Tulsa Moves to 4-0 in The American With 70-68 Win over Houston

Saturday, January 14

Reynolds Center

1:00 pm

Tulsa

14-3,4-0AAC

Houston

6-11,3-1AAC

Houston

Tulsa

Photo by: Bill Powell

Tulsa Moves to 4-0 in The American With 70-68 Win over Houston

1/14/2023 4:06:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

GAME STATS I SEASON STATS I POST-GAME INTERVIEW

TULSA, Okla. –– Tulsa held off the Houston Cougars comeback bid for a 70-68 victory Saturday afternoon in front of 1,256 fans at the Donald W. Reynolds Center to improve to 14-3 overall.

Tulsa moved to 4-0 in American Athletic Conference play in a match-up that pitted two of the three undefeated teams in the league. Houston fell to 6-11 overall and suffered its first league loss to drop to 3-1.

The 3-0 South Florida Bulls host Tulane later tonight.

This marked the first time in nine years as a league member that Tulsa began the conference season 4-0. The previous best start to league play in the AAC was 3-0 in the 2018-19 season.

Temira Poindexter's 22 points led three Tulsa players in double-figures, as Maddie Bittle added 18 points and Delanie Crawford 16. Houston also had three double-digit scorers with Bria Patterson leading the way with 17 points.

"There are no easy games in our conference as we play in such a competitive league. Houston is a very good and talented team. We knew that in order to come away with a victory we'd have to do a lot of things really well," said Tulsa head coach Angie Nelp.

"I was really pleased with our players and how they withstood the tests we went through in this game. We did what we had to do to win. We stayed together and were unbreakable. I was just really proud of our players. We had some players step up huge from a scoring standpoint and some from a rebounding standpoint and that was the difference in the game."

Houston put up 20 more field goals than the Hurricane, making 30-of-77 shots as Tulsa converted 24-of-57 from the field. It was free throw shooting that put Tulsa in position for its school record ninth straight home win, as the Hurricane made 17-of-20 freebies, compared to just 3-of-4 for the Cougars.

Tulsa had strong first and third quarters, jumping out to a 28-15 lead after one period and outscoring Houston 22-16 in the third period. The Hurricane was outscored in the second 19-14, but still held a 42-34 lead at intermission, while the Cougars had an 18-6 advantage in the final quarter.

Houston chipped away at Tulsa's 12-point lead after three quarters for the final two-point margin. Tulsa wasn't in the bonus until the final 0:03 on the clock as Poindexter's two free throws gave Tulsa a five-point cushion before Laila Blair's trey with 0:01 on the clock made the final score 70-68.

HOW IT HAPPENED
After trailing 2-0, Tulsa went on a 9-0 run to take a 9-2 lead before Houston's next basket. The Cougars responded with a 9-2 run of their own to make the score 14-11 with 4:11 remaining in the first quarter.

Tulsa ended the first quarter with its third-most points in the first period with a 28-15 lead.

Houston tightened the score in the second quarter, cutting a 15-point deficit at 30-15 to three points at 33-30 at the 4:18 mark. The three points was as close as the Cougars would get in the second quarter as the Hurricane would expand its lead to 10, 42-32, before ending the first half with a 42-34 lead.

Tulsa opened the second half on a 12-4 run to take a 54-38 lead at the 5:54 mark of the third quarter. The Cougars responded on a 5-0 run to cut its deficit to 11 points at 54-43 with 4:17 left on the third-period clock, but Tulsa responded with a 10-7 run to close out the third quarter ahead 64-50.

Houston cut its 14-point third-quarter deficit to five points, 64-59, by starting the final stanza on a 9-0 run as Tulsa missed its first six field goals until a Bittle layup at the 7:01 mark.

The Cougars made a valiant come-from-behind bid in the fourth quarter by outscoring the Hurricane 18-6. Tulsa made just 2-of-14 field goals in the final period, while the visitors made 7-of-17 from the field and hit two of its five three-pointers for the game in the final stanza.

GAME NOTES
•    This was the 32^nd meeting between Tulsa and Houston … Tulsa improved to 19-13 in the series.
•    Tulsa's starting lineup of Bittle, Crawford, Mayberry, Poindexter and Young has started for the last 6 games and now has a record of 6-0 with that starting lineup.
•    This marked the first time in nine years as a league member that Tulsa began the conference season 4-0.
•     The Hurricane is 9-0 at home this season for the first time in school history … the previous best was 7-0 in the 2004-05 season.
•     Tulsa has won its last 10 home games dating back to last season's finale which ties the school record (the first time Tulsa won 10 straight was Jan. 29, 2005 to Jan. 1, 2006)
•    Tulsa led at halftime for the 14^th time this season.
•    Tulsa's 6 points in the 4^th quarter tied the lowest this season as Tulsa also scored only 6 points in the 1^st quarter against Long Beach State.
•    Temira Poindexter had her 16^th double-figure scoring game of the season and the 33^rd of her career.
•    It marked Poindexter's 12^th straight double-digit scoring game.
•    Poindexter had 14 first-half points, marking the 4^th time this year that she had scored double-digits in the first half.
•    Delanie Crawford had her 11^th double-digit scoring game of the season and 19^th of her career.
•    Maddie Bittle had her 10^th double-figure scoring game of the season and the 36^th of her career … it was her 5^th straight double-digit scoring contest.

The Hurricane will be on a two-game road swing, playing at Temple on Tuesday with a 6 p.m. (CT) start time, and then next Saturday for a 2 p.m. (CT) game in New Orleans against the Tulane Green Wave.

Tulsa will be back at the Reynolds Center for a ESPNU televised game against South Florida on Wednesday, Jan. 25 for a 4 p.m. tip time.