Tulsa vs. Cincinnati Preview

Saturday, January 29

Cincinnati, Ohio

1:00 pm

Tulsa

Cincinnati

Tulsa vs. Cincinnati Preview

1/28/2022 11:26:00 AM | Women's Basketball

Saturday, January 29, 2022 ~ 1:00 pm Central ~ Fifth Third Arena ~ Cincinnati, Ohio

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-Cincinnati 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 ~ Cincinnati

2021-22 Season Stats: Tulsa ~ Cincinnati

Tulsa Facebook: TulsaHurricane ~ TulsaWBasketball

Tulsa Twitter: TulsaHurricane ~ TUWBasketball

Tulsa Instagram: TulsaHurricaneAthletics ~ TulsaWBB

The Coaches
Tulsa: Angie Nelp (Colorado State, 2002), 1st Year
Career Record: 13-3 (1^st year)
Record at Tulsa: Same

Cincinnati: Michelle Clark-Heard (Western Kentucky, 1990), 4th Year
Record: 241-127 (12 years)
Record at Cincinnati: 63-47 (4 years)

Tulsa's Probable Starters
F          2          Temira Poindexter, 6-1, Fr-HS, Sapulpa, Okla., 11.7 ppg, 4.6 rpg
G         10        Maya Mayberry, 5-8, Sr-1L, Tulsa, Okla., 14.3 ppg, 1.9 rpg
G         11        Maddie Bittle, 5-8, Sr-3L, Bixby, Okla., 9.9 ppg, 4.6 rpg
G         12        Wyvette Mayberry, 5-7, So-1L, Tulsa, Okla., 14.5 ppg, 4.4 rpg
G         21        Rebecca Lescay, 5-8, Sr-4L, Plano, Texas, 10.4 ppg, 4.8 rpg

Cincinnati's Probable Starters
G         1          Caitlyn Wilson, 5-11, Jr, Cordova, Tenn., 7.6 ppg, 2.2 rpg
G         2          Akira Levy, 5-7, Jr, Baxter, Tenn., 12.3 ppg, 2.7 rpg
G         4          Braylyn Milton, 6-0, Fr, Charlotte, N.C., 6.2 ppg, 2.3 rpg
F          15        Arame Niang, 6-3, Gr, Rufisque, Senegal, 6.8 ppg, 4.1 rpg
G         20        Jillian Hayes, 6-1, So, Loveland, Ohio, 11.8 ppg, 7.1 rpg

Facing Cincinnati

Cincinnati has a 9-10 overall record and a 2-5 mark in the league
Akira Levy has a team-best 12.3 points per game, while Jillian Hayes adds 11.8
Hayes has a team-leading 7.1 rebounds per game, 43 steals and 27 blocks, while Levy has 105 assists
Cincinnati has a 7-6 edge in the all-time series over Tulsa, including a 71-58 win last season in Ohio

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 (40.7), sixth in assist-turnover ratio (1.38), seventh in turnovers per game (11.6), seventh in fewest turnovers (185), 26th in three-point field goals made per game (8.6), 28th in won-lost percentage (81.2), 32nd in field goal percentage (45.0), 36th in turnover margin (4.44), 40th in scoring offense (73.8), 43rd in three-point field goals made (138), 51st in scoring margin (12.2), 53rd in free throw percentage (75.2), 92nd in fewest fouls (256), 95th in assists (256), 142nd in three-point field goals attempted (339) and 148th in steals (141) in the nation.
Rebecca Lescay ranks 89th in assist-turnover ratio (1.82)
Maya Mayberry ranks first in three-point field goal percentage (50.0), 26th in three-point field goals made per game (2.75), 146th in three-point field goals made (33) and 196th in points per game (14.3)
Wyvette Mayberry ranks 39th in assist-turnover ratio (2.17), 118th in field goal percentage (46.0), 190th in points per game (14.5) and 192nd in free throw percentage (74.16)
Temira Poindexter ranks 69th in blocked shots (27)

Leading the Way

Four Tulsa players average double-digit points, including Wyvette Mayberry with a team-best 14.5 points per game, while Maya Mayberry adds 14.3 ppg, Temira Poindexter has 11.7 ppg and Rebecca Lescay averages 10.4 ppg
Rebecca Lescay and Delanie Crawford both have a team-best 4.8 rebounds per game, while Lescay has 62 assists, Maddie Bittle has 28 steals and Poindexter has 27 blocks

An Accurate Career Shooter

Maya Mayberry ranks first (.440 = 80-182) in program history for three-point field goal percentage
Temira Poindexter ranks second (.900 = 27-30) in free throw percentage in school history

Scoring

Maya Mayberry ranks ninth in school history with a 14.3 points per game average

Lescay Among Tulsa's Top-10

Rebecca Lescay ranks first in games played (127) on Tulsa's all-time list, and is fourth in steals (203), eighth in assists (285) and 17th in points (874)

Among the Freshmen

Temira Poindexter is already on the Tulsa Freshmen Single-Season Records list in multiple categories, including first in free throw percentage (.900), second in blocks (27) and fifth field goal percentage (.470).

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
Tulsa had 24 defensive rebounds in the game and added 19 offensive boards.

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 14.5 points and Maya 14.3 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 25 times and assists in 19 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 20.4 points and 9.4 rebounds per game.
The 6'1" forward Poindexter averages 11.7 points and 4.6 rebounds, while the 5'10" guard Crawford averages 8.7 points and 4.8 boards.
The duo has combined for 18 double-figure scoring games … Poindexter with 11 and Crawford with seven.
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 seven games, posting double digits in five of those contests
She has averaged 13.8 points (97) with a career-high 22 points at Memphis, while also averaging 4.5 rebounds (32) and 2.4 assists (17).
Bittle shot .540 (33-of-61) from the field and .518 (14-of-27) from 3-point range in the last seven 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 .463 percent of her field goals and .404 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, 4.6 rebounds, 1.8 assists, 1.7 blocks and 1.1 steals per game.
She is shooting .470 percent from the field, .340 from 3-point range and .900 from the free throw line.
Poindexter is second in The American in blocked shots with 27 for a 1.7 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 – 73.75 (1180); Scoring Margin – +12.25 (73.8-61.5); Free Throw % – .752 (170-226); Field Goal % – .450 (436-968); 3-Point FG % – .407 (138-339); 3-Point FG Made – 8.63 (138); Assists – 16.00 (256); Assist/Turnover Ratio – 1.38 (16.0-11.6).
Individually, Maya Mayberry leads the AAC in three-point field goal percentage
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 (Times Two)

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.
TU has 10 double-digit wins among Tulsa's 13 victories this season. TU had just nine double-figure wins in the previous three seasons combined.

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.