Tulsa Falls to #1 UConn, 95-35

Wednesday, January 6

Hartford, Conn.

6:00 pm

Tulsa

5-9, 2-1

UConn

12-0, 2-0

Tulsa

UConn

Tulsa Falls to #1 UConn, 95-35

1/6/2016 8:04:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

By: Stephanie Hall

Final Game Book
Season Stats
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Tulsa dropped a 95-35 decision to top-ranked UConn on Wednesday night at the XL Center in Hartford, Conn. TU fell to 5-9 on the season and 2-1 in American Athletic Conference play, while the Huskies moved to 12-0 overall and 2-0 in the league.

"There is no question that UConn is really, really good, but I didn't feel like we attacked them very well and there were some things that we could have done better," Head Coach Matilda Mossman said. "I thought there were too many loose balls rolling around that we didn't go get. We didn't finish layups early on in the game and that affected our confidence. We also didn't shoot very well from point-blank range. Our effort should have been a lot better."

Ashley Clark had a team-best 10 points for Tulsa, followed by Liesl Spoerl with six, and Kelsee Grovey and Ashley Hughes with five each. Te'era Williams recorded seven rebounds, Erika Wakefield had five assists and Spoerl had two steals.

Tulsa shot 26-percent from the field, including just 11-percent from behind the arc, and were just 1-of-2 for the game from the free throw line, while UConn shot 50-percent from the field, 39-percent from three-point range and were 10-of-10 from the charity stripe.

TU continued to struggle with shooting the ball, missing their first eight shots in the third quarter, but Grovey scored on a layup with 4:30 on the clock and Clark added a basket 45-seconds later. Hughes recorded a three-point basket with under a minute to play in the frame as UConn outscored Tulsa, 24-7, in the third quarter.

In the final frame, TU tallied 10 points and held UConn to their fewest in a quarter during the game with 22 for the final 95-35 score.

Morgan Tuck and Saniya Chong both had 18 points for the Huskies, while Katie Lou Samuelson added 14, Breanna Stewart had 12 and Napheesa Collier totaled 11. Stewart pulled down nine rebounds, and Gabby Williams and Samuelson had five assists.

Clark put Tulsa on the board at the 7:29 mark to stop a 5-0 start for the Huskies and then scored again 46-seconds later, but went to the bench with two fouls at the 5:46 mark. Wakefield hit a jumper with just under five minutes to play in the quarter, but TU wasn't able to score a basket for the remainder of the first frame as UConn took a 24-6 advantage after 10 minutes.

Spoerl tallied half of Tulsa's second quarter points with six, while Grovey hit TU's first three of the contest with 5:37 left in the half. The Hurricane trailed the Huskies, 49-18, at the end of the second quarter.

In the first half, TU shot 28-percent from the field, including just 12-percent from behind the arc and were 1-of-2 from the free throw line, while UConn hit 51-percent from the field, 25-percent from three-point range and all six of their free throws.

Tulsa will return to action on Friday, January 8 against Temple. Game time is set for 4:00 pm Central in Philadelphia, Pa., and will be broadcast live on ESPNU.