Tulsa vs. UCF Preview

Saturday, February 20 ~ 11:00 am Central ~ Addition Financial Arena ~ Orlando, Fla.

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-UCF 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 ~ UCF

2020-21 Season Stats: Tulsa ~ UCF

Tulsa Facebook: TulsaHurricane ~ TulsaWBasketball

Tulsa Twitter: TulsaHurricane ~ TUWBasketball

Tulsa Instagram: TulsaHurricaneAthletics ~ TulsaWBB

The Coaches
Tulsa: Matilda Mossman (Western Kentucky, 1979), 10th Year
Career Record: 266-265 (18 years)
Record at Tulsa: 119-172 (10 years)

UCF: Katie Abrahamson-Henderson (Iowa, 1990), 5th Year
Record: 341-150 (16 years)
Record at UCF: 100-42 (5 years)

Tulsa's Probable Starters
G         10        Maya Mayberry, 5-8, Jr., Tulsa, Okla., 13.2 ppg, 2.7 rpg
G         12        Wyvette Mayberry, 5-7, Fr., Tulsa, Okla., 11.1 ppg, 3.2 rpg
F          13        Jessika Evans, 6-0, Fr., Norman, Okla., 5.1 ppg, 6.0 rpg
G         21        Rebecca Lescay, 5-8, Sr., Plano, Texas, 8.2 ppg, 4.9 rpg
F          32        Desiree Lewis, 5-10, Jr., Converse, Texas, 5.3 ppg, 5.6 rpg

UCF's Probable Starters
G         3          Diamond Battles, 5-8, Jr., Winter Haven, Fla., 10.3 ppg, 3.9 rpg
F          5          Masseny Kaba, 6-3, Sr., Dorchester, Mass., 8.5 ppg, 5.6 rpg
G         23        Alisha Lewis, 5-7, So., Wallingford, Pa., 8.2 ppg, 2.9 rpg
G         25        Ahna Burney, 5-8, So., Vancouver, Wash., 2.6 ppg, 1.6 rpg
F          32        Brittney Smith, 6-3, Jr., Orlando, Fla., 10.2 ppg, 5.7 rpg

Facing UCF

This is the 21st time that Tulsa and UCF will meet on the women's basketball court
The Knights own a 13-7 lead in the all-time series, including a six-game winning streak
The Knights have an 11-2 mark this season, including a 9-1 record in the AAC
Courtajia Sanders (11.3), Diamond Battles (10.3) and Brittney Smith (10.2) average double-digit points for the Knights
Smith has a team-best 5.7 rebounds per game, Battles has 53 assists and 30 steals, and Masseny Kaba has 11 blocks

In the Last Game

The Tulsa women's basketball team dropped a 68-46 decision to Temple on Wednesday
Maddie Bittle had a team-best 10 points, while Maya Mayberry added eight, and both Jessika Evans and Wyvette Mayberry scored six. Desiree Lewis pulled down six rebounds, Maya Mayberry and Bittle both had three assists, and Bittle had three steals.
Tulsa had an 8-5 advantage in steals, while Temple had a 43-32 lead in rebounds, a 15-11 edge in assists and a 5-0 advantage in blocks.
Temple had a 40-16 lead in points in the paint and an 11-5 advantage in second chance points, while Tulsa had an 18-11 lead in points off the bench.

Rebecca Lescay Named The American Player of the Week

Rebecca Lescay was named as the American Athletic Conference Player of the Week on February 1, 2021.
This was just TU's second Player of the Week honoree since joining the league in 2014. Ashley Clark received the honor on Feb. 2, 2015.

Wyvette Mayberry Named The American Freshman of the Week Twice

Wyvette Mayberry was named the American Athletic Conference Freshman of the Week on December 14 and January 11
This was TU's first 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...
- 28 in steals per game (10.5)
- 31 in turnover margin (4.67)
- 34 in turnovers per game (13.2)
- 55 in fewest turnovers (198)
- 62 in steals (157)
- 81 in turnovers forced (17.87)
- 94 in fewest fouls (242)
Rebecca Lescay ranks...
- 112 in steals per game (2.13)
- 130 in steals (32)
Maya Mayberry ranks...
- 73 in 3-point FG percentage (38.1)
- 113 in 3-point FGs per game (2.13)
- 150 in 3-point FGs made (32)
Wyvette Mayberry ranks...
- 136 in steals per game (2.00)
NOTE: Above NCAA Rankings include games through 2/1721.

An Accurate Shot

Maya Mayberry ranks third (.381 = 32-84) in program history for three-point field goal percentage.
Maddie Bittle ranks ninth (.823 = 51-62) in program history for free throw percentage

She's Stealing!

Rebecca Lescay ranks sixth on Tulsa's all-time steals list with 173 in her career

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

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. Bittle is a member of the Muscogee Creek Nation.

The Mayberry Connection

Sisters Maya and Wyvette Mayberry are both in their first seasons at Tulsa, and are coached by their older sister, Taleya, who also played at Tulsa (2009-13) and joined the coaching ranks prior to the 2018-19 campaign. Maya is a junior who transferred from Oral Roberts, while Wyvette is a freshman from local Booker T. Washington High School.
The sisters are Tulsa's top two scorers as Maya averages a team-high 13.2 points and Wyvette is scoring at an 11.1 clip.
The pair is scoring 43.2 percent (353 of 816) of Tulsa's total points.
Wyvette leads Tulsa in assists (42) and is second in steals (28)

Tulsa's Turnover-Takeaway Story

Tulsa has been among the nation's leaders for turnover margin this season with a +4.7 margin after 15 games.
The Hurricane has forced 17.9 turnovers per game (268), while suffering only 13.2 turnovers (198) of their own.
Tulsa has forced four opponents into 20+ turnovers, including UCF (23), Temple (23), Memphis (26) and Memphis (22)
Tulsa's season-high of 22 turnovers came against ECU (1-20-21)
The Hurricane averages 10.5 steals per game (157) while the opposition has averaged just 6.3 takeaways (95) against Tulsa.

Mossman Has 266 Career Wins

Matilda Mossman has collected 266 career victories
She had 67 wins at Arkansas and 80 wins at Kansas State, and currently has 119 wins at TU
Mossman has the most wins by a TU women's basketball coach

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

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

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. UCF Preview

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Players Mentioned

Maddie Bittle

Ashley Clark

Kendrian Elliott

Jessika Evans

Alexis Gaulden

Destiny Johnson

Rebecca Lescay

Desiree Lewis

Maya Mayberry

Wyvette Mayberry

Madi Washington

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