Tulsa Gets School Record 8-0 Start with 78-46 Win over Central Arkansas

Sunday, December 12

Reynolds Center

1:00 pm

Tulsa

8-0,0-0AAC

Central Arkansas

3-5,0-0ASUN

Team	1	2	3	4	F
Central Ark.	7	12	9	18	46
Tulsa	26	12	23	17	78

Tulsa women set new school record with 8-0 start to the season

Tulsa Gets School Record 8-0 Start with 78-46 Win over Central Arkansas

12/12/2021 3:40:00 PM | Women's Basketball

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TULSA, Okla. –– Tulsa won its eighth straight game for a new school record 8-0 start to the season as the Golden Hurricane grabbed a 78-46 victory over Central Arkansas on Sunday afternoon at the Donald W. Reynolds Center.

The previous best start in school history came in the 2004-05 season when the Hurricane began the campaign 7-0.

Tulsa dominated the contest from start to finish by taking a double-digit lead, 10-0, in the first 3:02 of the contest and never relinquished the double-figure advantage. UCA got the score to as close as 15 points early in the second half, but the Hurricane pushed its lead to as many as 36 points in the final 20 minutes.

Without leading scorer Maya Mayberry, it was younger sister, Wyvette, that led the Hurricane by tying her career-high with 24 points. A pair of freshmen also scored in double digits as Delanie Crawford set a new career-high with 15 points and Temira Poindexter added 13 points.

Mayberry had a new career-high five treys, converting 5-of-6 from behind the arc, while knocking down 8-of-14 field goals and 3-of-3 from the free throw line. She added six rebounds, four steals and three assists.

All of Crawford's points came from behind the arc as she made 5-of-7 treys and tied her career-best on the boards with eight rebounds. It was Crawford's first multiple three-point game of the season.

Tulsa shot 47 percent from the field, 48 percent from behind the arc with a season-high 13 made three-pointers and was 9-of-9 from the line. UCA ended the contest by shooting 34 percent from the field and 25 percent from three-point range. The Hurricane had a 38-32 edge in the rebounding battle, while outscoring UCA in the paint 30-16.

"In preparing for this game we wanted to come in and get off to a great start," Head Coach Angie Nelp said. "I was really proud of our players for the way they started this game. I was just glad that Wyvette and Delanie were able to get their open looks, they had teammates that found them at the right times and the fact that they took great shots in rhythm. I'm really proud of them for having career nights."

"We focused a lot on rebounding for this team. Central Arkansas rebounds extremely well. We knew we would have to win that rebounding battle early if we were going to jump out like we did," added Nelp.

The Sugar Bears cut Tulsa's 19-point halftime lead to 15 points by scoring the first four points of the third period, but the Hurricane responded with an 11-2 run to take a 49-23 lead at the 6:49 mark. Tulsa converted 3-of-3 treys during its run to take the 26-point lead early in the period.

The Hurricane increased its lead to 30 points at 56-26 on a Mayberry fast-break layup and the next time down the court Madi Washington's trey put Tulsa ahead by 33.

Tulsa ended the third quarter ahead 61-28 as the Hurricane outscored the UCA 23-9 in the period. Mayberry led the way for Tulsa with eight points, three rebounds and two steals in the third quarter.

The Hurricane took its largest lead of 36 points at three different times in the fourth quarter. Mayberry's layup at the 7:34 mark gave Tulsa its first 36-point advantage, Washington's two free throws made it 73-37 and Rebecca Lescay's layup put Tulsa ahead 75-39.

UCA outscored Tulsa in the final five minutes 7-3 but it was Tulsa finishing with a 32-point advantage for its second straight 30+ win margin of the season.

Tulsa began the game on a 12-0 run in the first four minutes as the Hurricane converted 5-of-7 field goals and 2-of-2 from the three-point line with all five starters scoring in the early going. UCA got its first points at the 5:59 mark on a jumper by Ruth Balogun to make the score 12-2. The Hurricane outscored the Sugar Bears 14-5 the remainder of the first 10 minutes.

Tulsa ended the first quarter with a 26-7 lead as Poindexter scored with 0:02 on the clock for the 19-point advantage. Poindexter led the Hurricane with nine points, while adding three rebounds and two assists in the first 10 minutes.

The Hurricane had a 10-0 edge in points off turnovers and a 14-4 advantage in points scored in the paint in the first quarter, while knocking down 58 percent of its shots and 44 percent from three-point range.

The two teams played even in the second quarter with each scoring 12 points. Lescay's fast-break layup at the 6:17 mark to give Tulsa its largest lead of the half at 22 points, 31-9. The Hurricane then went on a 4:29 scoring drought before Mayberry's three-pointer at the 1:48 mark snapped the drought for Tulsa.

Tulsa cooled off in the second quarter, connecting on just 25 percent of its treys, while UCA wasn't much better at 26.3 percent.

At halftime, Tulsa held a 38-19 lead while converting 45 percent of its field goals compared to UCA's 25 percent. Mayberry led the Hurricane with 11 points, followed by Poindexter with nine points.

Tulsa now hits the road for two games at the Georgia State Holiday Classic in Atlanta, Ga., Dec. 18-19. Tulsa plays host Georgia State on Sat., Dec. 18 at 3 p.m. and faces South Alabama a day later at 1 p.m.

The Hurricane will return home for a mid-week game before the Christmas holiday in a 12 p.m. game against San Francisco on Wednesday, Dec. 22.

All TU women basketball games can be heard on 93.5 FM The Jet Radio and online at TulsaHurricane.com/WBBRadio.