Tulsa Drops 89-68 Decision to #25 South Florida

Wednesday, January 25

Reynolds Center

4:00 pm

Tulsa

15-5,5-2AAC

South Florida

19-4,8-0AAC

South Fla.

Tulsa

Tulsa Drops 89-68 Decision to #25 South Florida

1/25/2023 6:24:00 PM | Women's Basketball

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The Tulsa women's basketball team dropped an 89-68 decision to #25 South Florida on Wednesday afternoon at the Donald W. Reynolds Center. The Golden Hurricane fell to 15-5 on the season and 5-2 in American Athletic Conference play, while South Florida moved to 19-4 overall and 8-0 in the league.

TU was led by Temira Poindexter with 17 points, while Maddie Bittle contributed 14 and Maya Mayberry added 11. Hadley Periman came off the bench and had a team-best seven rebounds.

"I felt like we when we went on the floor our was team was ready and prepared for this game," Head Coach Angie Nelp said. "I felt like we were punched pretty early with their paint scoring and their rebounding, but even when that was happening, we weren't out of it, and we were able to combat them with some different transition offense. I am always proud of our team and the fight and effort that they show. We are going to learn a lot and grow a lot from this game."

Tulsa will return to action on Saturday, January 28 against SMU beginning at 1:00 pm at the Reynolds Center.

How it Happened
South Florida jumped out to an 11-3 lead at the 6:22 mark of the first quarter as TU started out 1-of-5 from the field for just 20 percent. Maddie Bittle doubled the Golden Hurricane score as she went 3-of-3 from the line after being fouled and then came back down the court and hit a big three to pull TU to within four, 13-9, at the 5:34 mark.

The Bulls had an eight-point lead three more times, including a 21-13 advantage with 2:45 to play in the first frame, but a layup by Delanie Crawford and another three by Bittle pulled TU to within three once again (21-18). The Hurricane also trailed by three, 23-20, at the end of the quarter.

Bittle tallied 12 of TU's first quarter points, marking the second time she's had double figures by the end of the first quarter. Her other double-figure first quarter this season came against South Carolina State (11-26-22).

TU battled back and tied the game at 25-all with 8:14 on the clock in the second quarter, marking just the second tied score of the game going back to a 2-2 score. Temira Poindexter made two free throws to give Tulsa their first lead of the game at 6:19 (27-25). The two teams tied it up twice more before USF inched ahead to a 10-point lead (41-31) at the end of the first half.

South Florida started the third quarter with a 7-2 run to pull ahead by 15, 48-33, with 7:45 on the clock. The Bulls inched ahead to a 20-point advantage twice in the frame, including a 57-37 mark with 5:09 on the clock, but TU whittled away at their deficit with a 10-3 run to trail by 13 (60-47) with 1:26 to play in the quarter. USF owned a 65-49 advantage with 10 minutes to play.

The Bulls claimed a game-high 21-point lead four times in the final stanza including the final score, 89-68.

Game Notes

This was the 11th meeting between Tulsa and USF, as the Bulls improved its' series-leading record to 11-0 overall and 6-0 at the Reynolds Center.
Today's Tulsa starting lineup of Bittle, Crawford, Mayberry, Poindexter and Levings was the third time this year for this lineup … this unit has not been the starting lineup since the sixth game of the season against South Carolina State on Nov. 26 … this lineup has started only twice before – Long Beach State and South Carolina State.
Already without F Jessika Evans (6.8 ppg, 5.1 rpg) due to a season-ending injury, Tulsa was without starter G Ahrray Young (8.8 ppg, 5.2 rpg) for today's game with an injury as well.
The Hurricane suffered its first home loss of the season, falling to 9-1 on the year.
Tulsa is now 0-2 on the year against ranked opponents … the previous loss came to #22 Kansas.
Tulsa gave up 80+ points for only the third time this season, dropping to 1-2 in those games.
The loss was Tulsa's second straight loss, marking the first time the Hurricane has suffered back-to-back losses this year.
Tulsa trailed 23-20 after the first quarter, marking the fifth time Tulsa trailed after one period, but just the first home game.
Tulsa trailed at halftime for only the fifth time this season and is now 1-4 in those games.
Senior Maddie Bittle had her 13th double-figure scoring game of the season and the 40th of her career … she had 12 first-quarter points, marking the second time this year she had double-digit points in the 1st quarter.
It was Bittle's eighth straight double-digit scoring contest.
Sophomore Temira Poindexter had her 19th double-figure scoring game of the season and the 37th of her career.
It marked Poindexter's 15th straight double-digit scoring game.
Poindexter had 10 first-half points marking the sixth time this year that she scored in double-digits in the first half, and the second straight game.
Freshman Cam Mathews tied her season-high with eight points and had a season-high two three-pointers made
Senior Maya Mayberry had her 12th double-figure scoring game of the season and the 43rd of her career.
Tulsa was out-rebounded by double-digits (20) for the fourth time this season, the previous margins were 12 (@ Arkansas), 26 (@ Kansas) and 11 (@ East Carolina)