Tulsa Women’s Basketball vs. USF Preview

Saturday, February 25

Reynolds Center

2:00 pm

Tulsa

USF

Tickets

Tulsa Women’s Basketball vs. USF Preview

2/23/2017 11:29:00 AM | Women's Basketball

By: Stephanie Hall

Saturday, February 25 ~ 2:00 pm Central ~ Donald W. Reynolds Center ~ Tulsa, Okla.

Tickets: Single game tickets are $5 general admission and season passes are $50. Tickets can be purchased ONLINE, 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 on TulsaHurricane.com

Live Stats: Click Here

Rosters: Tulsa ~ USF

2016-17 Season Stats: Tulsa ~ USF

Tulsa Facebook: TulsaHurricane ~ TulsaWBasketball

USF Facebook: USF WBB

Tulsa Twitter: TulsaHurricane ~ TUWBasketball

USF Twitter: USF WBB https://twitter.com/USFWBB

Tulsa Instagram: TulsaHurricanePics ~ TulsaWBB

The Coaches
Tulsa: Matilda Mossman (Western Kentucky, 1979), 6th Year
Career Record: 227-193 (14 years)
Record at Tulsa: 80-100 (6 years)

USF: Jose Fernandez (FIU, 1994), 17th Year
Record: 306-232 (17 years)
Record at USF: same

Tulsa's Probable Starters
F     00     Kendrian Elliott, 6-2, Fr-HS, Wichita, Kan., 9.1 ppg, 7.9 rpg
G     3       Erika Wakefield, 5-4, Jr-2L, Moore, Okla., 11.4 ppg, 2.9 rpg, 3.2 apg
G     11     Ebony Parker, 5-8, Jr-TR, Houston, Texas, 7.0 ppg, 1.1 rpg
G     12     Shug Dickson, 5-9, Fr-HS, St. Louis, Mo., 9.1 ppg, 3.7 rpg
F     35     Liesl Spoerl, 6-1, Jr-2L, Tulsa, Okla., 5.7 ppg, 4.2 rpg

USF's Probable Starters
G     11     Ariadna Pujol, 6-1, Sr, Mataro, Spain, 13.1 ppg, 6.8 rpg, 3.4 apg
F     12     Maria Jespersen, 6-0, Jr, Arhus, Denmark, 15.4 ppg, 9.1 rpg
G     22     Laia Flores, 5-7, Jr, Mataro, Spain, 8.4 ppg, 4.3 rpg
F     23     Tamara Henshaw, 6-1, Fr, Palm Coast, Fla., 6.6 ppg, 7.2 rpg
F     33     Kitija Laksa, 6-0, So, Riga, Latvia, 19.2 ppg, 3.9 rpg

In the Last Game
        The Tulsa women's basketball team dropped a 62-41 decision to SMU on Saturday afternoon at Moody Coliseum in Dallas, Texas.
        Erika Wakefield had a team-leading eight points, while Ebony Parker and Tatyana Perez both scored six points, and Liesl Spoerl and Addison Richards each had five. Kendrian Elliott pulled down a team-best eight rebounds.

Scouting the Opponent
        USF has a 21-6 overall record, including a 104 mark in American Athletic Conference play. The Bulls are led by Kitija Laksa with 19.2 points per game, while Maria Jespersen posts 15.4 ppg and Ariadna Pujol adds 13.1 ppg. Jespersen has a team-best 9.1 rebounds per contest, Laia Flores has 166 assists, Pujol has 35 steals and Tamara Henshaw has a team-high 29 blocks.

Against the Opponent
        This will be the fourth meeting between TU and USF, as the Bulls have won all three previous meetings, including an 84-68 win earlier this season in Tampa.

