Tulsa vs. Saint Louis Preview

Wednesday, December 9 ~ 6:00 pm Central ~ Chaifetz Arena ~ St. Louis, Mo.

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: Tulsa Tulsa-Saint Louis game will be broadcast on ESPN+. TU fans can subscribe to ESPN+ to watch Golden Hurricane basketball, soccer, softball and volleyball this year. ESPN+ is offered at $5.99/month or $49.99/year. To subscribe, go to plus.espn.com. Fans will be able to access ESPN+ content only after they have subscribed.

Live Stats: Click Here

Rosters: Tulsa ~ Saint Louis

2020-21 Season Stats: Tulsa ~ Saint Louis

Tulsa Facebook: TulsaHurricane ~ TulsaWBasketball

Tulsa Twitter: TulsaHurricane ~ TUWBasketball

Tulsa Instagram: TulsaHurricaneAthletics ~ TulsaWBB

The Coaches
Tulsa: Matilda Mossman (Western Kentucky, 1979), 10th Year
Career Record: 261-255 (17 years)
Record at Tulsa: 114-162 (9 years)

Saint Louis: Lisa Stone (Iowa, 1984), 9^th Year
Career Record: 646-352 (35 years)
Record at SLU: 143-115 (9 years)

Facing Saint Louis

This is the ninth time that Tulsa and Saint Louis will meet on the women's basketball court
The Billikens own a 5-3 lead in the all-time series, but it was the Golden Hurricane that picked up an 86-75 overtime win in Tulsa during the 2018-19 campaign
The Billikens concluded the 2019-20 campaign with a 19-13 overall record, including a 9-7 mark in the Atlantic 10, and are off to a 2-0 start with a 82-74 win over Memphis and a 69-54 win over Bradley this season
Three Billikens were selected for preseason Atlantic 10 awards. Ciaja Harbison was voted All-Conference first team and All-Defensive team. Rachel Kent was picked All-Conference third team, and Brooke Flowers was named All-Defensive team.

On the Roster

TU returns nine letterwinners from last season, as well as junior-transfer Madi Washington who had to sit out last year due to NCAA transfer rules. Tulsa added five newcomers to the roster, including two junior-transfers and three true freshmen.
TU has two seniors (Morgan Brady and Rebecca Lescay), eight juniors, two sophomores and three freshmen on the roster

An Accurate Shot

Destiny Johnson ranks first (.429 = 3-7) in program history for three-point field goal percentage.
Maddie Bittle ranks ninth (.822 = 37-45) in program history for free throw percentage

A College Graduate

Tulsa senior Rebecca Lescay earned her bachelor's degree in marketing in 2020 and is now working towards her master's degree in business analytics

A Returning Leader

Rebecca Lescay is TU's returning leader in scoring (7.7 ppg), assists (70) and steals (53) from a year ago

The Family Connection

Assistant Coach Taleya Mayberry played at Tulsa from 2009-13, and returned to her alma mater and joined the coaching ranks prior to the 2018-19 campaign
This season, she is coaching two of her younger sisters, Maya, who is a junior-transfer from crosstown rival Oral Roberts, and Wyvette, who is a freshman this season

Destiny Johnson Hit her Stride After in February Last Season

Destiny Johnson hit her stride in the last two months of the 2019-20
She averaged 2.1 points per game leading up to the Memphis game (2-1-20), and then averaged 10.3 ppg in February and March
Johnson tallied eight points against both Memphis and Cincinnati, 10 points against both Wichita State and Tulane, 15 points against UCF, 16 points against SMU, and 23 points against Houston.
Johnson also had one steal in the first three months of the season, and had 12 in the final nine games; and similarly had 12 of her 13 assists in the final nine games of the year.

Back-to-Back-to-Back

Desiree Lewis had back-to-back-to-back double-doubles during the 2018-19 season, making her the fifth player in school history to reach this milestone
Lewis is just the third to accomplish this as a freshman
Lewis hit back-to-back-to-back double-doubles against Wichita State (12p, 10r), Memphis (10p, 12r) and ECU (16p, 13r)
This feat has been accomplished just 16 times in school history, including Kendrian Elliott who reached this milestone during the 2019-20 campaign

Mossman Has 261 Career Wins

Matilda Mossman has collected 261 career victories
She had 67 wins at Arkansas and 80 wins at Kansas State, and currently has 114 wins at TU
Mossman has the most wins by a TU women's basketball coach

Tulsa Picked 11th in The American Preseason Coaches' Poll

In the American Athletic Conference coaches' poll, Tulsa was picked to finish 11th by the league's coaches
The 2020-21 predicted order of finish is USF, UCF, Tulane, Cincinnati, Temple, Wichita State, Houston, Memphis, ECU, SMU and Tulsa

Tulsa in The American Championship

Tulsa has a 4-6 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, and lost in the first round in 2020

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. Saint Louis Preview

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Players Mentioned

Maddie Bittle

Kendrian Elliott

Destiny Johnson

Rebecca Lescay

Desiree Lewis

Madi Washington

Tulsa vs. Saint Louis Preview

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Players Mentioned

Maddie Bittle

Kendrian Elliott

Destiny Johnson

Rebecca Lescay

Desiree Lewis

Madi Washington

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