Tulsa Cruises to 79-46 Win over Lindenwood

Sunday, December 4

Reynolds Center

1:00 pm

Tulsa

6-2,0-0AAC

Lindenwood

0-7,0-0OVC

Lindenwood

Tulsa

Tulsa Cruises to 79-46 Win over Lindenwood

12/4/2022 3:23:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

GAME STATS l SEASON STATS

TULSA, Okla. –– Tulsa (6-2) cruised to a 79-46 win over the Lindenwood Lions (0-7) Saturday afternoon at the Donald W. Reynolds Center behind a balanced attack with five players scoring in double digits.

Senior Maddie Bittle tied her season-high with 14 points, while junior Jessika Evans added 13, freshman Ahrray Young 12 and freshman Hadley Periman and sophomore Temira Poindexter chipped in with 11 points each. Poindexter also had game-highs of 10 rebounds, five assists and two blocked shots.

"I am so proud of our team for coming out and playing together and sharing the ball," Head Coach Angie Nelp said. "We had a lot of moments today where we sacrificed a good shot for a great shot. I was also excited to see the success of our bench, as well for Temira earning the double-double. I thought we got out to a great start and then kept going."

"Our defense in the first half, holding them to 15 points, was huge. We had multiple players who contributed and it was balanced on the defensive end of the floor."

After its first basket of the game with 0:52 off the clock, the Hurricane held the lead for the entire 40 minutes, building its advantage to as many as 21 points, 33-12, in the opening half. Tulsa extended its lead to as many as 48 points, 73-35, in the final quarter of play.

Tulsa's defense held the Lions to just 29.8-percent from the field and 16.7-percent from 3-point range for the game. The Hurricane finished the game shooting 49-percent from the field, while outdistancing the Lions for points in the paint 34-22. Tulsa also scored 20 points off Lindenwood turnovers and was 17-6 over the Lions for second-chance points.

HOW IT HAPPENED
Tulsa led from start to finish in capturing its fifth double-digit win of the season with a 79-46 victory.

With the score sitting at 5-4 at the 7:27 mark of the first quarter, the Hurricane went on a 12-0 run to take a 17-4 lead at the 2:25 mark on a Hadley Periman layup. Emily Benzschawel's 3-pointer snapped a 6:46 scoring drought for the Lions with 0:41 remaining in the first quarter.

Tulsa ended the first period by shooting 44-percent from the field and 50-percent from beyond the arc.

Tulsa scored only 16 second quarter points, but held a 35-15 lead at intermission, holding the Lions to the fewest first half points for an opponent through the first eight contests. The Hurricane ended the first half by shooting 42-percent from the field and holding the Lions to just 22.2 percent.

The third period saw Tulsa score over 20 points with a 23-point performance, while Lindenwood tallied 14 points, just one point less than the Lions scored through the entire first 20 minutes. Tulsa had a 21 to 17-point advantage against Lindenwood in the fourth period.

GAME NOTES
•    This was the first meeting between Tulsa and Lindenwood … it is also the first season for Lindenwood in Division I, moving up from Division II.
•    Tulsa moved to 4-0 at home with the victory.

With 19 first quarter points, this marked the first time in 4 home games that Tulsa did not reach the 20-point plateau in the first period.
Tulsa's 33 first-half points was just the 4^th time in 8 games that the Hurricane did not reach 40 points at halftime.
All nine Tulsa players that saw first-half action scored before halftime.
Jessika Evans had her second consecutive double-figure scoring game and the 10^th of her career.
Maddie Bittle tied her season-high scoring with her third game of 14 points.
Ahrray Young had her 5^th double-digit scoring game of her true freshman campaign.
Tulsa has now won by 30 or more points for the 4^th time in five home games this season.
Temira Poindexter had her first double-double of the season and the third of her 2-year career … it was her 25^th double-digit scoring game and third double-figure rebounding contest.
Freshman Hadley Periman had her first career double-digit scoring game with 11 points, going 5-of-5 from the field … she also tied her career-high with 6 rebounds.
For the 6^th time in eight games this year Tulsa pulled down 40 or more rebounds.
Today's game marked the third time this season that Tulsa has held its opponent to under 50 points.

Tulsa continues its three-game homestand with a Thursday morning contest against Prairie View A&M. The game tips off at 11 a.m. Tulsa will follow that with a Sunday game against Central Arkansas at 1 p.m.