Tulsa vs. Wichita State Preview

Wednesday, January 15

Wichita, Kan.

6:30 pm

Tulsa

Wichita State

Tulsa vs. Wichita State Preview

1/13/2020 4:02:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Wednesday, January 15 ~ 6:30 pm Central ~ Charles Koch Arena ~ Wichita, Kan.

Game Notes: Tulsa

Radio: TU's games can be heard on 93.5 FM The Jet, KWTU 88.7 FM HD2 and free on the iHeart Radio App. Brandon Hart calls play-by-play.

Live Audio: Listen Here

Live Video: ESPN 3

Live Stats: Click Here

Rosters: Tulsa ~ Wichita State

2019-20 Season Stats: Tulsa ~ Wichita State

Tulsa Facebook: TulsaHurricane ~ TulsaWBasketball

Tulsa Twitter: TulsaHurricane ~ TUWBasketball

Tulsa Instagram: TulsaHurricanePics ~ TulsaWBB

The Coaches
Tulsa: Matilda Mossman (Western Kentucky, 1979), 9th Year
Career Record: 257-243 (17 years)
Record at Tulsa: 110-150 (9 years)

Wichita State: Keitha Adams (Southwestern, 1989), 3rd Year
Career Record: 446-288 (23 years)
Record at WSU: 35-43 (3 years)

Tulsa's Probable Starters
F          00        Kendrian Elliott, 6-2, Sr., Wichita, Kan., 15.6 ppg, 8.8 rpg
F          4          Addison Richards, 6-2, Sr., Bixby, Okla., 7.7 ppg, 2.6 rpg
G         10        Alexis Gaulden, 5-8, Sr., Broken Arrow, Okla., 8.7 ppg, 4.5 apg
G         11        Maddie Bittle, 5-8, So., Bixby, Okla., 6.5 ppg, 2.7 rpg
G         21        Rebecca Lescay, 5-8, Jr., Plano, Texas, 8.3 ppg, 2.8 rpg

Wichita State's Probable Starters
G         2          Mariah McCully, 5-7, Jr., Grand Rapids, Mich., 12.8 ppg, 2.3 rpg
G         12        Carla Bremaud, 5-11, So., Angers, France, 7.9 ppg, 2.9 rpg
F          13        Raven Prince, 6-1, Sr., Oklahoma City, Okla., 5.9 ppg, 3.4 rpg
G         23        Seraphine Bastin, 5-8, So., Dinant, Belgium, 8.1 ppg, 4.9 rpg
F          34        Shyia Smith, 5-11, So., Idabel, Okla., 6.3 ppg, 5.5 rpg

In the Last Game

Tulsa was down by five, 57-52, with 2:49 to play, but the Golden Hurricane's comeback bid fell short as USF claimed a 68-52 victory
Alexis Gaulden had a team-leading 19 points as she tied her career-high of five three-point field goals made. Rebecca Lescay added 14 points, while Gaulden had six rebounds and six steals.
After being down by as many as 20 points, 36-16, at the 2:09 mark of the second quarter, Tulsa battled back in the third quarter to cut their deficit in half, 47-37, with 1:13 to play in the frame. TU was within eight, 47-39, at the end of the period and pulled to within four, 47-43, with 8:13 on the clock in the final frame
Tulsa shot just 30-percent from the field, including 29-percent from behind the arc, and 60-percent from the free throw line, while USF shot 48-percent from the field, 50-percent from three-point range and 65-percent from the line.

Facing Wichita State

Wichita State is 9-7 on the season, including a 1-2 mark in league play
Mariah McCully is the only Shocker averaging double-digit points with 12.8 ppg, while DJ McCarty adds 8.8 ppg and Seraphine Bastin posts 8.1 ppg
Shyia Smith pulls down a team-high 5.5 rebounds per game, while McCully has a team-best 33 steals, Bastin has 49 assists and Asia Henderson has 14 blocks
WSU has a 17-4 lead in the all-time series over TU, but it was the Golden Hurricane that picked up two wins last season, including a 63-49 decision in Tulsa and a 61-50 win in The American first round. The Shockers earned a 71-49 win last season in Wichita.

In the Nation

Tulsa ranks...
- 61 in steals (152)
- 80 in steals per game (9.5)
- 104 in turnovers forced (18.13)
- 115 in turnover margin (2.0)
- 141 in assists (212)
Kendrian Elliott ranks...
- 26 in field goal percentage (.574)
- 27 in double-doubles (7)
- 61 in rebounds (140)
- 81 in rebounds per game (8.8)
- 83 in field goals made (97)
- 86 in minutes played (552:52)
- 87 in blocked shots (24)
- 99 in blocked shots per game (1.50)
- 100 in minutes played per game (34.56)
- 103 in points (250)
- 135 in points per game (15.6)
- 142 in free throw attempts (70)
Alexis Gaulden ranks...
- 47 in steals (37)
- 47 in steals per game (2.47)
- 76 in assists per game (4.5)
- 82 in assists (68)
NOTE: Above NCAA Rankings include games through 1/12/20.

