Tulsa Women’s Basketball vs. Arkansas Preview

Wednesday, November 30 ~ 7:00 pm Central ~ Donald W. Reynolds Center ~ Tulsa, Okla.

Tickets: Single game tickets are $5 general admission (except UConn, 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: Watch Live Here or on Cox Sports Television (CST) regionally

Live Stats: Click Here

Rosters: Tulsa ~ Arkansas

2016-17 Season Stats: Tulsa ~ Arkansas

Tulsa Facebook: TulsaHurricane ~ TulsaWBasketball

Arkansas Facebook: Arkansas WBB

Tulsa Twitter: TulsaHurricane ~ TUWBasketball

Arkansas Twitter: Arkansas WBB

Tulsa Instagram: TulsaHurricanePics ~ TulsaWBB

The Coaches
Tulsa: Matilda Mossman (Western Kentucky, 1979), 6th Year
Career Record: 221-178 (14 years)
Record at Tulsa: 74-85 (6 years)

Arkansas: Jimmy Dykes (Arkansas, 1985), 3rd Year
Career Record: 36-32 (3 years)
Record at Arkansas: same

Tulsa's Probable Starters
G     2       Tatyana Perez, 5-6, So.-1L, Cypress, Texas, 8.8 ppg, 1.3 rpg
G     3       Erika Wakefield, 5-4, Jr.-2L, Moore, Okla., 13.8 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 3.6 apg
G     10     Alexis Gaulden, 5-8, Fr.-HS, Broken Arrow, Okla., 7.2 ppg, 3.2 rpg
F     33     Crystal Polk, 6-2, So.-1L, Lawton, Okla., 5.7 ppg, 3.7 rpg, 0.6 bpg
F     35     Liesl Spoerl, 6-1, Jr.-2L, Tulsa, Okla., 6.8 ppg, 2.8 rpg

Arkansas' Probable Starters
F     00     Jessica Jackson, 6-3, Sr., Jacksonville, Ark., 15.8 ppg, 6.0 rpg
G     3       Malica Monk, 5-5, So., North Little Rock, Ark., 11.3 ppg, 2.5 rpg
G     14     Jailyn Mason, 5-9, Fr., Mason, Ohio, 8.0 ppg, 3.5 rpg
G     22     Bailey Zimmerman, 6-0, So., St. Vincent, Ark., 4.5 ppg, 5.0 rpg
C     35     Alecia Cooley, 6-3, Sr., Evanston, Ill., 9.7 ppg, 6.8 rpg

In the Last Game
     The Tulsa women's basketball team dropped a 71-56 decision to BYU in the UNM Thanksgiving Tournament championship game at the WisePies Arena in Albuquerque, N.M. For their efforts in the tournament, Jessica Pongonis and Erika Wakefield were named to the UNM Thanksgiving Tournament all-tournament team.
     Pongonis had a team-leading 11 points for a new career high, beating her previous best of 10 points scored on the previous day. Tatyana Perez also scored in double figures with 10 points, while Addison Richards had eight points, and both Erika Wakefield and Ebony Parker added seven.

Scouting the Opponent
     Arkansas has a 6-0 overall record, but have not played a true road game this season. The Razorbacks are led by Jessica Jackson with 15.8 points per game, while Malica Monk adds 11.3 ppg and Briunna Freeman has 10.3 ppg. Alecia Cooley pulls down a team-best 6.8 rebounds per game and has six blocks, while Monk has a team-leading 22 assists and 14 steals.

Against the Opponent
     This will be the 23rd meeting between Tulsa and Arkansas on the women's basketball court, as the Razorbacks have a 19-3 lead in the series. It was Tulsa, however, that won the last game at Arkansas last season (74-67).

Stepping Up
     Eight of Tulsa's 13 players that have earned playing time this season have scored in double figures. Erika Wakefield and Tatyana Perez have both scored in double figures four times, while Crystal Polk and Jessica Pongonis have two double-figure scoring games. Kendrian Elliott, Alexis Gaulden, Ebony Parker and Liesl Spoerl have all had one double-digit scoring contest on the year.

Above 500
     Kendrian Elliott has a team-high .556 field goal percentage, while Jessica Pongonis and Erika Wakefield are also both shooting above .500 this season.

Behind the Arc
     Eight of Tulsa players have combined for 48 three-pointers this season, for a 8.0 three-pointers per game average. TU's opponents have hit just 31 three's for 5.2 per game.

In Tulsa's Top 10
     Three current Tulsa women's basketball players have earned their way into Tulsa's Top 10 career lists. Ashley Hughes is second in free throw percentage with a .865 clip (32 of 37); Crystal Polk is ninth in field goal percentage with a .472 clip (75 of 159); Teanna Reid is eighth in 3-point field goal percentage with a .363 clip (61 of 168).

Mossman Has 221 Career Wins
     Matilda Mossman has collected 221 career victories, including 67 wins at Arkansas, 80 wins at Kansas State and currently 74 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.

The Non-Conference Slate
     Tulsa announced the 13-game non-conference schedule, which features a potential eight games against 2016 postseason teams, five home contests, including games against Arkansas and the 2016 WNIT Champions South Dakota, and a trip to Albuquerque, N.M., for the UNM Thanksgiving Classic. All 14 of TU's potential non-conference opponents finished last year with double-digit wins, while eight teams played in the postseason.

The League Opponents
     Tulsa will host 11-time National Champion UConn, as well as three other teams that played in the postseason, in American Athletic Conference action. Five teams in The American advanced to postseason play last year, as UConn and USF played in the NCAA Tournament, and Memphis, Temple and Tulane participated in the Women's National Invitation Tournament. (Tulsa will not host Tulane at home this season.)

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.

TulsaHurricane.com
     Keep up with the Tulsa Golden Hurricane women's basketball team by accessing the official University of Tulsa athletic department web site at TulsaHurricane.com.

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.

Tulsa Women’s Basketball vs. Arkansas Preview

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Players Mentioned

Kendrian Elliott

Alexis Gaulden

Kelsee Grovey

Ashley Hughes

Ebony Parker

Tatyana Perez

Crystal Polk

Jessica Pongonis

Addison Richards

Tyjae' Scales

Liesl Spoerl

Erika Wakefield