Tulsa Women Fall 67-56 in Mayor’s Cup Battle with ORU

Sunday, November 17

Tulsa, Okla.

2:00 p.m.

Tulsa

1-2,0-0AAC

Oral Roberts

3-1,0-0Summit League

Oral Roberts

Tulsa

Photo by: Joshua Rogers

Tulsa Women Fall 67-56 in Mayor’s Cup Battle with ORU

11/17/2024 6:23:00 PM | Women's Basketball

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TULSA, Okla. — The Tulsa women's basketball team hosted the 47^th Mayor's Cup game at the Donald W. Reynolds Center Sunday afternoon and fell in a 67-56 decision to cross-town rival Oral Roberts (3-1). The Golden Hurricane dropped to a 1-2 mark on the young season.

Tulsa had three reach double-figures in scoring, including senior Delanie Crawford (13), senior Kristol Ayson (13) and sophomore Elise Hill (12). Sophomore Jade Clack finished as the TU leader in rebounds with nine boards with sophomore Mady Cartwright following with seven.

Poor shooting that led to a slow start was a decisive piece of the game for TU as the Hurricane finished 28.3% from the field (17-60) and 21.4% from beyond the arc (6-28) while making 80% of its free throws (16-20) on a day where the ball seemingly never wanted to fall through the net when good shots were taken.

Although ORU also didn't shoot the deep ball particularly well either on a 6-of-28 clip (21.4%), the Golden Eagles still finished with just over 35% of its field goals made (26-73).

The slow start for the Hurricane came after earning its first and only lead early, 6-1, to start the game. Oral Roberts clawed back to take the lead at 8-6 with 5:08 left in the first quarter and never trailed again, leading TU for 35 minutes and 20 seconds through the end of the game.

Rebounds were another key issue as Oral Roberts played aggressively in the board battle to out-rebound Tulsa 55 to 41. The Golden Eagles benefitted from 24 offensive boards that led to 23 second-chance points.

Despite trailing 32-17 at halftime and by as much as 19 points in the third quarter, Tulsa was able to fight back a bit by outscoring the Golden Eagles 39-35 in the second half to cut ORU's lead to 11 when time expired.

"I'm always proud of our team and the way that we fight and play whenever we're in between the lines," Head Coach Angie Nelp said. "Felt like it was a little too late, but I thought it certainly showed our heart and our fight in this game. We're still finding our rhythm on offense, and defensively giving up 24 offensive rebounds, it's going to be pretty tough. I feel like we made up for it in other areas of the game. Turned it over a little more than we'd like with unforced turnovers as well. Here's the thing, we're going to get in the gym and we're going to continue to learn, grow and work and that's what we're going be about. I do believe in this team. I believe in the team we're becoming in the process."

Oral Roberts' Ruthie Udoumoh, a graduate forward, led the Golden Eagles with 19 points and 16 rebounds, including 10 offensive boards. Makyra Tramble (16 points) and Jalei Oglesby (12 points) each scored in double-digits with Oglesby finishing as ORU's second double-double player with 13 rebounds.

HOW IT HAPPENED
IN THE FIRST QUARTER . . .
ORU scored first with a free throw from Emily Robinson. Then, Tulsa jumped out to a 6-1 advantage off consecutive three-pointers by Delanie Crawford.

Oral Roberts would then take advantage of poor Hurricane passing and score nine points off turnovers to go ahead 11-6 at 4:59. It was a 12-2 scoring run for the Golden Eagles as TU turned the ball over and was held scoreless in a 4:22 span until Kristol Ayson drove to the basket for a tough layup.

Tulsa's defense started forcing missed shots for ORU as the Golden Eagles then went 0-for-5 in their next five attempts, scoring only off free throws in over 3:30 until Jalei Oglesby sank a jumper with 51 seconds left to make the score 15-10 ORU at the end of the first quarter.

TU got into foul trouble early with seven fouls in the first frame. The Hurricane went 4-of-12 for 33.3% from the field while the Golden Eagles shot 5-of-19 for 26.5%.

IN THE SECOND QUARTER . . .
The Hurricane was held to one point in the first 6:40 of the second quarter as ORU benefitting from a 12-0 run to go up 28-11 before TU called a timeout.

