its lead and ended the first quarter leading 17-11. Tulsa's two seniors – Grovey and Clark – combined to score all 17 first quarter points for the Hurricane.

The Hurricane extended its lead to 23 points in the fist half. Tulsa took its first double-digit lead, 27-16, at the 6:30 mark on a Jordyn Holmes three pointer, but GSU brought Tulsa's lead to back under 10 points at 27-18.

From that point, the Hurricane went on a 12-0 run and took a 41-18 lead with 2:02 left in the first half. Grambling closed out the half by scoring the final five points

Grovey led all scorers with 16 first-half points, while Clark added 12. The Hurricane shot 52-percent from the field and knocked down 6-of-12 three pointers, while also shooting a perfect 7-of-7 from the free throw line in the first 20 minutes.

Tulsa remains at the Reynolds Center for two consecutive games with the first coming against Indiana State, Sunday afternoon at 1 pm. The Hurricane will play the nation's 21^st-ranked Oklahoma Sooners next Wednesday with a game time of 7 p.m.