Tulsa
5-3
Alabama
5-2
Morgan Brady Hits Six Treys, Two Others Have Double-Doubles in 80-73 Win Over Alabama
12/1/2018 6:29:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Final Stats in PDF
Final Stats in HTML
Season Stats in PDF
Tempe, Ariz. – Morgan Brady had a career-high and team-best 26 points off six three-pointers, while Alexis Gaulden and Crystal Polk had double-doubles to lead Tulsa to an 80-73 win over Alabama on Saturday afternoon in the ASU Classic at Wells Fargo Arena in Tempe, Ariz. The Golden Hurricane moved to 5-3 on the season, while the Crimson Tide fell to 5-2 overall.
"I just think we set the tone from the get-go," Head Coach Matilda Mossman said. "We made shots early and battled for 40 minutes, and it wasn't just one or two people, it was multiple people. Morgan was great, going 6-of-10 from behind the arc and just the energy boost it gave her team was tremendous. Alexis got points, but she is most effective when she distributes the ball, and she did that too."
Gaulden finished with 19 points and a school-best 11 assists, tying three others before her in Candice Brewer (2004), Tandem Mays (2005) and Kara Pongonis-Paslay (2006), while Polk totaled 14 points and a team-leading 10 rebounds.
Tulsa had a 19-12 lead in assists and an 8-5 advantage in steals, while Alabama had a 37-33 lead in rebounds and a 2-1 edge in blocks.
Tulsa shot 47-percent from the field, including 45-percent from behind the arc and 66-percent from the free throw line, while Alabama shot 47-percent from the field, 41-percent from three-point range and 70-percent from the charity stripe.
Tulsa jumped out to a 10-point lead, 16-6, with 4:45 to play in the first quarter, and had a 24-13 advantage at the end of the frame. Brady had a team-high eight points in the first 10 minutes.
Jasmine Butler had a steal under the basket and scored a layup to put Tulsa up 34-21 and force the Crimson Tide to take a timeout with 6:25 to play in the second quarter. Alabama pulled to within nine five times in the second period, including a 41-32 lead by TU at the half.
The Crimson Tide cut their deficit to seven, 43-36, with 8:03 to play in the third quarter, but TU outscored Alabama, 23-13, to take a game-best 17-point lead to end the frame up 66-49. Brady and Gaulden each had two three-pointers in the frame.
Alabama scored the first five points in the fourth quarter to pull within 12, 66-54, and went on a 9-0 run in the last two minutes of the game to pull to within seven, 80-73, for the final score.
Alabama was led by Megan Abrams with 19 points, while Cierra Johnson added 10 points. Allie Craig Cruce pulled down nine rebounds.
Tulsa will return to action against Arizona State on Sunday, December 2 beginning at 3:00 pm Central.
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