Tulsa Women’s Basketball vs. North Texas Preview

Saturday, December 3 ~ 2:00 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

Live Stats: Click Here

Rosters: Tulsa ~ North Texas

2016-17 Season Stats: Tulsa ~ North Texas

Tulsa Facebook: TulsaHurricane ~ TulsaWBasketball

North Texas Facebook: North Texas WBB

Tulsa Twitter: TulsaHurricane ~ TUWBasketball

North Texas Twitter: North Texas WBB

Tulsa Instagram: TulsaHurricanePics ~ TulsaWBB

North Texas Instagram: North Texas WBB

The Coaches
Tulsa: Matilda Mossman (Western Kentucky, 1979), 6th Year
Career Record: 221-179 (14 years)
Record at Tulsa: 74-86 (6 years)

North Texas: Jalie Mitchell (North Texas, 2002), 2nd Year
Career Record: 13-23 (2 years)
Record at North Texas: same

Tulsa's Probable Starters
G     2       Tatyana Perez, 5-6, So.-1L, Cypress, Texas, 8.6 ppg, 1.7 rpg
G     3       Erika Wakefield, 5-4, Jr.-2L, Moore, Okla., 13.3 ppg, 3.1 rpg, 3.7 apg
G     10     Alexis Gaulden, 5-8, Fr.-HS, Broken Arrow, Okla., 6.4 ppg, 3.4 rpg
F     33     Crystal Polk, 6-2, So.-1L, Lawton, Okla., 5.1 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 0.7 bpg
F     35     Liesl Spoerl, 6-1, Jr.-2L, Tulsa, Okla., 6.4 ppg, 2.6 rpg

North Texas' Probable Starters
G     1       Tyara Warren, 5-9, So., Plano, Texas, 6.2 ppg, 2.5 rpg
G     3       Kelsey Criner, 5-7, Sr., Dallas, Texas, 7.2 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 4.1 apg
G     20     Terra Ellison, 5-11, Sr., The Colony, Texas, 8.8 ppg, 6.3 rpg
G     23     Terriell Bradley, 5-10, So., New Orleans, La., 13.0 ppg, 3.2 rpg
F     34     Micayla Buckner, 6-3, So., Garland, Texas, 6.8 ppg, 6.5 rpg

In the Last Game
     Tulsa dropped a 57-50 decision against Arkansas Wednesday night as the Hurricane let a nine-point lead slip away in the final eight minutes at the Donald W. Reynolds Center. The Hurricane fell to 2-5 on the season, while the Lady Razorbacks kept its' season unblemished moving to 7-0.
     Freshman Shug Dickson led three Tulsa players in double-figures with 14 points, followed by fellow freshman Kendrian Elliott with 11 and Erika Wakefield with 10 points. Elliott, who missed the previous three games with an injury, returned to lead the Hurricane in rebounding with seven boards.

Scouting the Opponent
     North Texas has a 2-4 overall record, including a 65-51 loss to SMU in their last contest. The Mean Green are led by Terriell Bradley with 13.0 points per game, while Terra Ellison adds 8.8 ppg. Micayla Buckner pulls down 6.5 rebounds per contest, while Kelsey Criner has 25 assists and 15 steals.

Against the Opponent
     This will be the seventh meeting between Tulsa and North Texas on the women's basketball court, as TU has won all six previous meetings. The Golden Hurricane captured a 63-43 win in the last meeting during the 2013-14 season.

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

Above 500
     Jessica Pongonis has a team-high .550 field goal percentage, while Kendrian Elliott is also shooting above .500 with 53.6-percent. Erika Wakefield is just under that mark with 49.3-percent.

Behind the Arc
     Eight of Tulsa players have combined for 50 three-pointers this season, for a 7.1 three-pointers per game average. TU's opponents have hit just 35 three's for 5.0 per game.

In Tulsa's Top 10
     Ashley Hughes is second in free throw percentage in school history with a .865 clip (32 of 37).

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. North Texas Preview

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Players Mentioned

Shug Dickson

Kendrian Elliott

Alexis Gaulden

Kelsee Grovey

Ashley Hughes

Ebony Parker

Tatyana Perez

Crystal Polk

Jessica Pongonis

Tyjae' Scales

Liesl Spoerl

Erika Wakefield