Crawford’s Free Throws Complete 48-47 Comeback for the Tulsa Women

Wednesday, December 20

Makawao, Hawai’i

9:00 PM

Tulsa

10-3,0-0AAC

Southeastern Louisiana

4-7,0-0Southland

Southeastern La.

Tulsa

Photo by: Region Kinden/OSU Athletics

Crawford’s Free Throws Complete 48-47 Comeback for the Tulsa Women

12/20/2023 11:58:00 PM | Women's Basketball

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MAKAWAO, Hawai'i –– Delanie Crawford's two free throws with 1.7 seconds remaining gave Tulsa a 48-47 win over Southeastern Louisiana in the second game of the Maui Classic Wednesday night at Seabury Hall

Jalencia Pierre's driving layup put SELA ahead 47-46 with just 0:04 remaining in the game. But, time still remained for Crawford's heroics as the Tulsa junior was fouled going to the basket and calmly sank both free throws with under 0:02 left on the game clock.

Crawford ended with a game-high 20 points and also grabbed 11 rebounds for her third career double-double. Temira Poindexter added 11 points, all coming in the second half. Southeastern Louisiana was led by Taylor Bell's 15 points.

"One of the things that Southeastern Louisiana did really well was they were extremely physical with us," said Tulsa Head Coach Angie Nelp. "The game was allowed to be played that way and we did some different things to try to adapt and adjust. By the end of the game, we got it. We understood how we were going to play and what we were going to do.

"Delanie did such a great job and the focus that she had and the wherewithal to understand the time on the clock to be able to draw that foul. What an amazing play by her and then the ability to knock in those free throws to get the win. Our defense down the stretch is what allowed us to win this game."

It was a game that saw SELA control the tempo, holding Tulsa to its lowest scoring output of the season. The Hurricane led only twice in the game before a third time at the final buzzer.

Neither team was very accurate from the field as Tulsa shot just 36 percent and SELA was at 30 percent. The Lions made just 2-of-13 treys for 15 percent, while Tulsa was 6-of-28 for only 21 percent. In the final five minutes both teams were ice cold. Pierre's final layup snapped a 4:45 scoring drought for the Lions, while Tulsa failed to score a field goal in the final 4:29

Tulsa led for only 5:28 in the game with all of that coming within the final 11:42 of the contest. The Hurricane trailed until the 1:42 mark of the third quarter when Crawford's three-pointer gave the Hurricane a 38-36 lead.

Tulsa's only other lead before the final score came in the fourth period at the 4:29 mark, as the Hurricane held a 46-45 lead until Pierre's late go-ahead layup.

The first half saw Tulsa with its lowest first-half scoring output of the season as the Hurricane trailed 26-19.

HOW IT HAPPENED
IN THE FIRST QUARTER . . .
SE Louisiana jumped out to a 5-0 start in the first 1:03 of the contest, but Tulsa scored the next five points to knot the score.

The Lions held a 16-9 lead with 0:53 left in the first period.

Tulsa scored the next four points to close out the first period trailing 16-12.

For the quarter, Tulsa shot 35% from the field and was just 1-of-7 from behind the arc, while SELA connected on 44% of its field goals and 50% from three-point range.

IN THE SECOND QUARTER . . .
Tulsa scored just one field goal, a three-pointer by Delanie Crawford, in the first five-plus minutes of the quarter.

Tulsa ended the quarter making just 3-of-15 field goals.

It was a low scoring quarter for both teams, totaling just 17 points between them, as SE Louisiana held a 10-7 edge.

SELA held a 26-19 lead at halftime. It was a season-low first half scoring performance for Tulsa.

Only three Tulsa players scored in the first half, led by Crawford's 11 of Tulsa's 19 points, while Amire Brown added five points and Katia Gallegos three.

IN THE THIRD QUARTER . . .
Temira Poindexter scored her first points of the game with a three-pointer to start the second half to make the score 26-22.

SELA sored the next six points to take its largest lead of the game at 10 points, 32-22, with 7:48 left on the clock.

Tulsa went on a 10-0 run to take its first lead of the game, 38-36, at the 1:42 mark as Crawford knocked down a three-pointer.

The third quarter ended tied 38-38, as Tulsa outscored the Lions 19-12 in the period. The 19 third quarter points tied Tulsa's halftime point total.

Tulsa improved its shooting percentages in the third quarter with 41% from the field and 44% from three-point range.

After going scoreless in the first half, Poindexter scored nine third quarter points.

IN THE FOURTH QUARTER . . .
It was another quarter that saw the two teams combine for less than 20 points as Tulsa outscored SELA, 10-9.

Southeastern Louisiana made just one of its final 11 shots, while Tulsa had zero field goals in the final 4:29 of the quarter.

Other than one tie, Tulsa trailed for the first 5:11 of the quarter until a pull-up jumper by Crawford gave Tulsa a 46-45 lead.

The lead would stick until 0:04 when Jalencia Pierre's driving layup put SELA ahead 47-46.

With 1.7 seconds remaining Crawford was fouled going to the basket and calmly sank both free throws to seal the comeback victory for the Hurricane.

GAME NOTES
• Tulsa moves to 10-3 on the season
• Tulsa's seven second quarter points was the lowest scoring output in in a single quarter this season for the Hurricane.
• The Hurricane scored a season-low 19 first-half points.
• Delanie Crawford had her 11th double-figure scoring game of the season and the 37^th of her career.
• Crawford had her third double-double of her career and second of the season with 20 points and 11 rebounds.
• Crawford scored 11 of her points in the first half, while the rest of the Hurricane team scored just eight points in the period.
• Temira Poindexter had her 13^th double-figure scoring game this year and the 58^th time in her career time in 71 career games.
• Poindexter was scoreless in the first half but scored all 11 of her points in the second half, including nine in the third quarter.
• Poindexter moved into 10^th place on the school's all-time scoring chart with 1,092 career points.

Tulsa will be off until beginning American Athletic Conference play at Memphis on Dec. 30. All TU women's basketball games can be heard on 93.5 FM The Jet Radio. All home and away American Athletic Conference games can be viewed on ESPN+.