Wednesday, December 21
Terre Haute, Ind.
11:00 am
Tulsa
at
Indiana State
Tulsa Women’s Basketball vs. Indiana State Preview
12/19/2016 11:49:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Wednesday, December 21 ~ 11:00 am Central ~ Hulman Center ~ Terre Haute, Ind.
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 ESPN3
Live Stats: Click Here
Rosters: Tulsa ~ Indiana State
2016-17 Season Stats: Tulsa ~ Indiana State
Tulsa Facebook: TulsaHurricane ~ TulsaWBasketball
Indiana State Facebook: Sycamores WBB
Tulsa Twitter: TulsaHurricane ~ TUWBasketball
Indiana State Twitter: Sycamores WBB
Tulsa Instagram: TulsaHurricanePics ~ TulsaWBB
Indiana State Instagram: Sycamores WBB
The Coaches
Tulsa: Matilda Mossman (Western Kentucky, 1979), 6th Year
Career Record: 223-182 (14 years)
Record at Tulsa: 76-89 (6 years)
Indiana State: Joey Wells (Fresno Pacific, 1996), 3rd Year
Record: 35-35 (3 years)
Record at Indiana State: same
Tulsa's Probable Starters
F 00 Kendrian Elliott, 6-2, Fr-HS, Wichita, Kan., 10.6 ppg, 7.1 rpg
G 2 Tatyana Perez, 5-6, So-1L, Cypress, Texas, 8.9 ppg, 1.9 rpg
G 3 Erika Wakefield, 5-4, Jr-2L, Moore, Okla., 11.8 ppg, 2.9 rpg, 3.3 apg
G 10 Alexis Gaulden, 5-8, Fr-HS, Broken Arrow, Okla., 9.2 ppg, 3.7 rpg
F 22 Jessica Pongonis, 6-1, Sr-1L, Fishers, Ind., 2.4 ppg, 1.2 rpg
Indiana State's Probable Starters
F 1 Ashley Taia, 6-0, Jr, Brisbane, Australia, 12.3 ppg, 4.2 rpg, 1.8 apg
G 14 Tierra Webb, 5-7, So, Richton Park, Ill., 6.8 ppg, 3.3 rpg, 1.6 apg
G 21 Brooklyn Artis, 5-8, Jr, Amarillo, Texas, 2.5 ppg, 1.1 rpg
F 23 Wendi Bibbins, 6-2, Jr, Harvey, La., 9.6 ppg, 8.4 rpg
F 45 Rhagen Smith, 6-2, Sr, Sullivan, Ind., 8.2 ppg, 5.1 rpg, 1.0 bpg
In the Last Game
The Tulsa women's basketball team dropped a 63-58 decision to Little Rock on Sunday afternoon at the Donald W. Reynolds Center.
Alexis Gaulden led the Golden Hurricane attack for the second-straight game with a team-best 18 points, while Kendrian Elliott posted her second career double-double with 13 points and 13 rebounds, and Erika Wakefield added 10 points and a team-high three steals.
Both teams had 10 assists and 12 turnovers, while Little Rock had a 51-32 lead in rebounds and a 10-6 advantage in steals, and TU had a 6-0 advantage in blocks.
Scouting the Opponent
Indiana State has a 5-5 overall record, including just a 1-1 mark at the Hulman Center this season. The Sycamores are led by Ashley Taia with 12.3 points per game, while Wendi Bibbins adds 9.6 points per game and a team-best 8.4 rebounds per game. Taia has a team-high 18 assists and 15 steals, while Rhagen Smith has 10 blocks.
Against the Opponent
This will be just the second meeting between Tulsa and Indiana State on the women's basketball court, as the Sycamore earned a 67-63 win last season in Tulsa.
In the Nation
Tulsa ranks 21st in the nation in three-point field goals made (90), 29th in three-point field goal percentage (.380), 49th in three-point field goals attempted (237), 52nd in three-point field goals per game (7.5), 59th in turnovers per game (14.2) and 90th in assists (155).
Erika Wakefield is 89th in minutes played (369); Tatyana Perez ranks 120th in three-point field goals made (22) and 147th in three-point field goals attempted (60); and Kendrian Elliott ranks 227th in rebounds per game (7.1).
Stepping Up
Nine of Tulsa's 13 players have scored in double figures this season. Erika Wakefield has scored in double figures eight times, while Tatyana Perez has six double-digit games and Kendrian Elliott has five double-figure scoring contests. Alexis Gaulden has three double-figure contests, while Ebony Park, Crystal Polk and Jessica Pongonis all have two double-digit games, and Shug Dickson and Liesl Spoerl have both had one double-figure scoring game on the year.
20+ Scorers
Alexis Gaulden's 23 points against Saint Louis marked the third-straight game a TU player has scored 20+ points. Ebony Parker scored 20 points against #19/20 Oklahoma and Kendrian Elliott had 20 points against Arkansas State. Erika Wakefield also scored 20+ points as she tallied 21 in the season opener at UMKC.
Above 500
Jessica Pongonis has a team-high .520 field goal percentage, while Kendrian Elliott is shooting at a .507 clip this season. Erika Wakefield is TU's next best shooter with 46.7-percent.
In Tulsa's Top 10
Ashley Hughes is second in free throw percentage in school history with a .865 clip (32 of 37).
Behind the Arc
Eight of Tulsa players have combined for 90 three-pointers this season, for a 7.5 three-pointers per game average. TU's opponents have hit 57 three's for 4.8 per game.
Tatyana Perez has a team-best 22 trey's, Alexis Gaulden has 20 and Ebony Parker has 17.
Mossman Has 223 Career Wins
Matilda Mossman has collected 223 career victories, including 67 wins at Arkansas, 80 wins at Kansas State and currently 76 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.
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