Tulsa vs. UCF Preview

Wednesday, February 5 ~ 7:00 pm Central ~ Donald W. Reynolds Center ~ Tulsa, Okla.

Tickets: Single game tickets are $5 general admission. Tickets can be purchased ONLINE, at the Reynolds Center ticket office or by calling 918.631.GoTU (4688).

Promotions:
Play 4 Kay – Join TU Women's basketball in the fight against breast cancer as we raise awareness throughout the game. All cancer survivors and their families are invited out free of charge. To receive tickets email jmp5431@utulsa.edu. You can donate HERE!

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

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Live Stats: Click Here

Rosters: Tulsa ~ UCF

2019-20 Season Stats: Tulsa ~ UCF

Tulsa Facebook: TulsaHurricane ~ TulsaWBasketball

Tulsa Twitter: TulsaHurricane ~ TUWBasketball

Tulsa Instagram: TulsaHurricanePics ~ TulsaWBB

The Coaches
Tulsa: Matilda Mossman (Western Kentucky, 1979), 9th Year
Career Record: 258-250 (17 years)
Record at Tulsa: 111-157 (9 years)

UCF: Katie Abrahamson-Henderson (Iowa, 1990), 4th Year
Career Record: 322-146 (15 years)
Record at UCF: 81-38 (4 years)

Tulsa's Probable Starters
F          00        Kendrian Elliott, 6-2, Sr., Wichita, Kan., 13.7 ppg, 8.8 rpg
G         15        KK Rodriguez, 5-6, So., St. Louis, Mo., 2.2 ppg, 2.0 rpg
G         22        Morgan Brady, 5-7, Jr., Little Rock, Ark., 5.2 ppg, 2.4 rpg
G         23        Kayla Moutry, 5-9, So., McKinney, Texas, 3.8 ppg, 1.8 rpg
F          32        Desiree Lewis, 5-10, So., Converse, Texas, 4.3 ppg, 4.2 rpg

UCF's Probable Starters
G         1          Georgia Gayle, 5-9, Jr., Sheffield, England, 7.7 ppg, 2.8 rpg
G         2          Kay Kay Wright, 5-7, Sr., Orlando, Fla., 16.1 ppg, 2.6 rpg
G         10        Courtajia Sanders, 6-1, Jr., Bartow, Fla., 4.4 ppg, 2.5 rpg
F          24        Jnaya Walker, 6-1, Jr., Bolingbrook, Ill., 1.6 ppg, 2.7 rpg
F          32        Brittney Smith, 6-3, So., Orlando, Fla., 11.0 ppg, 5.3 rpg

In the Last Game

The Tulsa women's basketball team dropped a 63-44 decision to Memphis on Saturday afternoon at the Elma Roane Fieldhouse in Memphis, Tenn.
Memphis had a 37-34 lead in rebounds, a 12-11 edge in assists, a 13-10 advantage in steals and a 5-4 edge in blocks. Memphis earned 19 of their points at the free throw line, after getting to the line 24 times, compared to Tulsa's 3-of-8 from the line.
Addison Richards scored a team-best nine points, while Kendrian Elliott and Destiny Johnson both added eight points. Elliott pulled down seven rebounds, and had three steals and two blocks.
Tulsa shot 32-percent from the field, including just 15-percent from behind the arc and 37-percent from the free throw line, while Memphis shot 40-percent from the field, 40-percent from three-point range and 79-percent from the line.

Facing UCF

UCF is 12-8 on the season, including a 4-4 mark in league play
Kay Kay Wright and Brittney Smith are both averaging double-digit points for the Knights with 16.1 and 11.0 points per game, respectively
Masseny Kaba has a team-best 6.5 rebounds per game and 18 blocks, while Wright has 85 assists and 41 steals
UCF has an 11-7 lead in the all-time series, including wins in the last four meetings. TU's last win against the Knights came during the 2016-17 season.

In the Nation

Tulsa ranks...
- 60 in steals (204)
- 86 in steals per game (9.3)
- 98 in turnovers forced (18.00)
- 121 in blocked shots (76)
- 129 in 3-point field goals attempted (417)
- 138 in assists (281)
- 149 in blocks per game (3.5)
- 150 in turnover margin (0.82)
Kendrian Elliott ranks...
- 46 in double-doubles (8)
- 49 in rebounds (194)
- 60 in field goal percentage (.523)
- 60 in blocked shots (36)
- 71 in rebounds per game (8.8)
- 78 in blocked shots per game (1.64)
- 87 in minutes played (737:48)
- 184 in points (301)
Alexis Gaulden ranks...
- 85 in assists per game (4.4)
- 105 in steals per game (2.05)
- 123 in assists (83)
- 144 in steals (39)
NOTE: Above NCAA Rankings include games through 2/2/20.

An Accurate Shot

Maddie Bittle ranks among the program's best in free throw percentage, coming in at third with a 86.5-percent clip (32-37)
Kendrian Elliott ranks seventh (.490 = 305-622) among the school's-best field goal shooters

Double-Doubles, Rebounds and Blocks

Kendrian Elliott has recorded 14 double-doubles in her career, including eight this season, to rank third in school history in her career and ninth in a single season
Elliott has 642 rebounds, ranking sixth in school history
Elliott has 85 blocks, ranking sixth in school history

Knocking Down Three's and Getting Assists

Alexis Gaulden has knocked down 164 three-pointers in her career, which ranks in fourth place on the school's all-time list
Gaulden needs two 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 321 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 13.7 points per game
Elliott's 301 points this season is the most in a single season in her career with seven 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 7.2 points per game
Richards' 158 points this season is already more than her previous three years combined with seven regular season games to play

2019-20 Single Season Marks

Kendrian Elliott and Maddie Bittle have earned their way onto the Tulsa Single-Season Leaders list
Bittle ranks fourth in free throw percentage (.900) and Kendrian Elliott ranks ninth in double-doubles (8)

1,000 Point Watch and School History Ranking

Alexis Gaulden currently has 974 points, needing just 26 more points to reach the 1,000-point mark, and ranks 12th in school history in total points
Elliott currently has 811 points, needing 189 more points, and ranks 19th in school history in total points.
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 258 Career Wins

Matilda Mossman has collected 258 career victories
She has 67 wins at Arkansas, 80 wins at Kansas State and 111 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.

Tulsa vs. UCF Preview

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Players Mentioned

Maddie Bittle

Morgan Brady

Ashley Clark

Kendrian Elliott

Alexis Gaulden

Destiny Johnson

Desiree Lewis

Kayla Moutry

Addison Richards

KK Rodriguez

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