Tulsa Falls to UAFS 61-58 in Exhibition

TULSA, Okla. –– Sophomores Shug Dickson and Alexis Gaulden combined for 34 points, but it wasn't enough as Tulsa fell to Arkansas-Fort Smith 61-58 Wednesday night at the Donald W. Reynolds Center. Tulsa opens the regular season on Friday, Nov. 10, against American University at the Reynolds Center.

Tulsa was without the services of last year's leading scorer Erika Wakefield (11.6 ppg) who was held out of the game with an injury.

Dickson led the way with 18 points and added 6 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 steals, while Gaulden had 16 points and 4 steals. Fellow sophomore Kendrian Elliott scored 11 points and had a team-high 9 rebounds.

"The combination of Shug Dickson, Alexis Gaulden and Kendrian Elliott was good," head coach Matilda Mossman said. "The three of them were our top scorers and they continue to lead our team, but they just didn't get enough help. I was disappointed with the fact that so many of our post players got into foul trouble early."

Tulsa led for most of the game and had a 52-50 lead with 5:27 remaining before the
visiting Lady Lions went on a 9-0 run in taking a 59-52 lead with 2:51 left on the game clock, while the Hurricane shot just 1-of-11 from the field in the final 5 minutes.

Three Tulsa free throws and a corner three-pointer by Tatyana Perez, her first of the game, cut the UAFS lead to one point, 59-58, with 1:28 left to play. From that point, Tulsa had 5 field goals down the stretch that could have tilted the game in favor of the Hurricane. UAFS' Alexsis Brown hit 2-of-2 free throws with 0:06 remaining for the 3-point difference, and a Tulsa three-point attempt misfired as time expired.

"Tonight helped us though. We've had exhibition games before where we win by 20 points and we don't gain anything from it. We knew going in Fort Smith was going to be a physical team so it was good for us, we can build off of this and turn it into a positive."

Tayla Taylor's 2 free throws put UAFS ahead 54-52 at the 4:32 mark, and Daijah Brown knocked down 2 free throws 32 seconds later for a 56-52 lead for the visitors. A three-pointer by Lundon Williams gave the Lady Lions a 7-point lead, 59-52, at the 2:51 mark.

Taylor led the Lady Lions with 19 points and 9 rebounds off the bench as the UAFS reserves outscored Tulsa's bench 39-3.

Tulsa led by 4 points at halftime, 34-30, but was outscored in the third quarter 16-11 and held just a 46-45 lead heading into the final period.

Gaulden and Dickson combined for 12 of Tulsa's 18 first quarter points, as the Hurricane jumped out 5-0 and led by as many as 9 points, 16-7, before UAFS closed out the period on a 6-2 run to pull to within 5 points, 18-13.

Tulsa scored only 8 points in the first 4:44 of the second quarter and for a 26-20 lead at the 5:16 mark. The Lady Lions went on a 7-0 run and took its only first-half lead at 27-26 with just under 2 minutes remaining in the first half. Dickson's trey put the Hurricane back ahead 29-27 before closing out the half with a 34-30 lead.

At halftime, Dickson and Gaulden tallied 25 of Tulsa's 34 points, while 22 UAFS points came from the bench.

Tulsa Falls to UAFS 61-58 in Exhibition

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Tatyana Perez

Erika Wakefield

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