Tulsa Suffers 68-52 Setback to South Florida

Wednesday, January 10

Tampa, Fla.

6:00 PM

Tulsa

12-5,2-2AAC

South Florida

11-6,3-1AAC

Tulsa

South Fla.

Photo by: Bill Powell

Tulsa Suffers 68-52 Setback to South Florida

1/10/2024 10:24:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score GAME BOOK (PDF)SEASON STATS (PDF)

TAMPA, Fla. — The Tulsa women's basketball team began the day looking for its third American Athletic Conference win of the season but came short of the goal, falling 68-52 to the South Florida Bulls Wednesday night in Tampa. The Golden Hurricane dropped to 12-5 and 2-2 in league play, while the Bulls improved to 11-6 and 3-1 in conference action.

"I'm proud of our team's fight," said Head Coach Angie Nelp. "The scoreboard doesn't reflect how impressive their effort was. We had a poor shooting night, and it's tough to win games when the field goal percentage is where it was tonight. We also left some points at the free-throw line. I felt like in each of those runs we had, we had opportunities to turn the corner on them, and then something wouldn't go our way. We never stopped fighting defensively, and we've got to be able to grow a little bit on how we focus in on key players. We have to make sure nobody drops 35 points on us again. She's a great player who had a career night, but we can't let those career nights happen."

South Florida led wire-to-wire. The Bull's offense was highlighted by 17 team assists to go with Vittoria Blasigh's 35 points.

Leading Tulsa in scoring was Delanie Crawford, who scored half of Tulsa's points on the day with 26. She went 8-of-16 from the field, including a 4-of-10 mark from beyond the arc. She was the only TU player to record a three-pointer.

Temira Poindexter keeps her double-figure scoring streak alive with 10 points, achieving the feat in 17 consecutive games this season. She also led Tulsa with two assists.

The Bulls won the rebounding battle 44-34. Hadley Periman headed up the defensive effort with eight boards, followed by Poindexter with six rebounds, Crawford with five and Jessica Evans with four.

HOW IT HAPPENED
IN THE FIRST QUARTER . . .
Tulsa found itself in an early hole as South Florida jumped out to a 22-4 advantage, the largest lead of the day. The Hurricane went just 3-of-13 in the quarter, while the Bulls made 10 of 18 field goals.

Delanie Crawford scored six of Tulsa's 10 first-quarter points. USF led 24-10 to end the quarter.

IN THE SECOND QUARTER . . .
The Hurricane enjoyed its best performance of the game, outscoring South Florida 21-13 in the second frame. Tulsa shot 54 percent (7-13) while holding the Bulls to 27 percent (4-15). Delanie Crawford's 12 points helped push the Hurricane to within a six-point deficit at 37-31 heading into halftime.

IN THE THIRD QUARTER . . .
Tulsa was unable to keep the momentum from the second quarter as South Florida outscored the Hurricane 20-11 in the third. TU attempted just 12 shots, landing only three. USF made only one more shot but made seven baskets, including three from beyond the arc, all from Vittoria Blasigh, who totaled 15 points in the frame.

USF used a 6-0 scoring run to lead by as many as 16 points before closing out the period on top 57-42.

IN THE FOURTH QUARTER . . .
Though USF's offense slowed down to just 11 points in the final quarter, the Bulls' defense was too much to overcome as Tulsa was held to just three made field goals for a third time in a quarter. The Bulls would seal the game 68-52 at the final buzzer.

GAME NOTES
• Tulsa moves to 12-5 on the season and 2-2 in the American Athletic Conference.
• South Florida remains in control of the overall series, moving to 13-0.
• This was the first game all season where Tulsa didn't record a block.
• Sophomore Hadley Periman had a team-leading eight rebounds … it's her eighth time leading TU in boards this season.
• Junior Temira Poindexter has now scored in double-figures in all 17 games this year and for the 62^nd time in her career time in 75 career games.
• Junior Delanie Crawford had her 15^th double-figure scoring game of the season and the 41^st of her career.

Tulsa will remain on the road to face Florida Atlantic Saturday in Boca Raton, Fla., for a 2 p.m. (CT) tipoff.

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+.