Tulsa Drops 78-53 Decision at Cincinnati

Wednesday, February 12

Cincinnati Ohio

10:00 am

Tulsa

6-18,1-10AAC

Cincinnati

16-7,7-3AAC

Tulsa

Cincinnati

Tulsa Drops 78-53 Decision at Cincinnati

2/12/2020 11:59:00 AM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

Box Score in PDF l Season Stats in PDF

Kendrian Elliott had a team-best 21 points, but it wasn't enough as Tulsa dropped a 78-53 decision to Cincinnati on Wednesday morning at Fifth Third Arena in Cincinnati, Ohio. The Golden Hurricane fell to 6-18 on the season and 1-10 in American Athletic Conference play, while the Bearcats moved to 16-7 overall and 7-3 in the league.

Elliott scored in double figures for the first time since scoring 16 against Wichita State (Jan. 15), had the most points since netting 38 against Arkansas State (Nov. 9) and was one-point shy of equaling her total from the last four games combined (22).

"Since Alexis Gaulden got injured we've had a problem getting Kendrian the ball, and if we can't get her the ball she can't score," Head Coach Matilda Mossman said. "She wasn't getting shot attempts, but today the guards did a better job of getting her the ball, but she had some good drives in the paint and got herself to the basket as well. DJ [Destiny Johnson] was another spark for us, if you look at her last three games the game has slowed down for her and therefore her decision making has become much better."

Destiny Johnson came in off the bench and added eight points, while Addison Richards scored five points, KK Rodriguez, Rebecca Lescay, Morgan Brady and Maddie Bittle all had four points, and Desiree Lewis posted three. Brady had a team-best four assists.

The Bearcats dominated the boards, owning a 47-33 advantage, including 18 offensive boards for 21 second-chance points.

Cincinnati also had an 18-14 lead in assists, a 7-6 edge in steals and a 7-2 advantage in blocks. The Bearcats scored 44 points in the paint, compared to Tulsa's 36, and had a 21-8 lead in second-chance points.

The Bearcats got out to an 8-0 lead with 7:48 on the clock, took a 14-7 advantage with 4:44 to play in the quarter and owned a 27-15 lead at the end of the frame. Elliott had the first nine points for the Golden Hurricane, before Lewis added a layup and free throw, and Bittle hit a three-pointer. TU shot 40-percent in the first 10 minutes, but UC hit 66-percent of their attempts.

Cincinnati outscored Tulsa, 15-10, in the second quarter to take a 42-25 lead into halftime. Neither team shot the ball well, as TU hit just 30-percent (4-of-13) and UC was 33-percent (7-of-21) from the field in the frame.

Cincinnati took a 20-point lead (45-25) with 8:37 on the clock on a pair of free throws by Iimar'I Thomas and never led by less than that for the remainder of the contest. The Bearcats had a 23-15 scoring advantage in the frame to climb to a 65-40 lead with one frame to play.

Both teams had 13 points in the final quarter for the final 25-point decision.

Thomas led the Bearcats with 21 points, while Angel Rizor, Sam Rodgers and Antoinette Miller all added 15. Rizor and Thomas pulled down 13 and 11 rebounds, respectively.

Tulsa will return to action on Saturday, February 15 against SMU. Game time is set for 2:00 pm at the Donald W. Reynolds Center.