Tulsa Women’s Basketball vs. #1 UConn Preview

Tuesday, January 17 ~ 7:00 pm Central ~ Donald W. Reynolds Center ~ Tulsa, Okla.

Tickets: Single game tickets are $10 general admission 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.

Live Audio: Listen Here

Video: Watch Live on ESPN3 or SportsNet New York

Live Stats: Click Here

Rosters: Tulsa ~ UConn

2016-17 Season Stats: Tulsa ~ UConn

Tulsa Facebook: TulsaHurricane ~ TulsaWBasketball

UConn Facebook: UConn WBB

Tulsa Twitter: TulsaHurricane ~ TUWBasketball

UConn Twitter: UConn WBB

Tulsa Instagram: TulsaHurricanePics ~ TulsaWBB

UConn Instagram: UConn WBB

The Coaches
Tulsa: Matilda Mossman (Western Kentucky, 1979), 6th Year
Career Record: 224-186 (14 years)
Record at Tulsa: 77-93 (6 years)

UConn: Geno Auriemma (West Chester, 1981), 32nd Year
Record: 971-134 (32 years)
Record at UConn: same

Tulsa's Probable Starters
F     00     Kendrian Elliott, 6-2, Fr-HS, Wichita, Kan., 8.9 ppg, 7.5 rpg
G     3       Erika Wakefield, 5-4, Jr-2L, Moore, Okla., 12.5 ppg, 3.1 rpg, 3.4 apg
G     10     Alexis Gaulden, 5-8, Fr-HS, Broken Arrow, Okla., 9.1 ppg, 3.6 rpg
G     13     Ashley Hughes, 5-7, Sr-3L, Sulphur, Okla., 3.0 ppg, 2.4 rpg
F     35     Liesl Spoerl, 6-1, Jr-2L, Tulsa, Okla., 2.8 ppg, 2.4 rpg

UConn's Probable Starters
G     11     Kia Nurse, 6-0, Jr, Hamilton, Ontario, 13.1 ppg, 2.4 rpg, 4.0 apg
G     12     Saniya Chong, 5-8, Sr, Ossining, N.Y., 6.6 ppg, 2.0 rpg, 3.3 apg
G     15     Gabby Williams, 5-11, Jr, Sparks, Nev., 11.9 ppg, 8.4 rpg, 4.8 apg
F     24     Napheesa Collier, 6-1, So, O'Fallon, Mo., 19.3 ppg, 8.0 rpg, 2.0 spg
F     33     Katie Lou Samuelson, 6-3, So, Huntington Beach, Calif., 20.6 ppg

In the Last Game
     Shug Dickson came in off the bench and scored a career-high 21 points, but it wasn't enough as Tulsa dropped a 58-49 decision to Temple on Saturday afternoon at the Donald W. Reynolds Center.
     Ebony Parker added eight points off the bench, while Erika Wakefield and Crystal Polk both had six points. Kendrian Elliott pulled down a team-best nine boards, Wakefield had four assists and Alexis Gaulden had two steals.

Scouting the Opponent
     The 11-Time National Champion #1 UConn Huskies have a 16-0 overall record, including a 4-0 mark in American Athletic Conference play, and are coming off an 88-48 win over SMU that gave them a new NCAA record 91-straight victories. The Huskies are led by four players that average double-digit points, including Katie Lou Samuelson (20.6), Napheesa Collier (19.3), Kia Nurse (13.1) and Gabby Williams (11.9). Williams has a team-best 8.4 rebounds per game, while Collier is just behind that with 8.0 rpg.

Against the Opponent
     This will be the fifth meeting between Tulsa and UConn, as the Huskies have a 4-0 lead in the all-time series, including a 94-30 win in the last meeting last season in Tulsa.

In the Nation
     Tulsa ranks 57th in the nation in three-point field goal defense (28.3), 74th in three-point field goal percentage (.345), 75th in free-throw percentage (72.6), 79th in three-point field goals made (117), 82nd in turnovers per game (14.5), and 89th in three-point field goals per game (6.9) and in fewest turnovers (247).
     Erika Wakefield is 130th in free throw percentage (79.7) and 237th in assists per game (3.4); and Kendrian Elliott ranks 176th in rebounds per game (7.5).

Stepping Up
     Nine of Tulsa's 13 players have scored in double figures this season. Erika Wakefield has scored in double figures 12 times, while Kendrian Elliott and Tatyana Perez both have six double-digit games. Alexis Gaulden has five double-figure scoring contests, Ebony Parker has four double-digit games, Shug Dickson has three double-figure contests, and Crystal Polk, Jessica Pongonis and Liesl Spoerl all have two double-figure games.

20+ Scorers
     Erika Wakefield had a team-leading and personal-best 25 points at Houston (1-1-17), while Alexis Gaulden tallied a career-high 23 points against Saint Louis (12-15-16). Shug Dickson tallied 21-points against Temple (1-14-17) and Wakefield posted 21 points at UMKC (11-11-16), and Ebony Parker had 20 points at #19/20 Oklahoma (12-11-16) and Kendrian Elliott had 20 points against Arkansas State (12-6-16).

The Losses that Could Have Been Wins
     In Tulsa's 12 losses this season, the Golden Hurricane has lost eight of those by single digits, including five games by two or less baskets. Tulsa fell to Arkansas State and South Dakota by 3 each, Indiana State by 4, Houston and Little Rock by 5 each, Arkansas by 7, Oral Roberts by 8, and Temple by 9.
     TU also had a double-digit lead over three of the opponents, before falling in the contests [15-point lead over Little Rock (lost by five), a 14-point lead over Indiana State (lost by four) and a 13-point lead over Arkansas State (lost by 3)].

Shooting the Ball
     Kendrian Elliott has a team-high .490 field goal percentage. Jessica Pongonis is TU's next best shooter with 46.9-percent, followed by Erika Wakefield at 43.8-percent.

Behind the Arc
     Eight of Tulsa players have combined for 117 three-pointers this season, for a 6.9 three-pointers per game average. TU's opponents have hit 82 three's for 4.8 per game.
     Alexis Gaulden has a team-best 30 trey's, while Ebony Parker has 29 and Tatyana Perez has 22 three's on the year.

Freshmen Making Marks
     Three Tulsa freshmen have already earned a spot on the Tulsa Freshman Single-Season Records list. Addison Richards is currently first in three-point field goal percentage (.563); Alexis Gaulden is third in three-point field goal percentage (.400); and Kendrian Elliott is third in field goal percentage (.490), fourth in blocks (13) and fifth in free throw percentage (.763).

In Tulsa's Top 10
     Ashley Hughes is second in free throw percentage in school history with a .871 clip (34 of 39).

Five More Assists
     Junior Erika Wakefield needs just five more assists to rank in the top-10 on Tulsa's Career Chart. She currently has 211 assists, needing just five more to tie Tammy Goyne (1998-2000) with 216 for the No. 10 spot.

Mossman Has 224 Career Wins
     Matilda Mossman has collected 224 career victories, including 67 wins at Arkansas, 80 wins at Kansas State and currently 77 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.

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.

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. #1 UConn Preview

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Shug Dickson

Kendrian Elliott

Alexis Gaulden

Kelsee Grovey

Ashley Hughes

Ebony Parker

Tatyana Perez

Crystal Polk

Jessica Pongonis

Addison Richards

Tyjae' Scales

Liesl Spoerl

Erika Wakefield