Tulsa Battles #23 South Florida, Falling 93-83 in Tampa

Wednesday, February 22

Tampa, Fla.

6:00 pm

Tulsa

16-11,6-8AAC

South Florida

25-5,14-1AAC

Tulsa

South Fla.

Tulsa Battles #23 South Florida, Falling 93-83 in Tampa

2/22/2023 8:04:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

The Tulsa women's basketball team battled against #23 South Florida on Wednesday night but dropped a 93-83 decision at the Yuengling Center in Tampa, Fla. The Golden Hurricane fell to 16-11 on the season and 6-8 in American Athletic Conference play, while the Bulls moved to 25-5 overall and 14-1 in the league.

Temira Poindexter had a team-best and season-high 25 points, while Maddie Bittle contributed a season-high 22 points and was one point shy of her career record. Delanie Crawford had 11 points, and Maya Mayberry and Katia Gallegos both had nine points. Crawford and Caroline Lyles both had a team-best five rebounds, and Crawford had four assists and three steals.

"I am super proud of this team," Head Coach Angie Nelp said. "These girls do so much and work so hard every day. They stepped on the floor and they gave it their all and that is what Tulsa basketball is all about. We came up a little short in the fourth quarter, giving them too many paint points, but this team kept coming back and I am so proud of them."

How it Happened
After trailing 4-0, Tulsa put together a 17-2 run to take an 11-point lead (17-6) with 4:34 on the clock. The Bulls outscored the Hurricane, 12-4, to close out the quarter, but TU maintained a 21-18 lead at the end of the frame.

Tulsa climbed back up to a nine-point lead, 36-27, with 4:02 on the clock in the second quarter but the Bulls went on a 15-2 run to take a 42-38 advantage into halftime.

A made free throw and and-one put South Florida up by seven, but Tulsa battled back and pulled to within one, 47-46, with 6:39 on the clock. TU made it just a one-point game four more times in the frame but trailed by four, 62-58, with 10 minutes to play.

A pair of free throws made by Poindexter and a jumper in the paint by Bittle tied the contest at 62-62 with 9:08 on the clock in the fourth quarter. The game was tied again at 67-all on a three-pointer by Bittle and then a layup by Bittle made it 69-69 with 7:37 to play.

South Florida went on a 10-0 run to take a 79-69 lead with 4:54 on the clock, climbed to a game-high 14-point lead, 89-75, with 1:17 remaining in the contest, and claimed the 10-point win.

Tulsa will return to action on Saturday, February 25 at Houston beginning at 2:00 pm in Houston.

Game Notes

Tulsa wore their red uniforms for just the second time in women's basketball history.
Tulsa scored 83 points, the most since tallying 83 against Texas Southern on December 22. This is TU's best scoring game in 14 contests.
Katia Gallegos scored a free throw at the 35.8 mark of the second quarter to score her 1,000th career point.
Temira Poindexter had four threes in the contest, marking the third time she's hit four or more this season in a game.
Temira Poindexter had 15 points at halftime, marking the eighth time this season she has tallied double figure points in the first 20 minutes.
Temira Poindexter (25), Maddie Bittle (22) and Katia Gallegos (9) all had season highs in scoring.
South Florida had a 39-30 lead in rebounds and a 25-15 advantage in assists, while Tulsa had a 6-5 edge in steals and a 3-1 lead in blocks.
Sammie Puisis had a team-best 27 points for USF, including seven three-pointers, while Dulcy Fankam Mendjiadeu added 25, Elena Tsineke had 15, Marina Asensio had 14 and Carla Brito had 10.