An Accurate Shot

Kendrian Elliott ranks fifth (.503 = 287-571) among the school's-best field goal shooters
Maddie Bittle ranks among the best in free throw percentage, coming in at third with a 87.9-percent clip (29-33)

Double-Doubles, Rebounds and Blocks

Kendrian Elliott has recorded 13 double-doubles in her career, including seven this season, to rank fourth in school history
Elliott has 588 rebounds, ranking eighth in school history
Elliott has 73 blocks, ranking eighth in school history

Knocking Down Three's and Getting Assists

Alexis Gaulden has knocked down 162 three-pointers in her career, which ranks in fourth place on the school's all-time list
Gaulden needs four more to tie former Tulsa standout Megan Moody (2002-06) who has 166 three's
Gaulden also ranks among the schools' top 10 in assists with 306 for seventh place

Seniors Stepping Up

Kendrian Elliott and Addison Richards have really stepped up their game for their senior seasons
Elliott entered the season averaging 6.8 points per game in her first three seasons combined, but this year is netting 15.6 points per game
Elliott's 250 points this season is already her second-highest in her career with 13 regular season games to play
Richards entered the season averaging 1.6 points per game in her first three seasons combined, but this year is netting 7.7 points per game
Richards' 123 points this season is already more than her previous three years combined with 13 regular season games to play

2019-20 Single Season Marks

Kendrian Elliott and Maddie Bittle have already earned their way onto the Tulsa Single-Season Leaders list this season
Bittle ranks first in free throw percentage (.938)
Kendrian Elliott ranks third in field goal percentage (.574) and ninth in double-doubles (7)

1,000 Point Watch

Alexis Gaulden and Kendrian Elliott both could reach the 1,000-point mark this season
Gaulden has 961 points, needing just 39 more points
Elliott has 760 points, needing 240 more points in the next 14 games. She needs to average just over 17 points per game to reach that mark.
There have only been 11 1,000+ point scorers in school history (see page 71-72 in the media guide for more details)

Overtime

Tulsa has played in two overtime games this season - at home against Temple (1-4-20) and at Tulane (1-8-20)
This marks the first time in school history that TU has played in back-to-back overtime games
TU has only played in two or more overtime games in a season six times, including twice in 2010-11, 2007-08, 2003-04, 2002-03 and 1997-98, while the Golden Hurricane had three overtime games during the 1999-2000 season
Tulsa's record in overtime games is 15-13
For more information on TU in overtime, see page 91 of the media guide

Record-Setting Game

Kendrian Elliott registered 38 points against Arkansas State (11-9-19), which tied the school record for points in a game set by Jillian Robbins against Nevada on February 19, 2005.
Elliott's 16 field goals made in the game was a school record, topping Robbins and Ashley Clark who both had 14 field goals made in a game

Back-to-Back-to-Back

Desiree Lewis and Kendrian Elliott have both had back-to-back-to-back double-doubles in their careers, making them the fifth and sixth player in school history to reach this milestone
Lewis is just the third to do it in her freshman year, while Elliott achieved this as a senior
Elliott had back-to-back-to-back double-doubles to start the 2019-20 season against Stephen F. Austin (13p, 12r), Arkansas State (38p, 12r) and Oklahoma State (16p, 10r)
Desiree Lewis hit back-to-back-to-back double-doubles against Wichita State (12p, 10r), Memphis (10p, 12r) and ECU (16p, 13r) in the 2018-19 season
This feat has been accomplished just 16 times in school history

Mossman Has 257 Career Wins

Matilda Mossman has collected 257 career victories
She has 67 wins at Arkansas, 80 wins at Kansas State and 110 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

Thirteen 2019 Postseason Teams Highlight 2019-20 Schedule

TU will take on 13 postseason teams from the 2018-19 season, including NCAA Tournament teams Abilene Christian, Little Rock, Marquette, UCF and UConn, and WNIT teams Arkansas, Cincinnati, Houston, Loyola Marymount, Stephen F. Austin, Stetson, USF and Western Kentucky.
Additionally, 23 teams posted double-digit wins last season, including nine teams with 20-or-more victories.

Freshmen Made Marks Last Year

Maddie Bittle shot 82.4-percent from the free throw line, making her the second-best freshman free throw shooter in school history (tying Morgan Brady)
Desiree Lewis played in 31 games, ranking third, had 163 rebounds, ranking fourth, and shot a .450 field goal percentage, ranking fifth, among the programs' freshmen

Tulsa Picked 10th in The American Preseason Coaches' Poll

In the American Athletic Conference coaches' poll, Tulsa was picked to finish 10th by the league's coaches
A year ago, TU ended the year ranked seventh in the league standings, a five-place jump from the predicted 12th-place finish
The 2019-20 predicted order of finish is UConn, USF, UCF, Cincinnati, Houston, Temple, Tulane, Memphis, Wichita State, Tulsa, ECU and SMU

Tulsa in The American Championship

Tulsa has a 4-5 mark in The American Championship
TU earned wins in the first round in 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019
The Golden Hurricane lost matches in the quarterfinals in 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019

The 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 2020 championship will mark the seventh consecutive year the tournament has been played at the Uncasville, Conn. arena

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.