Tulsa vs. UConn Preview

Sunday, February 24

Reynolds Center

2:00 pm

Tulsa

UConn

Tulsa vs. UConn Preview

2/21/2019 4:35:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Sunday, February 24 ~ 2:00 pm Central ~ Donald W. Reynolds Center ~ Tulsa, Okla.

Tickets: Single game tickets are $10 general admission. Tickets can be purchased ONLINE, at the Reynolds Center ticket office or by calling 918.631.GoTU (4688).

Promotions:
Family Funday Sunday - Come out and Pack the Reynolds as we take on UConn! There will be postgame layups for all kids 14 & younger after the game!

Family 4 Pack - We will have a family ticket package with 4 tickets, 4 drinks, and 4 hot dogs for $40. For more information call 918-631-GoTU!

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 ~ UConn

2018-19 Season Stats: Tulsa ~ UConn

Tulsa Facebook: TulsaHurricane ~ TulsaWBasketball

Tulsa Twitter: TulsaHurricane ~ TUWBasketball

Tulsa Instagram: TulsaHurricanePics ~ TulsaWBB

The Coaches
Tulsa: Matilda Mossman (Western Kentucky, 1979), 8th Year
Career Record: 250-230 (16 years)
Record at Tulsa: 103-137 (8 years)

UConn: Geno Auriemma (West Chester, 1981), 33rd Year
Career Record: 1051-138 (33 years)
Record at UConn: same

Tulsa's Probable Starters
G          10       Alexis Gaulden, 5-8, Jr., Broken Arrow, Okla., 12.1 ppg, 4.3 rpg
G          21       Rebecca Lescay, 5-8, So., Plano, Texas, 5.9 ppg, 1.9 rpg
G          22       Morgan Brady, 5-7, So., Hensley, Ark., 8.5 ppg, 2.9 rpg
F          32       Desiree Lewis, 5-10, Fr., Converse, Texas, 6.2 ppg, 5.6 rpg
F          33       Crystal Polk, 6-2, Sr., Lawton, Okla., 13.0 ppg, 7.2 rpg

UConn's Probable Starters
F          3          Megan Walker, 6-1, So., Chesterfield, Va., 11.9 ppg, 6.1 rpg
G          5          Crystal Dangerfield, 5-5, Jr., Murfreesboro, Tenn., 13.5 ppg, 3.8 rpg
G          13       Christyn Williams, 5-11, Fr., Little Rock, Ark., 10.8 ppg, 3.2 rpg
F          24       Napheesa Collier, 6-2, Sr., O'Fallon, Mo., 19.8 ppg, 10.2 rpg
G          33       Katie Lou Samuelson, 6-3, Sr., Huntington Beach, Calif., 19.5 ppg

In the Last Game

The Tulsa women's basketball team dropped a 74-47 decision to Cincinnati on Wednesday night at Fifth Third Arena in Cincinnati, Ohio.
Crystal Polk had a team-leading 16 points, while Desiree Lewis added nine, and Addison Richards totaled six. Alexis Gaulden had a team-high five assists and Kendrian Elliott had five rebounds.
Cincinnati had a 39-31 advantage in rebounds, a 10-4 lead in steals and a 4-2 edge in blocks, while both teams had 16 assists.
The Bearcats had 36 points in the paint, 22 points off turnovers and 18 fast-break points, compared to the Hurricane's 34 points in the paint, 10 points off turnovers and 0 fast-break points.

Facing UConn

UConn has a 24-2 overall record, including an 12-0 mark in league play
The Huskies are led by five players averaging double digit points, including Napheesa Collier (19.8), Katie Lou Samuelson (19.5), Crystal Dangerfield (13.5), Megan Walker (11.9) and Christyn Williams (10.8)
Collier also has a team-best 10.2 rebounds per game and 37 blocks, while Dangerfield has 157 assists and 41 steals
UConn has won all eight previous meetings with Tulsa

Good Start

Tulsa's 9-7 start (now 11-14) 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 eight 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.
TU reached 10-wins with seven regular season games remaining, which equaled the win total for the 2016-17 and 2017-18 seasons

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.

An Accurate Shot

Crystal Polk is in fifth place with a .498 (330-663) field goal percentage in her career
Kendrian Elliott is in 10th place with a .471 (180-382) field goal percentage in her career

Knocking Down Three's

Alexis Gaulden has knocked down 130 three-pointers in her career, which ranks eighth in school history
Gaulden needs two more to tie Kasie Pittman (1996-2000) who has 132 in seventh place

Mossman Has 250 Career Wins

Matilda Mossman has collected 250 career victories
She has 67 wins at Arkansas, 80 wins at Kansas State and currently 103 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

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

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.