Tulsa Women’s Basketball vs. UConn

Wednesday, January 27

Reynolds Center

7:00 pm

Tulsa

UConn

Buy Tickets

Tulsa Women’s Basketball vs. UConn

1/26/2016 11:42:00 AM | Women's Basketball

By: Stephanie Hall

Wednesday, January 27 ~ 7:00 pm Central ~ Donald W. Reynolds Center ~ Tulsa, Okla.

Tickets: Single game tickets are $5 general admission (except UConn and Oklahoma, which are $10 a ticket) and season passes are $50. Tickets can be purchased at the Reynolds Center ticket office or by calling 918.631.GoTU (4688).

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.

Video: Click Here

Live Stats: Click Here

Rosters: Tulsa ~ UConn

2015-16 Season Stats: Tulsa ~ UConn

Tulsa Facebook: TulsaHurricane ~ TulsaWBasketball

UConn Facebook: UConn WBB

Tulsa Twitter: TulsaHurricane ~ TUWBasketball

UConn Twitter: UConn WBB

Tulsa Instagram: TulsaHurricanePics ~ TulsaWBB

UConn Instagram: UConn WBB

The Coaches
Tulsa: Matilda Mossman (Western Kentucky, 1979), 5th Year
Career Record: 214-168 (13 years)
Record at Tulsa: 67-75 (5 years)

UConn: Geno Auriemma (West Chester, 1981), 31st Year
Career Record: 925-134 (31 years)
Record at UConn: same

Tulsa's Probable Starters
G          00       Kelsee Grovey, 5-8, Sr.-3L, Shawnee, Okla., 10.0 ppg, 3.1 rpg
G          3          Erika Wakefield, 5-4, So.-1L, Moore, Okla., 9.7 ppg, 3.2 rpg, 3.4 apg
G          13       Ashley Hughes, 5-7, Jr.-2L, Sulphur, Okla., 2.1 ppg, 1.5 rpg
G          23       Ashley Clark, 5-11, Sr.-3L, Midwest City, Okla., 13.2 ppg, 6.0 rpg
F          25       Tyjae' Scales, 6-1, Fr.-HS, Houston, Texas, 2.3 ppg, 4.8 rpg

UConn's Probable Starters
G          4          Moriah Jefferson, 5-7, Sr., Glenn Heights, Texas, 13.4 ppg, 2.5 rpg
G          11       Kia Nurse, 6-0, So., Hamilton, Ontario, 9.7 ppg, 2.3 rpg
G          15       Gabby Williams, 5-11, So., Sparks, Nev., 9.9 ppg, 6.2 rpg
F          30       Breanna Stewart, 6-4, Sr., North Syracuse, N.Y., 19.3 ppg, 8.3 rpg
F          33       Katie Lou Samuelson, 6-3, Fr., Huntington Beach, Calif., 9.2 ppg, 3.2 rpg

The Last Game
            The Memphis Tigers avenged an earlier season loss to Tulsa with a 69-58 victory Saturday afternoon in front of 332 fans at the Donald W. Reynolds Center.
            Turnovers and poor shooting doomed the Golden Hurricane. Tulsa's season-high 25 turnovers turned into 34 points for the Tigers, while the Hurricane scored just 11 points off of 18 Memphis turnovers. Tulsa began the game on fire from the field, shooting 75-percent in the first 10 minutes, but over the final 30 minutes made just 12-of-38 for 31.5 percent.
            Ashley Clark was the only Tulsa player to score in double digits with 14 points, while Kelsee Grovey and Teanna Reid each scored nine points, all coming on three-pointers. Three Memphis players scored in double-figures, led by Mooriah Rowser's 14 points, all coming in the first quarter. Cheyenne Creighton added 12 points and Ariel Hearn scored 10.

The Opponent
            UConn has a perfect 18-0 mark, including an 8-0 record in American Athletic Conference play. Breanna Stewart has team-bests of 19.3 points per game and 8.3 rebounds per game. Morgan Tuck and Moriah Jefferson also average double digit points with 14.9 ppg and 13.4 ppg, respectively. Jefferson has a team-high 94 assists and 46 steals, while Stewart has 58 blocks.

Series History
            This will be the fourth meeting between Tulsa and UConn on the women's basketball court, with the Huskies winning all three previous contests. UConn picked up a 95-35 win earlier this season in Hartford, Conn.

