Tulsa Women’s Basketball vs. UCF Preview

Saturday, January 21 ~ 12:00 pm Central ~ CFE Arena ~ Orlando, Fla.

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 UCFKnights.TV

Live Stats: Click Here

Rosters: Tulsa ~ UCF

2016-17 Season Stats: Tulsa ~ UCF

Tulsa Facebook: TulsaHurricane ~ TulsaWBasketball

UCF Facebook: UCF WBB

Tulsa Twitter: TulsaHurricane ~ TUWBasketball

UCF Twitter: UCF WBB

Tulsa Instagram: TulsaHurricanePics ~ TulsaWBB

UCF Instagram: UCF WBB

The Coaches
Tulsa: Matilda Mossman (Western Kentucky, 1979), 6th Year
Career Record: 224-187 (14 years)
Record at Tulsa: 77-94 (6 years)

UCF: Katie Abrahamson-Henderson (Iowa, 1990), 1st Year
Record: 241-108 (12 years)
Record at UCF: 12-6

Tulsa's Probable Starters
F     00     Kendrian Elliott, 6-2, Fr-HS, Wichita, Kan., 8.7 ppg, 7.2 rpg
G     3       Erika Wakefield, 5-4, Jr-2L, Moore, Okla., 11.9 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 3.2 apg
G     11     Ebony Parker, 5-8, Jr-TR, Houston, Texas, 6.5 ppg, 0.9 rpg
G     12     Shug Dickson, 5-9, Fr-HS, St. Louis, Mo., 7.7 ppg, 3.1 rpg
F     35     Liesl Spoerl, 6-1, Jr-2L, Tulsa, Okla., 4.9 ppg, 2.6 rpg

UCF's Probable Starters
G     2       Korneila Wright, 5-7, Fr, Orlando, Fla., 5.1 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 3.9 apg
F     12     Nyala Shuler, 6-0, So, Orlando, Fla., 4.2 ppg, 5.4 rpg, 1.0 spg
G     22     Aliyah Gregory, 5-10, Jr, Tampa, Fla., 12.7 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 2.0 apg
F     24     Fifi Ndour, 6-1, Jr, Dakar, Senegal, 8.6 ppg, 5.7 rpg
F     25     Tolulope Omokore, 5-11, So, Greenbelt, Md., 7.2 ppg, 6.1 rpg

In the Last Game
     Tulsa put up a strong effort before falling 98-58 to the No.1-ranked UConn Huskies Wednesday night in front of 1,391 fans at the Donald W. Reynolds Center.
     Freshman Shug Dickson led the Hurricane with 21 points, followed by 11 points from junior Liesl Spoerl and sophomore Tatyana Perez.
     Tulsa's 58 points is the most against UConn this year in the Huskies' first five American Athletic Conference games.

Scouting the Opponent
     UCF has a 12-6 overall record, including a 2-3 mark in American Athletic Conference play and a 6-4 record at home. The Knights are led by Zykira Lewis and Aliyah Gregory with 15.7 and 12.7 points per game, respectively. Joslyn Massey has a team-best 7.3 rebounds per game, Lewis has 59 steals and Korneila Wright has 71 assists.

Against the Opponent
     This will be the 14th meeting between Tulsa and UCF, as the Knights have a narrow 7-6 lead in the all-time series, but it was the Golden Hurricane that picked up the 95-71 win in the last meeting in Tulsa last season. UCF has won all five previous meetings in Orlando.

In the Nation
     Tulsa ranks 61st in the nation in three-point field goal percentage (.349), 62nd in three-point field goals made (130), 63rd in three-point field goals per game (7.2), 71st in fewest turnovers per game (14.4), 76th in free-throw percentage (72.6), 78th in three-point field goal attempts (373), 90th in fewest turnovers (259) and 97th in three-point field goal defense (29.6).
     Erika Wakefield is 131st in free throw percentage (79.7) and Kendrian Elliott ranks 223rd in rebounds per game (7.2).

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 Tatyana Perez has seven double-digit games, Kendrian Elliott has six and Alexis Gaulden has five. Ebony Parker and Shug Dickson both have four double-figure contests, Liesl Spoerl has three, and Crystal Polk and Jessica Pongonis both 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 then again against #1 UConn (1-17-17), and Wakefield posted 21 points at UMKC (11-11-16). 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 .500 field goal percentage. Jessica Pongonis is TU's next best shooter with 44.1-percent, followed by Erika Wakefield at 42.5-percent and Crystal Polk at 42.2-percent.

Behind the Arc
     Eight of Tulsa players have combined for 130 three-pointers this season, for a 7.2 three-pointers per game average. TU's opponents have hit 93 three's for 5.2 per game.
     Alexis Gaulden and Ebony Parker both have a team-best 30 trey's, while Tatyana Perez has 25 three's on the year and Shug Dickson has 14. Liesl Spoerl, Ashley Hughes and Addison Richards all have nine trey's this season.

Freshmen Making Marks
     Four 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 (.500); Kendrian Elliott is second in field goal percentage (.500) and fourth in blocks (13); Alexis Gaulden is third in three-point field goal percentage (.400); and Shug Dickson is fourth in free throw percentage (.786).

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

Four More Assists
     Junior Erika Wakefield needs just four more assists to rank in the top-10 on Tulsa's Career Chart. She currently has 212 assists, needing just four 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. UCF 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

Addison Richards

Tyjae' Scales

Liesl Spoerl

Erika Wakefield