Tulsa Women’s Hoops Jump Past UMKC, 80-70, in Season Opener

Friday, November 11

Kansas City, Mo.

7:00 pm

Tulsa

1-0

UMKC

0-1

Team	1	2	3	4	F
Tulsa	22	15	14	29	80
UMKC	23	10	22	15	70

Photo by: Bill Powell

Tulsa Women’s Hoops Jump Past UMKC, 80-70, in Season Opener

11/11/2016 9:18:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

By: Stephanie Hall

Final Book in PDF | HTML Box Score | Season Stats in PDF

Three Tulsa women's basketball players scored in double figures to give the Golden Hurricane an 80-70 win over UMKC to open the season on Friday night at the Swinney Recreation Center in Kansas City, Mo. The Golden Hurricane moved to 1-0 on the season, while the Kangaroos fell to 0-1 overall.

"Basketball is a game of momentum changes and I felt like it just kept going back and forth tonight," Head Coach Matilda Mossman said. "Once we had the surge in the fourth quarter, I felt better, but it was never out of reach for either team."

Tulsa picked up its first win in a season opener since defeating UMKC (62-57) during the 2009-10 season.

"I am excited to be able to come here and get a win to open the season, and knowing that we hadn't won since beating them in 2009 was my motivation," Mossman added.

Erika Wakefield had a team-leading 21 points, while Liesl Spoerl added a career-high 17 points and a team-best eight rebounds, and Kendrian Elliott scored 11 points in her debut. Wakefield also recorded seven boards, while freshman Alexis Gaulden had team-highs of four assists and two steals.

"Liesl is another one I thought really played solid tonight," Mossman said. "She has been such a leader for us. She understands that the team is first, she leads by example and she holds the team accountable, so I am just happy for her tonight."

Tulsa climbed to a game-high 10-point advantage twice in the final 10 seconds of the contest, but until the Hurricane took a 69-62 lead with 4:02 left in the contest, neither team led by more than six points throughout the game. There was a total of 12 lead changes and eight tied scores in the contest.

There were seven lead changes and two tied scores in the first quarter, with the Kangaroos taking a 23-22 lead after the first frame. TU got off to a hot start, shooting 64-percent from the field, including 66-percent from three-point range and was perfect from the charity stripe (2-of-2) in the first 10 minutes.

A three-pointer by Ebony Parker gave Tulsa a 25-23 lead to start the second frame, and TU didn't relinquish the lead for the remainder of the quarter. The Golden Hurricane outscored UMKC, 15-10, in the second period and took a 37-33 advantage into the break.

The Kangaroos battled back and outscored Tulsa, 18-8, to start the third quarter, and climbed to a six-point lead (51-45) with 3:44 left in the frame. Four free throws by Crystal Polk and the Hurricane cut the deficit to two, but UMKC ended the period with a 55-51 lead.

Baskets by Ashley Hughes and Elliott tied up the score at 55-all with 9:21 on the clock and TU continued on a 14-5 run to take a 65-60 lead with 6:26 remaining in the contest. The Hurricane outscored the Kangaroos 29-15 in the final frame for the 10-point victory.

UMKC was led by Kristen Moore and Kiana Law both with 16 points, while Lyndsay Leikem added 13 points. Law also pulled down a game-high 10 rebounds.

Tulsa will return to action on Monday, November 14 against Kansas State. Game time is set for 7:00 pm at Bramlage Coliseum in Manhattan, Kansas.