Elise Hill snapped the drought with Tulsa's first basket of the quarter at 0:57 with a three-pointer. ORU led 32-17 going into halftime.

By the half, Tulsa was shooting 6-of-27 (22.2%) from the field, 3-of-12 made three-pointers (25%) and 2-for-4 in free throws (50%). Oral Roberts was 12-of-38 in field goals, including 3-of-16 threes, and 5-of-12 from the line (41.7%).

IN THE THIRD QUARTER . . .
It was another slow start to a quarter for Tulsa. Jade Clack stepped inside the arc and drained the Hurricane's first bucket at 7:18 to make it a 35-20 game.

Tulsa scored in back-to-back possessions when Hadley Periman recorded a layup and Delanie Crawford knocked away a deep three to trim the deficit down to 15 at 39-24 with 5:23 left in the quarter.

Mady Cartwright got on the board when she found a lane and drove to the basket for a layup at 3:24. She then drew a foul and swished the subsequent free throws.

The score was 51-36 in favor of the Golden Eagles heading into the final quarter.

IN THE FOURTH QUARTER . . .
Delanie Crawford and Elise Hill were responsible for Tulsa's first seven points of the fourth quarter resulting from two free throws from Crawford and a pair of made jumpers from Hill. ORU continued to put up points, however, scoring eight off layups in the first four minutes of the frame.

Oral Roberts continued to score and answer back each of Tulsa's attempts to get a scoring run going. Even though Tulsa had a 9-1 scoring run to close out the game, it wasn't enough to bring home the Mayor's Cup.

The second half went much better for the Hurricane as TU made 33.3% of its field goals (11-33), including 18.8% in three-pointers (3-16) and 87.5% of its free throws (14-16). The Golden Eagles' offense could not be slowed down as they made 40% of their baskets (14-35), 14.3% of their threes and 42.9% of their points from the charity stripe.

GAME NOTES

The 47^th Mayor's Cup ended in favor of Oral Roberts … the overall series moves to 35-12 ORU.
Oral Roberts wins the Mayor's Cup in back-to-back years for the first time since 2017 and 2018.
Senior Delanie Crawford notched her second double-figure scoring game of the season and 61^st of her career with a team-leading 13 points.
Sophomore Elise Hill recorded her third double-digit scoring contest of the year and sixth of her career with 12 points.
Hill has now scored over 10 points in a game in the last three contests and five of her last six games for TU dating back to last season's WBIT wins over Arkansas and Georgetown.
Senior Kristol Ayson had a season-high 13 points, tying a team-leading effort with Delanie Crawford.
Ayson's 13 points is her first double-figure scoring game in her time with the Hurricane, her 11^th of her NCAA career and the 45^th when counting games played at NJCAA program Arizona Western
Senior Delanie Crawford's 13 points moves her to 1,235 career points, ranking ninth on the all-time TU scoring chart ‚ she needs 80 points to pass Lila Osceola's (1996-00) 1,301 points.
A poor start in the first half doomed Tulsa as the Hurricane was outscored 32-17 … it's the first time since last season against Southeastern Louisiana (Dec. 20, 2023) that TU was held under 20 points in a half.
Returning junior Hadley Periman made her first appearance this season after missing the first two games with injury.
TU was outrebounded by 14 boards, 55-41
9-22 free throw shooting (40.9%) for the Hurricane proved to be one of the biggest difference makers in the game.
Sunday was the first time this season the Hurricane lost the turnover battle, giving it up 22 times to ORU's 17 turnovers … Tulsa had kept turnovers under 20 since the loss at Wichita State on Feb. 17, 2024 last season (also 22 turnovers).
Shooting accuracy was another issue for TU as the Hurricane went 17-60 from the field and 6-28 in threes … ORU also struggled shooting the deep ball with 4-of-23 three-pointers but finished 35.6% overall from the field (26-73).
Tulsa's 1-2 overall record is the first time fourth-year head coach Angie Nelp has ever had a losing record.

Next up for the Hurricane is the WBCA Showcase at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex at Walt Disney World in the Orlando, Fla. area, where TU will face Georgia (3-2) Thursday, Nov. 21 at 4 p.m. Central and Marshall (1-2) Saturday, Nov. 23, at 11 a.m. CT. Fans can watch both games live on the NBC Sports FAST Channel or Peacock.