Tulsa vs. Memphis Preview

Wednesday, January 26, 2022 ~ 6:30 pm Central ~ Donald W. Reynolds Center ~ Tulsa, Okla.

Game Notes: Tulsa

Radio: TU's games can be heard on 93.5 FM The Jet and free on the iHeart Radio App. Brandon Hart calls play-by-play.

Live Audio: Listen Here

Live Video: The Tulsa-Memphis 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 $6.99/month or $69.99/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 ~ Memphis

2021-22 Season Stats: Tulsa ~ Memphis

Tulsa Facebook: TulsaHurricane ~ TulsaWBasketball

Tulsa Twitter: TulsaHurricane ~ TUWBasketball

Tulsa Instagram: TulsaHurricaneAthletics ~ TulsaWBB

The Coaches
Tulsa: Angie Nelp (Colorado State, 2002), 1st Year
Career Record: 12-3 (1^st year)
Record at Tulsa: Same

Memphis: Katrina Merriweather (Cincinnati, 2001), 1st Year
Record: 124-52 (6 years)
Record at Memphis: 11-5 (1 year)

Tulsa's Probable Starters
F          2          Temira Poindexter, 6-1, Fr-HS, Sapulpa, Okla., 11.7 ppg, 4.8 rpg
G         10        Maya Mayberry, 5-8, Sr-1L, Tulsa, Okla., 14.2 ppg, 1.8 rpg
G         11        Maddie Bittle, 5-8, Sr-3L, Bixby, Okla., 9.9 ppg, 4.9 rpg
G         12        Wyvette Mayberry, 5-7, So-1L, Tulsa, Okla., 14.7 ppg, 4.3 rpg
G         21        Rebecca Lescay, 5-8, Sr-4L, Plano, Texas, 9.7 ppg, 4.8 rpg

Memphis' Probable Starters
G         2          Madison Griggs, 5-9, Jr, Memphis, Tenn., 7.3 ppg, 1.9 rpg
G         5          Emani Jefferson, 5-6, So, Miami, Fla., 8.8 ppg, 4.2 rpg
G         23        Jamirah Shutes, 5-9, Sr, Brownsville, Tenn., 11.9 ppg, 4.3 rpg
F          33        Alana Davis, 6-2, Sr, Augusta, Ga., 7.2 ppg, 4.6 rpg
F          53        Lanetta Williams, 6-3, Jr, Arlington, Tenn., 4.1 ppg, 5.6 rpg

Facing Memphis

Memphis has an 11-5 overall record and a 2-3 mark in the league
Jamirah Shutes has a team-best 11.9 points per game, while Emani Jefferson adds 8.8 ppg
Tyler Frierson has a team-leading 6.2 rebounds per game
Jefferson has a team-best 37 assists and 27 steals, while Lanetta Williams has 15 blocks
The Tulsa-Memphis series is tied, including a 72-69 win by the Golden Hurricane in Memphis earlier this season

Great Start

Tulsa had a 10-0 start, topping the previous best of 7-0 during the 2004-05 season.
The 10-game win streak was the longest in school history, beating a nine-game streak during the 2005-06 campaign

In the Nation

Tulsa ranks second in three-point field goal percentage (40.6), sixth in turnovers per game (11.3), seventh in assist-turnover ratio (1.41), eighth in fewest turnovers (170), 23rd in three-point field goals made per game (8.7), 33rd in won-lost percentage (80.0), 38th in three-point field goals made (131), 39th in field goal percentage (44.7), 43rd in turnover margin (4.33), 47th in scoring offense (73.3), 51st in scoring margin (12.3), 57th in free throw percentage (75.0), 86th in assists (239), 104th in fewest fouls (236), 121st in three-point field goals attempted (323), 130th in scoring defense (61.1), 133rd in steals (132), 140th in field goal percentage defense (38.7) and 154th in blocked shots (50) in the nation.
Maddie Bittle ranks 210th in steals per game (1.86)
Rebecca Lescay ranks 79th in assist-turnover ratio (1.90) and 145th in assists (59)
Maya Mayberry ranks 150th in three-point field goals made (30)
Wyvette Mayberry ranks 55th in assist-turnover ratio (2.08), 118th in field goal percentage (46.7), 178th in points per game (14.7) and 210th in free throw percentage (74.1)
Temira Poindexter ranks 56th in blocked shots (27)

Leading the Way

Three Tulsa players average double-digit points, including Wyvette Mayberry with a team-best 14.7 points per game, while Maya Mayberry adds 14.2 ppg and Temira Poindexter has 11.7 ppg
Maddie Bittle and Delanie Crawford both have a team-best 4.9 rebounds per game, while Bittle has 26 steals, Rebecca Lescay has 59 assists and Poindexter has 27 blocks

An Accurate Career Shooter

Maya Mayberry ranks first (.438 = 77-176) in program history for three-point field goal percentage
Temira Poindexter ranks first (.926 = 25-27) in free throw percentage in school history

Scoring

Maya Mayberry ranks 10th in school history with a 14.2 points per game average

Lescay Among Tulsa's Top-10

Rebecca Lescay ranks first in games played (126) on Tulsa's all-time list, and is fifth in steals (200), ninth in assists (282) and 18th in points (853)

Among the Freshmen

Temira Poindexter is only 15 games into her career and already on the Tulsa Freshmen Single-Season Records list in multiple categories, including first in free throw percentage (.926), second in blocks (27) and fifth field goal percentage (.459).

