Tulsa Women’s Basketball vs. Temple Preview

Wednesday, February 8

Philadelphia, Pa.

11:00 am

Tulsa

Temple

Tulsa Women’s Basketball vs. Temple Preview

2/7/2017 12:08:00 PM | Women's Basketball

By: Stephanie Hall

Wednesday, February 8 ~ 11:00 am Central ~ Liacouras Center ~ Philadelphia, Pa.

Game Notes: Tulsa

Radio: TU's regular season games can be heard on CHROME 93.5 FM and KWTU 88.7 FM HD2, as well as online on TulsaHurricane.com. Brandon Hart calls play-by-play.

Live Audio: Listen Here

Video: Watch Live on the American Digital Network

Live Stats: Click Here

Rosters: Tulsa ~ Temple

2016-17 Season Stats: Tulsa ~ Temple

Tulsa Facebook: TulsaHurricane ~ TulsaWBasketball

Temple Facebook: Temple WBB

Tulsa Twitter: TulsaHurricane ~ TUWBasketball

Temple Twitter: Temple WBB

Tulsa Instagram: TulsaHurricanePics ~ TulsaWBB

The Coaches
Tulsa: Matilda Mossman (Western Kentucky, 1979), 6th Year
Career Record: 227-189 (14 years)
Record at Tulsa: 80-96 (6 years)

Temple: Tonya Cardoza (Virginia, 1991), 9th Year
Record: 181-106 (9 years)
Record at Temple: same

Tulsa's Probable Starters
F     00     Kendrian Elliott, 6-2, Fr-HS, Wichita, Kan., 9.2 ppg, 7.5 rpg
G     3       Erika Wakefield, 5-4, Jr-2L, Moore, Okla., 11.7 ppg, 3.1 rpg, 3.4 apg
G     11     Ebony Parker, 5-8, Jr-TR, Houston, Texas, 7.2 ppg, 1.0 rpg
G     12     Shug Dickson, 5-9, Fr-HS, St. Louis, Mo., 9.7 ppg, 3.7 rpg
F     35     Liesl Spoerl, 6-1, Jr-2L, Tulsa, Okla., 5.9 ppg, 4.2 rpg

Temple's Probable Starters
G     00     Alliya Butts, 5-4, Jr, Edgewater Park, N.J., 15.3 ppg, 2.4 rpg
G     2       Feyonda Fitzgerald, 5-7, Sr, Norfolk, Va., 16.6 ppg, 3.6 rpg
F     12     Ruth Sherrill, 6-0, Sr, Alexandria, Va., 5.2 ppg, 7.1 rpg
G     32     Donnaizha Fountain, 6-0, Jr, Roxbury, Mass., 13.8 ppg, 7.5 rpg
C     35     Safiya Martin, 6-4, Sr, Fayettteville, Ga., 2.0 ppg, 3.2 rpg

In the Last Game
        Shug Dickson and Ebony Parker both scored in double-figures in a 96-50 loss to #1 UConn on Sunday afternoon at Gampel Pavilion in Storrs, Conn.
        Dickson had a team-best 12 points and two assists, while Parker added 10 points. Kendrian Elliott totaled eight points, Alexis Gaulden had six and Jessica Pongonis recorded five. Liesl Spoerl had a team-high seven rebounds and Elliott pulled down five boards.

Scouting the Opponent
        Temple has a 17-5 overall record, including a 7-2 mark in American Athletic Conference play, and is 8-2 at home. The Owls are led by four players averaging double-digit points, including Feyonda Fitzgerald (16.6), Alliya Butts (15.3), Donnaizha Fountain (13.8) and Tanaya Atkinson (12.6). Atkinson has a team-best 8.5 rebounds per game, Fitzgerald has 162 assists, Butts has 45 steals and Safiya Martin has 25 blocks.

Against the Opponent
        This will be the fifth meeting between Tulsa and Temple, as the Owls have a 3-1 lead in the all-time series, including a 58-49 win earlier this season in Tulsa.

In the Nation
        Tulsa ranks 65th in the nation in three-point field goals made (162), 75th in three-point field goal attempts (482), 76th in three-point field goals per game (7.0), 86th in free-throw percentage (72.4) and 92nd in three-point field goal percentage (.336).
        Erika Wakefield is 188th in free throw percentage (76.5), 219th in assists per game (3.4) and 229th in assist-turnover ratio (1.20); Ebony Parker is 143rd in three-point field goal percentage (34.1) and 176th in three-point field goals per game (2.0); and Kendrian Elliott ranks 182nd in rebounds per game (7.5).

Stepping Up
        Nine of Tulsa's 13 players have scored in double figures this season. Erika Wakefield has scored in double figures 15 times, while Shug Dickson has nine double-digit contests. Tatyana Perez has eight double-digit games, Kendrian Elliott has seven and Ebony Parker has six. Alexis Gaulden and Liesl Spoerl both have five double-figure contests, while Crystal Polk and Jessica Pongonis both have two double-figure games.

20+ Scorers
        Kendrian Elliott had a team-leading and personal-best 27 points against East Carolina, while Erika Wakefield had a career-high 25 points at Houston (1-1-17), and Alexis Gaulden tallied a career-high 23 points against Saint Louis (12-15-16). Shug Dickson tallied 22 points at UCF (1-21-17), 21 points against Temple (1-14-17) and #1 UConn (1-17-17), and 20 against SMU (1-28-17) and East Carolina (1-31-17). Wakefield posted 21 points at UMKC (11-11-16), Ebony Parker had 20 points at #19/20 Oklahoma (12-11-16) and Elliott had 20 points against Arkansas State (12-6-16).