The Losses
            In six of Tulsa's 13 losses, TU has led at some point in the fourth quarter, but weren't able to sustain the advantage. The Hurricane's closest decision came against Indiana State when Tulsa had the lead with 51-seconds to play. TU also led George Mason (1:33 left), Kansas State (4:46 left), Tulane (5:19 left), Drake (9:32 left) and Oral Roberts (to start the 4th quarter).

2-0 to Start Conference Play
            This was the first time Tulsa went 2-0 in conference play since the 2007-08 season when the Golden Hurricane competed in Conference USA. During that year, TU also won their first game of conference play in overtime against SMU (75-62) and narrowly topped Southern Miss (63-62).

Adding Up
            Tulsa junior Ashley Clark became the ninth women's basketball player in school history to score 1,000 career points and one game later Kelsee Grovey tallied her 1,000th point. Clark currently has 1,333 points and Grovey has 1,231 points.

Just 18 More
            Senior guard Kelsee Grovey needs just 18 more three-point baskets to tie the top mark in school history. Kara Pongonis-Paslay (2002-06) currently has the record with 222 threes, while Grovey is in second with 204.

33 Points for Clark
            Ashley Clark set a new personal best of 33 points against Houston (1-20-16), which is tied for third in school history for an individual player in a game with Carla Morrow (UMKC/2-9-01), Jillian Robbins (San Jose State/2-26-05), Jillian Robbins (Memphis/1-7-07) and Taleya Mayberry (Stephen F. Austin/12-30-12). This marked the first time a Tulsa player scored 30+ points since Taleya Mayberry had 30 points against East Carolina (3-15-13) nearly three years ago.

Making Assists
            Erika Wakefield has a team-best 68 assists this season, including a career-high 10 assists against SMU on January 2, 2016. This marked the first time a TU player tallied 10 or more assists in a game since Taleya Mayberry had 10 against Akron on November 28, 2009.

Sharp Shooters
            Freshmen Tyjae' Scales and Crystal Polk have been hitting their mark this season, boasting the two best field goal percentages on the team. Scales has a 54.5 field goal percentage (18-33), while Polk posts a 51.8 percent clip (57-110).

Mossman Has 214 Career Wins
            Matilda Mossman reached the 200-win milestone as Tulsa captured a 70-61 win over UCF on Jan. 31, 2015. Mossman had 67 wins at Arkansas, 80 wins at Kansas State and currently 67 wins at TU for 214 career victories.

In Tulsa's Top 10
            Four current Tulsa women's basketball players have earned their way into Tulsa's Top 10 career lists.
- Ashley Clark is third in double-doubles (11), fourth in points (1,319), field goals made (527) and rebounds (668), seventh in assists (251), ninth in free throws made (233), and 10th in steals (142)
- Kelsee Grovey is second in three-point field goals made (204), sixth in assists (269), seventh in points (1,231), steals (159) and three-point field goal percentage with a .358 clip (204 of 569), and eighth in free throw percentage with a .809 clip (183 of 226) and field goals made (422)
- Ashley Hughes is fourth in free throw percentage with a .833 clip (25 of 30)
- Teanna Reid is second in three-point field goal percentage with a .378 clip (59 of 156)

Clark Named to The American Preseason Team; Hurricane Picked Sixth
            Tulsa guard Ashley Clark was named to the American Athletic Conference preseason all-conference second team, while the team was picked to finish sixth in the Preseason Coaches' Poll. In the coaches' poll, UConn was predicted to win the 2015-16 Championship, while USF was second and Temple third. East Carolina, Tulane, Tulsa, Memphis, SMU, UCF, Cincinnati and Houston round out the poll.

The Non-Conference Slate
            Tulsa's 11-game non-conference slate featured seven games against 2015 postseason teams. All 11 of TU's non-conference opponents finished last year with double-digit wins, while Arkansas, Oklahoma and UALR competed in the NCAA Tournament; Drake, Kansas State and Northern Iowa played in the WNIT; and Oral Roberts participated in the WBI.

The League Opponents
            Tulsa will play host to 10-time National Champion UConn, as well as NCAA Tournament participants USF and Tulane, in American Athletic Conference action. Six teams in The American advanced to postseason play last year, as East Carolina, Temple and Tulsa competed in the Women's National Invitation Tournament.

UConn to Host American Championship
            UConn will host the 2016 American Athletic Conference Championship at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn., from March 4-7.

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.