Protecting the Ball

Tulsa set a school record low of five turnovers against FAU on Nov. 26, and then bested that with just four turnovers against Missouri S&T on Dec. 8

Defensive Rebounding

Tulsa didn't allow an offensive rebound by Missouri S&T on Dec. 8

The Sisters Mayberry

Sisters Maya and Wyvette Mayberry are both in their second seasons at TU
The pair are just one of three Division I sisters that play for the same team and both average over 10.0 ppg (the other pairs are at Purdue-Fort Wayne and Fresno State)
Wyvette averages 14.7 points and Maya 14.2 points to rank 1-2. The sisters were also Tulsa's top two scorers during the 2020-21 season as Maya averaged a team-high 14.3 points and Wyvette scored at a 12.3 clip.
The pair scored 46.1 percent (493 of 1,068) of Tulsa's total points during the 2020-21 season
In their two seasons, the sisters have combined to lead Tulsa in scoring 24 times and assists in 18 games
Their older sister, Taleya, also played at Tulsa (2009-13) and was an assistant coach for three seasons (2018-21)

Freshmen Tandem

The tandem of true freshmen Temira Poindexter and Delanie Crawford have combined to average 20.2 points and 9.7 rebounds per game.
The 6'1" forward Poindexter averages 11.7 points and 4.8 rebounds, while the 5'10" guard Crawford averages 8.5 points and 4.9 boards.
The duo has combined for 16 double-figure scoring games … Poindexter with 10 and Crawford with six.
Poindexter had season-highs of 23 points, 10 rebounds, five blocks and four assists, while Crawford's season-highs reached 15 points, eight rebounds and five assists.

Maddie 'B' Has Hit Her Stride

Senior Maddie Bittle has been on fire in the last six games, posting double digits in five of those contests
She has averaged 14.6 points (88) with a career-high 22 points at Memphis, while also averaging 5.1 rebounds (31) and 2.1 assists (13).
Bittle shot .545 (30-of-55) from the field and .560 (14-of-25) from 3-point range in the last six games
In her nine previous games, Bittle shot just .383 (23-of-60) from the field and .250 (5-of-20) from 3-point range for the season.
Now, on the season, Bittle is knocking down .461 percent of her field goals and .422 percent from behind the arc.

Top Freshman

Freshman Temira Poindexter is staking her claim to be in the running for the Top Freshman in the American Athletic Conference.
The 6'1" Poindexter has done a little bit of everything for the Hurricane this year while averaging 11.7 points, 4.8 rebounds, 1.8 blocks, 1.7 assists and 1.1 steals per game.
She is shooting .459 percent from the field, .333 from 3-point range and .926 from the free throw line.
Poindexter leads The American in blocked shots with 27 for a 1.8 average and had a career-high 5 in the AAC opener at Memphis.
Poindexter has named the AAC's Freshman of the Week five times.
Poindexter's father, Ray, was a member of Tulsa's men's basketball NCAA Tournament teams in 1994-95 and 1995-96 … at 6'11", he averaged 6.5 points and 5.6 rebounds in his two seasons.

College Graduates

Tulsa senior Rebecca Lescay earned her bachelor's degree in marketing in 2020 and her master's degree in business analytics in December 2021, while Madi Washington earned her degree in psychology in 2020 and is working on her MBA.

Leading the AAC

As a team, the Hurricane leads the American Athletic Conference in eight of 21 statistical categories. Tulsa leads in Scoring Offense – 73.33 (1100); Scoring Margin – +12.27 (73.3-61.1); Free Throw % – .750 (159-212); Field Goal % – .447 (405-907); 3-Point FG % – .406 (131-323); 3-Point FG Made – 8.73 (131); Assists – 15.93 (239); Assist/Turnover Ratio – 1.41 (15.9-11.3).
Individually, Temira Poindexter leads the AAC in blocked shots at 1.80
See full chart below.

A Native American

According to an 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.

Double Digit Wins

In Angie Nelp's first season as the Hurricane head coach, Tulsa reached double-digit wins in the first 10 games of the season.
Tulsa didn't reach double-digit wins in either of the past two seasons, winning just five games in a 19-game schedule a year ago and nine wins in 2019-20.

Tulsa Picked Ninth in The American Preseason Coaches' Poll

In the American Athletic Conference coaches' poll, Tulsa was picked to finish ninth by the league's coaches
The 2021-22 predicted order of finish was South Florida, UCF, Houston, Tulane, Temple, Cincinnati, East Carolina, Wichita State, Tulsa, SMU and Memphis

Tulsa in The American Championship

Tulsa has a 4-7 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 and 2021

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 in 2006 (W, North Carolina State; L, DePaul) 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. Memphis Preview

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Players Mentioned

Maddie Bittle

Delanie Crawford

Rebecca Lescay

Maya Mayberry

Wyvette Mayberry

Temira Poindexter

Tulsa vs. Memphis Preview

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Next Event

Players Mentioned

Maddie Bittle

Delanie Crawford

Rebecca Lescay

Maya Mayberry

Wyvette Mayberry

Temira Poindexter

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