Tulsa vs. Cincinnati Preview

Wednesday, January 6

Cincinnati, Ohio

1:00 pm

Tulsa

Cincinnati

Tulsa vs. Cincinnati Preview

1/4/2021 12:59:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Wednesday, January 6 ~ 1:00 pm Central ~ Fifth Third Arena ~ Cincinnati, Ohio

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: The Tulsa-Cincinnati 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 ~ Cincinnati

2020-21 Season Stats: Tulsa ~ Cincinnati

Tulsa Facebook: TulsaHurricane ~ TulsaWBasketball

Tulsa Twitter: TulsaHurricane ~ TUWBasketball

Tulsa Instagram: TulsaHurricaneAthletics ~ TulsaWBB

The Coaches
Tulsa: Matilda Mossman (Western Kentucky, 1979), 10th Year
Career Record: 262-256 (18 years)
Record at Tulsa: 115-163 (10 years)

Cincinnati: Michelle Clark-Heard (Western Kentucky, 1990), 3rd Year
Career Record: 225-105 (11 years)
Record at Cincinnati: 47-25 (3 years)

Tulsa's Probable Starters
G         10        Maya Mayberry, 5-8, Jr., Tulsa, Okla., 10.5 ppg, 3.3 rpg
G         12        Wyvette Mayberry, 5-7, Fr., Tulsa, Okla., 9.8 ppg, 3.5 rpg
F          20        Elin Hrafnkelsdottir, 6-1, Jr., Kopavogur, Iceland, 4.5 ppg, 4.5 rpg
G         21        Rebecca Lescay, 5-8, Sr., Plano, Texas, 9.0 ppg, 4.3 rpg
F          32        Desiree Lewis, 5-10, Jr., Converse, Texas, 7.3 ppg, 6.0 rpg

Cincinnati's Probable Starters
G         2          Destiny Haymer, 5-8, Jr., Tchula, Miss., 7.3 ppg, 2.2 rpg
F          15        Arame Niang, 6-3, Sr., Rufisque, Senegal, 8.6 ppg, 5.0 rpg
G         20        Jillian Hayes, 6-1, Fr., Loveland, Ohio, 5.0 ppg, 4.9 rpg
G         21        Milan Schimmel, 5-8, Jr., Mission, Ore., 5.9 ppg, 3.7 rpg
F          23        Iimar'i Thomas, 5-10, Sr., Oakland, Calif., 27.6 ppg, 8.1 rpg

Facing Cincinnati

This is the 12th time that Tulsa and Cincinnati will meet on the women's basketball court
The Bearcats have a 6-5 edge in the series, but have won the past five meetings
Cincinnati has a 2-5 overall record, including a 1-2 mark in American Athletic Conference play. The Bearcats picked up a 65-59 win over Wichita State in their last contest, snapping a five-game losing streak.
Iimar'i Thomas has team-bests of 27.6 points per game, 8.1 rebounds per game, 24 assists and eight blocks, while also recording seven steals

In the Last Game

Tulsa dropped a 63-35 decision to #21 USF
Madi Washington and Wyvette Mayberry both had a team-leading nine points, while Rebecca Lescay and Maddie Bittle both added four. Desiree Lewis pulled down a team-best eight rebounds and Wyvette Mayberry had two steals.
Tulsa shot just 19-percent from the field, 25-percent from behind the arc and 50-percent from the field, while USF was 38-percent from the field, 31-percent from three-point range and 55-percent from the line in the contest.

Wyvette Mayberry Named The American Freshman of the Week

Wyvette Mayberry was named the American Athletic Conference Freshman of the Week on December 14.
Mayberry made her collegiate debut a memorable one. She tallied a team-leading 16 points in just 11:25 off the clock against Oklahoma State.
This was TU's first and only other Freshman of the Week honor since the 2016-17 season when Kendrian Elliott, Alexis Gaulden and Shug Dickson each earned the honor twice.

In the Nation

Tulsa ranks...
- 22 in turnovers per game (12.5)
- 23 in fewest turnovers (50)
- 30 in turnover margin (5.25)
- 31 in fewest fouls (64)
- 70 in personal fouls per game (16.0)
- 90 in scoring defense (61.8)
- 98 in 3-point field goal defense (28.1)
Elin Hrafnkelsdottir ranks...
- 150 in blocked shots per game (1.25)
Rebecca Lescay ranks...
- 47 in steals per game (2.75)
Maya Mayberry ranks...
- 72 in 3-point field goals per game (2.5)
- 89 in 3-point field goals percentage (41.7)
NOTE: Above NCAA Rankings include games through 1/3/20.

On the Roster

TU returns eight 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 one senior, Rebecca Lescay, eight juniors, two sophomores and three freshmen on the roster

Maddie Bittle

According to a recent NCAA Division I women's basketball survey, Maddie Bittle is just one of 18 Native Americans playing collegiate basketball at the D1 level.

An Accurate Shot

Destiny Johnson ranks second (.400 = 4-10) in program history for three-point field goal percentage.
Maddie Bittle ranks seventh (.830 = 39-47) 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 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 262 Career Wins

Matilda Mossman has collected 262 career victories
She had 67 wins at Arkansas and 80 wins at Kansas State, and currently has 115 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.