Tulsa Women’s Basketball vs. Arkansas State Preview

Tuesday, December 6

Jonesboro, Ark.

7:00 pm

Tulsa

Arkansas State

Tulsa Women’s Basketball vs. Arkansas State Preview

12/4/2016 5:35:00 PM | Women's Basketball

By: Stephanie Hall

Tuesday, December 6 ~ 7:00 pm Central ~ Convocation Center ~ Jonesboro, Ark.

Game Notes: T ulsa

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 Here

Live Stats: Click Here

Rosters: Tulsa ~ Arkansas State

2016-17 Season Stats: Tulsa ~ Arkansas State

Tulsa Facebook: TulsaHurricane ~ TulsaWBasketball

Arkansas State Facebook: ASU WBB

Tulsa Twitter: TulsaHurricane ~ TUWBasketball

Arkansas State Twitter: ASU WBB

Tulsa Instagram: TulsaHurricanePics ~ TulsaWBB

Arkansas State Instagram: Arkansas State

The Coaches
Tulsa: Matilda Mossman (Western Kentucky, 1979), 6th Year
Career Record: 222-179 (14 years)
Record at Tulsa: 75-86 (6 years)

Arkansas State: Brian Boyer (Missouri Western, 1993), 18th Year
Record: 299-235 (18 years)
Record at Arkansas State: same

Tulsa's Probable Starters
G     2       Tatyana Perez, 5-6, So.-1L, Cypress, Texas, 9.8 ppg, 1.9 rpg
G     3       Erika Wakefield, 5-4, Jr.-2L, Moore, Okla., 12.9 ppg, 3.3 rpg, 3.5 apg
G     10     Alexis Gaulden, 5-8, Fr.-HS, Broken Arrow, Okla., 6.3 ppg, 3.3 rpg
F     33     Crystal Polk, 6-2, So.-1L, Lawton, Okla., 5.3 ppg, 4.4 rpg, 0.8 bpg
F     35     Liesl Spoerl, 6-1, Jr.-2L, Tulsa, Okla., 5.9 ppg, 2.5 rpg

Arkansas State's Probable Starters
F     1       Lauren Bradshaw, 6-2, Jr., Mesquite, Texas, 5.5 ppg, 6.3 rpg
G     10     Akasha Westbrook, 5-10, Jr., Malvern, Ark., 10.0 ppg, 5.0 rpg
G     13     Brittany Fowler, 5-8, Sr., Leachville, Ark., 8.3 ppg, 0.7 rpg
F     24     Tahlon Hopkins, 5-11, Fr., Farmington, Ark., 7.7 ppg, 2.3 rpg
G     25     Dominique Oliver, 5-6, Sr., Rowlett, Texas, 9.5 ppg, 4.8 rpg

In the Last Game
     Tatyana Perez and Kendrian Elliott both had career-bests to give the Tulsa women's basketball team a 63-58 win over North Texas on Saturday afternoon at the Donald W. Reynolds Center.
     Perez scored 18 points on 6-of-12 shooting, including 4-of-7 from three-point range and a perfect 2-for-2 from the free throw line. Elliott added 12 points, and along with Crystal Polk team-bests of seven rebounds apiece. Erika Wakefield added 10 points and Ashley Hughes had six assists.
     The Hurricane shot 45-percent from the field, 58-percent from three-point range and 78-percent (18-of-23) from the charity stripe, while the Mean Green shot 33-percent from the field, 11-percent from behind the arc and 93-percent (14-of-15) from the free throw line.

Scouting the Opponent
     Arkansas State will be looking for their first win after starting the season 0-6, but five of their games have been played on the road. The Red Wolves are led by Akasha Westbrook with 10.0 points per game, while Dominique Oliver adds 9.5 ppg. Lauren Bradshaw has a team-best 6.3 rebounds per game and 11 blocks, while Oliver has 14 steals.

Against the Opponent
     This will be the fifth meeting between Tulsa and Arkansas State, as ASU has a 3-1 lead in the series. The two teams met twice in 2011-12 (Mossman's first season at TU), when the teams split and each won on their home court. The Red Wolves got the last win, an 80-70 decision.

Stepping Up
     Nine of Tulsa's 13 players have scored in double figures this season. Erika Wakefield has scored in double figures six times, while Tatyana Perez has five double-digit games, and Kendrian Elliott has three double-figure scoring contests. Crystal Polk and Jessica Pongonis both have two double-figure contests, while 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 54.5-percent. Erika Wakefield is just under that mark with 47.6-percent.

Behind the Arc
     Eight of Tulsa players have combined for 57 three-pointers this season, for a 7.1 three-pointers per game average. TU's opponents have hit just 37 three's for 4.6 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).

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.

Mossman Has 222 Career Wins
     Matilda Mossman has collected 222 career victories, including 67 wins at Arkansas, 80 wins at Kansas State and currently 75 wins at TU.

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.