Tulsa vs. #1 UConn Preview

Thursday, January 18 ~ 6:00 pm Central ~ Gampel Pavilion ~ Storrs, Conn.

Game Notes: Tulsa

Radio: TU's regular season games can be heard on CHROME 93.5 FM, KWTU 88.7 FM HD2, free on the iHeart Radio App and online at TulsaHurricane.com. Brandon Hart calls play-by-play.

Live Audio: Listen Here

Live Video: Watch Live on ESPN.com

Live Stats: Click Here

Rosters: Tulsa ~ UConn

2017-18 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 23

The Coaches
Tulsa: Matilda Mossman (Western Kentucky, 1979), 7th Year
Career Record: 237-205 (15 years)
Record at Tulsa: 90-112 (7 years)

UConn: Geno Auriemma (West Chester, 1981), 32nd Year
Career Record: 1007-135 (32 years)
Record at UConn: Same

Tulsa's Probable Starters
G          3          Erika Wakefield, 5-4, Sr-3L, Moore, Okla., 10.0 ppg, 3.1 rpg
G          10       Alexis Gaulden, 5-8, So-1L, Broken Arrow, Okla., 9.2 ppg, 3.2 rpg
G          21       Rebecca Lescay, 5-8, Fr-HS, Plano, Texas, 3.9 ppg, 3.1 rpg
F          25       Tyjae' Scales, 6-1, Jr-2L, Houston, Texas, 2.5 ppg, 4.4 rpg
F          33       Crystal Polk, 6-2, Jr-2L, Lawton, Okla., 7.4 ppg, 5.2 rpg

UConn's Probable Starters
G          5          Crystal Dangerfield, 5-5, So, Murfreesboro, Tenn., 11.9 ppg, 2.4 rpg
G          11       Kia Nurse, 6-0, Sr, Hamilton, Ontario, 15.0 ppg, 3.4 rpg
F          15       Gabby Williams, 5-11, Sr, Sparks, Nev., 10.8 ppg, 8.1 rpg
F          24       Napheesa Collier, 6-1, Jr, O'Fallon, Mo., 14.6 ppg, 7.7 rpg
F          33       Katie Lou Samuelson, 6-3, Jr, Huntington Beach, Calif., 18.0 ppg

Facing UConn

This is the eighth meeting between Tulsa and UConn
The Huskies have won all previous seven meetings
UConn earned a 105-57 win in The American quarterfinals last season

Scouting UConn

#1 UConn has a 16-0 overall record, including a 5-0 mark in The American
The Huskies topped #9 Texas, 75-71, in their last contest
Six players average double-digit points for UConn, including a team-leadin 18.0 points per game by Katie Lou Samuelson
Azura Stevens has a team-high 8.6 rebounds per game and 34 blocks
Crystal Dangerfield has 76 assists and Gabby Williams has 41 steals

The Last Game: Memphis

Erika Wakefield scored 17 points to lead Tulsa, but Memphis overcame a seven-point halftime deficit for a 69-48 victory
Memphis outscored the Hurricane 48-20 in the final 20 minutes of the contest, as the Tigers shot 65-percent from the field in the second half
Tulsa shot just 32-percent for the game, 33-percent from three-point range and a season-low 53-percent from the free throw line.
Shug Dickson added 12 points for the Hurricane

In the Nation...

Tulsa is ... 23rd in three-point field goal defense (27.2)
Tulsa is ... 54th in turnovers per game (13.8)
Tulsa is ... 83rd in free throw percentage (73.0)
Tulsa is ... 84th in fewest turnovers (249)
Tulsa is ... 92nd in rebounds (691)

Dickson's Scoring

Shug Dickson's 33 points against Saint Louis (12-19-17) ranks third in school history for points scored in a single game by a player, as she ties the mark hit by Carla Morrow, Jillian Robbins (twice), Taleya Mayberry and Ashley Clark.
Dickson scored 20+ points in three-straight games in 2016-17, including 21 points (Temple), 21 points (#1 UConn) and 22 points (UCF)
Dickson was the first freshman in school history (dating back to the 1996-97 season) to score 20+ points in three-straight games
Dickson became the sixth player overall to reach this feat (Taleya Mayberry, Larrissa Williams, Jillian Robbins, Allison Curtin and Lila Osceola did it before her.)
Dickson has scored 20+ points in nine games, including four times this season

Making Assists

Erika Wakefield ranks in the top-10 on Tulsa's Career Chart for assists
She currently has 290 assists for the No. 6 slot

Who's Starting?

Tulsa has used 13 different starting lineups this season
Only one lineup has been used three times

An Accurate Shot

Crystal Polk currently ranks on the Tulsa Individual Career List
Polk sits in 10th-place with a .467 (150-321) field goal percentage

Last Year's Freshmen Made Marks

Addison Richards and Kendrian Elliott concluded their freshmen season's on the Tulsa Freshman Single-Season Records list
Richards ranked second in three-point field goal percentage (.387) and third in games played (31)
Elliott finished second in blocks (24), rebounds (220) and field goal percentage (.497), and fourth in free throw percentage (.774).

Mossman Has 237 Career Wins

Matilda Mossman has collected 237 career victories
She has 67 wins at Arkansas, 80 wins at Kansas State and currently 90 wins at TU

Parker for Three

Tulsa's Ebony Parker knocked down an NJCAA Division I record 144 three-point shots during the 2015-16 season
In comparison, the most in a single season at Tulsa was 77 by Athena Pirpich (2000-01).

Eleven 2016-17 Postseason Teams Highlight 2017-18 Schedule

11 postseason teams highlight the 2017-18 Tulsa schedule
NCAA Tournament teams include Alaska Anchorage (Division II), Belmont, Temple, UConn and USF
WNIT participants were Little Rock, Saint Louis, SMU, South Dakota, Tulane and UCF.

Hurricane Picked Ninth in The American Preseason Coaches' Poll

In the American Athletic Conference coaches' poll, Tulsa was picked to finish ninth by the league's coaches
UConn, which has won four-straight American Athletic Conference Championships, was picked first
USF was selected to finish second and Temple was selected third
UCF, SMU, Tulane, Memphis, Cincinnati, Tulsa, Wichita State, Houston and ECU round out the poll

The 2018 American Athletic Conference Championship

The American Athletic Conference and Mohegan Sun Arena have agreed to a multi-year agreement for Mohegan Sun to host the Conference's Women's Basketball Championship from 2018 through 2020
The 2018 championship will mark the fifth consecutive year the tournament has been played at the Uncasville, Connecticut arena
The 2018 tournament is set for March 3-6

Tulsa in The American Championship

Tulsa has a 2-3 mark in American Athletic Conference Championship play
TU earned wins in the first round of the 2016 and 2017 tournaments
The Golden Hurricane lost matches in the quarterfinals in 2015, 2016 and 2017.

Tulsa in Postseason

Tulsa has made five postseason appearances
TU earned WNIT bids in 2004, 2005 and 2015
The Hurricane played in the NCAA Tournament in 2006 and 2013.
Tulsa 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)
The Hurricane has 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 vs. #1 UConn Preview

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Players Mentioned

Shug Dickson

Kendrian Elliott

Alexis Gaulden

Rebecca Lescay

Ebony Parker

Crystal Polk

Addison Richards

Erika Wakefield

Tulsa vs. #1 UConn Preview

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Next Event

Players Mentioned

Shug Dickson

Kendrian Elliott

Alexis Gaulden

Rebecca Lescay

Ebony Parker

Crystal Polk

Addison Richards

Erika Wakefield

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