Tulsa Falls Short at UCF, 55-53

Saturday, February 20

Orlando, Fla.

11:00 am

Tulsa

5-11,4-11AAC

UCF

12-2,10-1AAC

Tulsa

UCF

Wyvette Mayberry playing basketball at UCF

Tulsa Falls Short at UCF, 55-53

2/20/2021 12:56:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

Maya Mayberry and Wyvette Mayberry both scored in double figures, but it wasn't enough as Tulsa came up short, 55-53, at UCF on Saturday afternoon at the Addition Financial Arena in Orlando, Fla. The Golden Hurricane fell to 5-11 on the season and 4-11 in American Athletic Conference play, while the Knights moved to 12-2 overall and 10-1 in the league.

"I thought we executed well," Head Coach Matilda Mossman said. "We fought through the adversity and their size, but one of the differences is that they got seven points at the line and we had two. Another difference was that they had 12 second chance points and we had none, but I am really proud of how hard we competed. We gave ourselves a chance today."

Maya Mayberry had a team-best 17 points, while Wyvette Mayberry added 15, Maddie Bittle had five, and Jessika Evans, Desiree Lewis, Rebecca Lescay and Kayla Moutry all added four points. Wyvette Mayberry had six rebounds and three assists, while Evans has five boards, and Lewis and Maya Mayberry both had two steals.

UCF owned a 36-24 lead in rebounds, a 15-12 advantage in assists and an 8-6 edge in steals, while both teams had two blocks.

Both teams led by a team-best five points. There were eight tied scores and eight lead changes in the 40 minutes.

Tulsa shot a solid 46.8-percent from the field, 50-percent from behind the arc and 66.7-percent from the free throw line, while the Knights were 38.2-percent from the field, 30-percent from three-point range and 70-percent from the line.

A layup by Lewis at the 3:44 mark of the fourth quarter tied the score at 49-49, the sixth tied score of the game. Lewis then scored another layup at the 3:01 mark to put TU up, 51-49, the Hurricane's first lead since the 5:09 mark of the second quarter (20-19). There were an additional lead change and two tied scores, but the Knights earned the two-point victory.

Neither team shot the ball well to start the game as the Knights were 2-of-10 and the Hurricane was 3-of-10 in the first 5:53 off the clock, giving TU a 7-4 lead. Tulsa owned a 12-7 advantage to end the frame, the fewest points allowed by the Hurricane in a quarter this season.

UCF tied the score at 12-all at the 8:47 mark of the second quarter, and there were another two tied scores and three lead changes in the frame, but the Knights took a 25-22 lead into halftime. Wyvette Mayberry had a team-best 10 points and five rebounds in the first half, hitting 50-percent of her shots (4-of-8).

Both teams had 15 points in the third quarter. TU never let UCF get ahead by more than two baskets and cut their deficit to just one point twice, including a 38-37 score with just 19 seconds on the clock. A layup by Brittney Smith as time expired gave the Knights a 40-37 lead with one quarter to play.

UCF was led by Alisha Lewis with 17 points, while Courtajia Sanders had 11. Brittney Smith pulled down 13 rebounds.

Tulsa will return to action on Saturday, February 27 against Cincinnati beginning at 1:00 pm Central at the Donald W. Reynolds Center on the TU campus.