
Tulsa vs. Memphis Preview
1/31/2019 10:11:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Saturday, February 2 ~ 1:00 pm Central ~ Elma Roane Fieldhouse ~ Memphis, Tenn.
Game Notes: Tulsa
Radio: TU's games can be heard on 93.5 FM The Jet, 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
Video: Watch Live
Live Stats: Click Here
Rosters: Tulsa ~ Memphis
2018-19 Season Stats: Tulsa ~ Memphis
Tulsa Facebook: TulsaHurricane ~ TulsaWBasketball
Tulsa Twitter: TulsaHurricane ~ TUWBasketball
Tulsa Instagram: TulsaHurricanePics ~ TulsaWBB
The Coaches
Tulsa: Matilda Mossman (Western Kentucky, 1979), 8th Year
Career Record: 248-227 (16 years)
Record at Tulsa: 101-134 (8 years)
Memphis: Melissa McFerrin (Missouri, 1983), 11th Year
Career Record: 222-234 (15 years)
Record at Memphis: 172-164 (11 years)
Tulsa's Probable Starters
G 10 Alexis Gaulden, 5-8, Jr., Broken Arrow, Okla., 12.4 ppg, 4.3 rpg
G 11 Maddie Bittle, 5-8, Fr., Bixby, Okla., 5.3 ppg, 2.3 rpg
G 21 Rebecca Lescay, 5-8, So., Plano, Texas, 5.6 ppg, 2.2 rpg
F 32 Desiree Lewis, 5-10, Fr., Converse, Texas, 6.5 ppg, 5.8 rpg
F 33 Crystal Polk, 6-2, Sr., Lawton, Okla., 13.2 ppg, 7.2 rpg
Memphis' Probable Starters
G 3 Gazmyne Herndon, 5-8, Jr., Memphis, Tenn., 5.6 ppg, 4.2 rpg
G 15 Taylor Barnes, 5-8, Jr., Memphis, Tenn., 9.8 ppg, 3.3 rpg
G 23 Jamirah Shutes, 5-6, Fr., Brownsville, Tenn., 12.6 ppg, 3.9 rpg
F 25 Brianna Porter, 6-3, Sr., Nashville, Tenn., 2.7 ppg, 3.9 rpg
F 35 Jasmine James, 6-1, Sr., Innisfil, Ontario, 5.1 ppg, 5.4 rpg
In the Last Game
- Temple's Alliya Butts and Mia Davis combined for 59 points in a 75-61 win over Tulsa on Tuesday night at the Donald W. Reynolds Center.
- Maddie Bittle led Tulsa with 15 points, followed by Desiree Lewis and Kendrian Elliott with 10 points apiece.
- Tulsa had a 34-29 lead over the Owls at halftime, but Temple outscored the Hurricane 46-27 in the second half by shooting 59-percent from the field in the half.
Facing Memphis
- Memphis has an 8-12 overall record, including a 3-4 mark in league play
- The Tigers lost to Tulane in overtime in their last game, 62-61
- Jamirah Shutes and Alana Davis both average double-digit points for Memphis with 12.6 and 12.4 points per game, respectively
- Davis also has a team-high 8.2 rebounds per game, while Taylor Barnes has team-bests of 68 assists and 33 steals, and Brianna Porter has 17 blocks
- TU has a 10-9 lead in the series over Memphis, including a 46-39 win in Tulsa earlier this season
Good Start
- Tulsa's 9-7 start (now 9-11), marked the first winning record after 16 games since starting 9-7 in the 2013-14 season
- TU started 3-0 in league play. The last time they started out 3-0 was during the 2007-08 season.
- The Golden Hurricane already has six wins at home this season. The last time Tulsa had six or more wins at home in a season was during the 2013-14 season when TU had nine victories in the Reynolds Center.
Back-to-Back-to-Back
- Freshman Desiree Lewis hit back-to-back-to-back double-doubles against Wichita State (12p, 10r), Memphis (10p, 12r) and ECU (16p, 13r)
- Lewis is just the sixth player in school history to reach this milestone, and just the third to do it in her freshman year, but it marks the 16th time it has happened.
- Lewis has had a double-double in 3-of-5 conference games so far this season
Twelve 2018 Postseason Teams Highlight 2018-19 Schedule
- TU will take on 12 postseason teams from the 2017-18 season this year
- NCAA Tournament teams include American, Arizona State, Belmont, Little Rock, UConn and USF
- WNIT teams include Alabama, Cincinnati, Houston, Saint Louis, Stephen F. Austin and UCF
An Accurate Shot
- Crystal Polk is in fifth place with a .498 (302-607) field goal percentage in her career
Knocking Down Three's
- Alexis Gaulden has knocked down 117 three-pointers in her career, which ranks ninth in school history
- Gaulden needs five more to tie Carla Morrow (1998-2002) who has 122 in eighth place
Mossman Has 248 Career Wins
- Matilda Mossman has collected 248 career victories
- She has 67 wins at Arkansas, 80 wins at Kansas State and currently 101 wins at TU
- Mossman has the most wins by a TU women's basketball coach
- Mossman earned her 100th career win at TU in a 46-39 win over Memphis on January 9, 2019
Freshmen Made Marks
- Morgan Brady and Rebecca Lescay concluded their freshmen season's on the Tulsa Freshman Single-Season Records list
- Brady ranked second in free throw percentage (.824)
- Lescay ranked fifth in games played (31)
Tulsa Picked 12th in The American Preseason Coaches' Poll
- In the American Athletic Conference coaches' poll, Tulsa was picked to finish 12th by the league's coaches
- Tulsa finished tied for 11th in the league in 2017-18
The 2019 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 through 2020
- The 2019 championship will mark the sixth consecutive year the tournament has been played at the Uncasville, Conn. arena
- The 2019 tournament is set for March 8-11
Tulsa in The American Championship
- TU has a 3-4 mark in American Athletic Conference Championship play
- TU earned wins in the first round of the 2016, 2017 and 2018 tournaments
- The Golden Hurricane lost matches in the quarterfinals in 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018
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.
Players Mentioned
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