Dickson's Scoring Streak
        Shug Dickson was the first freshman in school history (dating back to the 1996-97 season) to score 20+ points in three-straight games. She became the sixth player overall to reach this feat (Taleya Mayberry, Larrissa Williams, Jillian Robbins, Allison Curtin and Lila Osceola did it before her.) and it is the 15th time that someone has scored 20+ points three or more times in a row.
        Dickson now has five 20+ point games this season.

The Losses that Could Have Been Wins
        In Tulsa's 14 losses this season, the Golden Hurricane has lost nine of those by single digits, including six games by two or less baskets. Tulsa fell to Arkansas State and South Dakota by 3 each, Indiana State by 4, Tulane, Houston and Little Rock by 5 each, Arkansas by 7, Oral Roberts by 8, and Temple by 9.
        TU also had a double-digit lead over three of the opponents, before falling in the contests [15-point lead over Little Rock (lost by five), a 14-point lead over Indiana State (lost by four) and a 13-point lead over Arkansas State (lost by 3)].

Behind the Arc
        Eight of Tulsa players have combined for 162 three-pointers this season, for a 7.0 three-pointers per game average. TU's opponents have hit 118 three's for 5.1 per game.
        Ebony Parker has a team-best 44 trey's, Alexis Gaulden has hit 32, Tatyana Perez has 29, Shug Dickson has 21 and Addison Richards has 11. Liesl Spoerl and Ashley Hughes both have nine trey's this season.

Shooting the Ball
        Kendrian Elliott has a team-high .504 field goal percentage. Jessica Pongonis is TU's next best shooter with 47.2-percent, followed by Crystal Polk at 43.7-percent, Erika Wakefield and Liesl Spoerl both at 40.9-percent, and Addison Richards at 40.8-percent.

Freshmen Making Marks
        Two Tulsa freshmen have already earned a spot on the Tulsa Freshman Single-Season Records list. Addison Richards is currently first in three-point field goal percentage (.478) and Kendrian Elliott is second in blocks (18) and field goal percentage (.504).

In Tulsa's Top 10
        Ashley Hughes is second in free throw percentage in school history with a .871 clip (34 of 39).

Making Assists
        Junior Erika Wakefield ranks in the top-10 on Tulsa's Career Chart for assists. She currently has 232 assists for 10th place and needs 10 more to tie Tatum Beer (2007-11) who has the No. 9 slot with 242.

Mossman Has 227 Career Wins
        Matilda Mossman has collected 227 career victories, including 67 wins at Arkansas, 80 wins at Kansas State and currently 80 wins at TU.

Parker for Three
        Tulsa junior-transfer Ebony Parker knocked down an NJCAA Division I record 144 three-point shots last season. In comparison, then TU senior Kelsee Grovey had a team-best 68 three's last season and 233 in her career. The most in a single season at Tulsa was 77 by Athena Pirpich (2000-01), while Grovey's 233 career three's is a school best.

Returning Starters
        Tulsa returns two starters from last season, including junior Erika Wakefield and sophomore Tyjae' Scales. Wakefield averaged 8.7 points, 3.0 assists and 2.9 rebounds per game, while Scales posted 2.1 points and 4.1 rebounds per game a year ago.

Hurricane Picked Ninth in The American Preseason Coaches' Poll
        In the American Athletic Conference coaches' poll, UConn was predicted to win the 2016-17 American Athletic Conference Championship, while Temple was second and USF third. Tulane, SMU, East Carolina, Memphis, UCF, Tulsa, Cincinnati and Houston round out the poll.

UConn to Host American Championship
        UConn will host the 2016 American Athletic Conference Championship at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn., from March 3-6.

13 Opponents in 2016 Postseason
        Thirteen of Tulsa's opponents played in the postseason in 2015-16, including NCAA teams BYU, Kansas State, Oklahoma, UConn and USF; WNIT teams Arkansas State, Little Rock, Memphis, Saint Louis, South Dakota, Temple and Tulane; and WBI participant New Mexico.

Tulsa in Postseason
        Tulsa has made five postseason appearances, including WNIT bids in 2004, 2005 and 2015, and NCAA bids in 2006 and 2013. TU lost in the first round in 2004 (Memphis), 2005 (Texas A&M) and 2013 (Stanford), but went 1-1 (W, North Carolina State; L, DePaul) in 2006 and 2015 (W, Missouri State; L, Eastern Michigan), for a 2-5 overall mark in postseason play.

A Hurricane in Tulsa?
        The Origination of The University of Tulsa nickname - Golden Hurricane - was created in 1922. A new football coach, Howard Archer came to town and inherited a slew of nicknames dating back to 1895. In the past, Tulsa had been named "Kendallites," "Presbyterians," "Tigers," "Orange and Black," "Tulsans," and of course, "Yellow Jackets." The team started working out in the fall with a new nickname "Yellow Jackets" which was apparently due to the fact that the team was wearing new black and yellow uniforms. The team opened the season and it was apparent that Tulsa was going to have a great year, and trying to seize some publicity for his team, Archer wanted to find a new nickname quickly. After a remark was made in practice one day about "roaring through opponents," and because of their new jersey colors, he thought of "Golden Tornadoes." But a check showed that Georgia Tech already had chosen that tag in 1917. From the tornado, he evolved meteorologically to the hurricane. A few days before the team left for a game against Texas A&M, Archer asked the squad to vote on the name, and thus "Golden Hurricane" was born.