Tulsa Women Fall to USF 90-64 in Home Finale

Saturday, February 25

Reynolds Center

2:00 pm

Tulsa

8-20 (4-11AAC)

USF

22-6 (11-4AAC)

USF

Tulsa

Tulsa Women Fall to USF 90-64 in Home Finale

2/25/2017 4:26:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

By: Stephanie Hall

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USF (22-6, 11-4 The American) scored 54 second-half points to pull away from Tulsa (8-20, 4-11 The American) Saturday afternoon for a 90-64 victory in the home finale for the Golden Hurricane at the Donald W. Reynolds Center.

Tulsa came out of the gates strong to start the game, scoring 20 first-quarter points and shooting nearly 60-percent from the field, but the second quarter was a different story when Tulsa scored just six points and trailed at halftime 36-26.

USF out-scored the Hurricane 54-38 in the second half for the 26-point win.

"Look at our team, we shot 40-percent. We haven't shot 40-percent in about seven games. I am pleased with our effectiveness offensively, and I'm even pleased with how effective we were defensively. The stats don't show it, but our kids battled and they competed hard," said Tulsa Head Coach Matilda Mossman. "I'm proud of our two seniors – Ashley Hughes and Jessica Pongonis. They battled and did everything they could for their team. It is a loss in the win-loss column, but not a loss in how our team is concerned."

Senior Jessica Pongonis scored her career-high of 13 points, while sophomore Tatyana Perez and junior Erika Wakefield added 11 and 10 points, respectively for the Hurricane. USF's Kitija Laksa, who scored just six points in a foul-plagued first half, ended the game with 34 points. She ended the game hitting 13-of-14 from the field and a perfect 6-of-6 from three-point range.

"Jess had a good shooting night, 5-for-9 and 2-for-2 from the free throw line. She did her job, got good shots and took advantage of getting good shots, and Ashley is always going to play hard and always provide a spark," added Mossman.

"Kitija Laksa had 37 against us at their place and shot extremely well, but not nearly as well as she shot today, scoring 34 points on 13-of-14 and 6-of-6. We guarded her about as well as you can guard her. She is just so efficient at what she does," said Mossman.

USF shot 61-percent from the field and 57-percent from three-point range for the game, while Tulsa connected on 40-percent of its field goals and 33-percent from three-point range. Both teams had just eight turnovers, while the Bulls out-scored Tulsa in the paint 32 to 24.

Tulsa kept the game close in the first quarter, trailing at the end of one by just three points, 23-20. Pongonis, getting the start on Senior Day, scored seven first-quarter points in 10 minutes.

The Hurricane shot 58-percent in the first quarter from the field and 66.7-percent from three-point range, while the Bulls knocked down 56-percent from the field.

USF went on an 11-2 run to start the second quarter to take a 34-22 lead at the 4:10 mark, as the Hurricane scored just six points in the second period. In the final four minutes, Tulsa held the Bulls to just two points, while scoring four points of its own to trail at halftime 36-26.

At halftime, Tulsa's field goal percentage dipped to 34.5 percent as the Hurricane made just 3-of-17 for 18-percent and was 0-of-6 from three-point range in the second stanza. USF ended the first half shooting 56-percent from the field and 50-percent from behind the arc. Wakefield had eight points to lead Tulsa in the first 20 minutes, and was followed by Pongonis' seven points. USF's Maria Jesperson led the Bulls with 11 first-half points.

Tulsa closes out the regular season on Monday at Cincinnati with a 6:00 p.m. (CT) tipoff. The Hurricane will begin play at the American Athletic Conference Tournament next Friday. The opponent and game time is to be determined.