In the Nation
        Tulsa ranks 65th in the nation in three-point field goals attempted (572), 72nd in three-point field goals made (184), 87th in three-point field goals per game (6.8), 89th in three-point field goal defense (29.6) and 90th in free-throw percentage (71.9).
        Erika Wakefield is 153rd in free throw percentage (77.9); Kendrian Elliott ranks 131st in rebounds per game (7.9); and Ebony Parker is 137th in three-point field goals attempted (156) and 185th in three-point field goals per game (1.96).

Stepping Up
        Nine of Tulsa's 13 players have scored in double figures this season. Erika Wakefield has scored in double figures 17 times, while Kendrian Elliott and Shug Dickson both have nine double-digit contests. Tatyana Perez has eight double-digit games, Ebony Parker and Liesl Spoerl both have six, Alexis Gaulden has five double-figure contests, and Crystal Polk and Jessica Pongonis both have two double-figure games.

20+ Scorers
        Kendrian Elliott had a team-leading and personal-best 27 points against East Carolina, while Erika Wakefield had a career-high 25 points at Houston (1-1-17), and Alexis Gaulden tallied a career-high 23 points against Saint Louis (12-15-16). Shug Dickson tallied 22 points at UCF (1-21-17), 21 points against Temple (1-14-17) and #1 UConn (1-17-17), and 20 against SMU (1-28-17) and East Carolina (1-31-17). Wakefield posted 21 points at UMKC (11-11-16), Ebony Parker had 20 points at #19/20 Oklahoma (12-11-16) and Elliott had 20 points against Arkansas State (12-6-16).

Dickson's Scoring Streak
        Shug Dickson was the first freshman in school history (dating back to the 1996-97 season) to score 20+ points in three-straight games. She became the sixth player overall to reach this feat (Taleya Mayberry, Larrissa Williams, Jillian Robbins, Allison Curtin and Lila Osceola did it before her.) and it is the 15th time that someone has scored 20+ points three or more times in a row.
        Dickson now has five 20+ point games this season.

The Losses that Could Have Been Wins
        In Tulsa's 19 losses this season, the Golden Hurricane has lost 11 of those by single digits, including eight games by two or less baskets. Tulsa fell to Arkansas State, South Dakota and Houston (2-15) by 3 each, Indiana State and UCF both by 4, Tulane, Houston (1-1) 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 four 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) a 13-point lead over Arkansas State (lost by 3) and a 13-point lead over UCF (lost by 4)].

Shooting the Ball
        Kendrian Elliott has a team-high .482 field goal percentage. Jessica Pongonis is TU's next best shooter with 46.5-percent, followed by Crystal Polk at 42.5-percent.

Behind the Arc
        Eight of Tulsa players have combined for 184 three-pointers this season, for a 6.8 three-pointers per game average. TU's opponents have hit 132 three's for 4.9 per game.
        Ebony Parker has a team-best 51 trey's, Alexis Gaulden has hit 34, Tatyana Perez has 33, Shug Dickson has 25, Addison Richards has 12, and Ashley Hughes and Liesl Spoerl both have 10. Erika Wakefield has nine trey's this season.

Freshmen Making Marks
        Two 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 (.429) and Kendrian Elliott is second in blocks (21), third in rebounds (190), fourth in field goal percentage (.482) and fifth in free throw percentage (.771).

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

Making Assists
        Junior Erika Wakefield ranks in the top-10 on Tulsa's Career Chart for assists. She currently has 241 assists for 10th place and needs one more to tie Tatum Beer (2007-11) who has the No. 9 slot with 242.

Mossman Has 227 Career Wins
        Matilda Mossman has collected 227 career victories, including 67 wins at Arkansas, 80 wins at Kansas State and currently 80 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.

Coaching Barefoot
        The Tulsa coaching staff coached barefoot in the Tulsa-UCF game to help bring recognition to Samaritan's Feet, an organization that is helping to create a world with zero shoeless children. The Golden Hurricane worked with Samaritan's Feet on their trip to the Dominican Republic, handing out over 250 pairs of shoes to children in the DR. For more information on the organization, visit SamaritansFeet.org.

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.