Tulsa Women Fall to Cincinnati 71-58

Saturday, February 27

Reynolds Center

1:00 pm

Tulsa

5-12,4-12AAC

Cincinnati

6-15,5-12AAC

Cincinnati

Tulsa

Photo by: Bill Powell

Tulsa Women Fall to Cincinnati 71-58

2/27/2021 3:38:00 PM | Women's Basketball

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TULSA, Okla. –– Maya Mayberry's 22 points wasn't enough as Tulsa fell to Cincinnati 71-58 Saturday afternoon at the Donald W. Reynold Center. The win for the Bearcats avenged a loss in Cincinnati to Tulsa earlier in the season.

The Bearcats were led by 20+ scorers Ilmar'I Thomas with 28 points and Caitlyn Wilson with 20. Cincinnati shot 46-percent for the game from both the field and three-point range. Maya's younger sister, Wyvette, added 15 points and fellow freshman Jessika Evans totaled 10 points for the Hurricane.

Tulsa's lone senior Rebecca Lescay ended Senior Day with 6 points, 5, rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals.

Tulsa fell to 5-12 overall and 4-12 in the American Athletic Conference, while Cincinnati improved to 6-15 overall and 5-12 in league play.

"We had three in double figures and it is hard for us to get kids into double figures," said Tulsa Head Coach Matilda Mossman. "Our kids are competing. We are limited in our scoring and we are limited on our rebounding. We had 20 offensive rebounds, but we aren't turning them into points."

Other than the first quarter when the Hurricane had a 2-point lead at 20-18, the Bearcats lead at the end of the final three periods. Tulsa trailed at halftime, 37-29, and at the end of the third quarter by a score of 51-44.

Tulsa trimmed its 8-point halftime deficit to 3 points at the 6:15 mark on two Wyvette Mayberry free throws and then again on a Maya Mayberry layup making the score 41-38 at the 5:39 mark. Two three-pointers from Cincinnati pushed the 3-point lead to 9 points with four minutes left on the third-quarter clock.

Maya Mayberry's trey at the 1:06 mark had Tulsa within 5 points, but the Bearcats scored on a fast break basket with 0:09 left to make the score 51-44 after three periods. UC started the final stanza on an 8-4 run and took a 10-pooint lead, 61-51, at the 4:04 mark.

Cincinnati kept its double-digit lead until the end, leading by as many as 17 points in the final two minutes.

UC jumped out to a 3-point lead at the start of the contest and led 10-4 before Tulsa went on a 9-3 run to take a 14-13 advantage on a Jessika Evans jumper at the 3:54 mark. The Hurricane finished off the first quarter with a 20-18 lead.

Coming off of a record-breaking 51-point performance, Cincinnati's Thomas was fed the ball early and often and had 7 of the Bearcats first 13 points, while Maya Mayberry had 9 of Tulsa's first quarter points.

The second quarter was all the Bearcats, as the visitors outscored the home team 19-9 to take a 37-29 lead into intermission.

Cincinnati connected on 54-percent of its field goal, hit 3-of-4 treys and was 4-of-4 from the free throw line in the second period. The Bearcats ended the first 20 minutes over 50-percent from both the field and three-point range, while Tulsa shot only 30-percent from the field.

Maya Mayberry led Tulsa with 9 points, followed by the younger Mayberry and Evans with 7 apiece. Thomas had a first-half high 14 points for Cincinnati and Caitlyn Wilson added 12 points, all on three-pointers.

Tulsa will close out the regular season on Tuesday night against the Wichita State Shockers in a 6 p.m. game at the Reynolds Center. The contest will be aired on ESPN+. The 2021 Air Force Reserve American Athletic Conference Championship will take place March 8-11 in Fort Worth, Texas.