Tulsa Outpaced by Creighton in 81-59 Home Setback

Sunday, December 1

Tulsa, Okla.

1:00 p.m.

Tulsa

2-5,0-0AAC

Creighton

5-2,0-0Big East

Creighton

Tulsa

Photo by: Bill Powell

Tulsa Outpaced by Creighton in 81-59 Home Setback

12/1/2024 5:13:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)Season Stats (PDF)Angie Nelp Press Conference

TULSA, Okla. — The Tulsa women's basketball team hosted a tough Creighton squad on Sunday, coming off their third consecutive appearance in the NCAA Tournament. Although there were bright spots in the Golden Hurricane's play, it wasn't enough to keep up with the Bluejays, falling 81-59 in the Donald W. Reynolds Center in front of 2,043 roaring fans. It was the season's largest home crowd thus far for the TU women.

The Golden Hurricane fell to 2-5 on the season, while the Bluejays moved to 5-2.

Three on Tulsa's offense came away with 10 or more points, led by senior Delanie Crawford's 15 points, followed by 12 from sophomore Elise Hill and 11 from true freshman Kennedi Alexander off the bench, who recorded her first career double-digit scoring game.

Hill led TU with six boards, five of which were on defense. Junior Hadley Periman started the game and bolstered the defense with three blocks to go with five rebounds.

Although the Hurricane had its second-best shooting game of the year at 39.3% percent (24-61), Creighton – who is currently receiving votes in both the AP and Coaches' national polls – had a relentless and efficient offense, finishing 44% from the field (28-63), went 41% in three-pointers (7-17) and shot 69% at the charity stripe on an 18-26 mark.

42 Creighton rebounds to Tulsa's 29 helped move the needle in the Bluejays' favor. In addition, four Creighton players finished with over 10 points including Morgan Maly (16), Lauren Jensen (15), Mallory Brake (11) and Brooke Littrell (10). Maly (17.8 ppg) and Jensen (21.5 ppg) were both held under their season averages thanks to a Tulsa defense that continues to grow and develop in every game this season.

"I'm proud of our team," Head Coach Angie Nelp said. "I'm proud of the effort that we played with today. Creighton is a really good team. They're an NCAA tournament team. They have a lot of experience on that team. They're a veteran team, and they're very well-coached. We knew we'd have a challenge with some of our nonconference games, and I was really excited to take the floor with our team today. I believe in this team and what we're doing in the process, and how we're going to continue to become the team that we can be. We see these glimpses in the game. We see these glimpses, moments where we're elite, and we're competing, and we're doing really good things. And then we have these moments where we miss a coverage, or we miss an action that we needed to get, and we just have to close those gaps between those moments."

HOW IT HAPPENED
IN THE FIRST QUARTER . . .
Tulsa started the game with the initial advantage, taking a five-point lead at 7-2 with 7:37 on the clock. It would unfortunately be the largest lead of the day for TU as Creighton took advantage of a 1-for-9 field goal shooting streak by the Hurricane, benefitting from an 8-2 scoring run that gave the Bluejays their first lead at 10-9.

From there, Creighton never trailed again, finishing out the first quarter on top 17-11. The Bluejays scored five fast break points and Morgan Maly finished with seven points in the frame.

TU's Kennedi Alexander made her first collegiate three-pointer in the opening quarter.

IN THE SECOND QUARTER . . .
Tulsa went 5-10 in field goals in the second frame and finished with 13 points, but it wasn't enough to keep up with Creighton's unrelenting offense as the Bluejays took a 35-24 lead going into halftime.

Delanie Crawford fueled the TU offense with five points to go with two boards in the period.

By halftime, Tulsa was 35.7% from the field (10-28), 27.3% in three-pointers (3-11) and 1-for-2 in free throws (50%). Creighton on the hand was shooting 46.7% in field goals, including 44.4% in threes, and 3-6 in free throws (50%).

IN THE THIRD QUARTER . . .
The halftime break failed to help turn the tides of the game as Creighton powered ahead with 32 third-quarter points, a Reynolds Center record for most points scored by an opposing team. The Bluejays made 11 free throws and went 9-14 from the field, three of which were three-pointers.

Tulsa's offense, however, saw its best quarter performance of the game with 22 points. Elise Hill got going with 10 points off 4-5 shooting from inside the arc and two of two free throws. TU also got its transition game going with nine fast break points.

IN THE FOURTH QUARTER . . .
The final period of the game was the lowest-scoring with Creighton putting up 14 points to Tulsa's 13. Kennedi Alexander led the way with six points to get herself into double-digit scoring range for the first time in her young career, finishing with 11 on the day.

Creighton had 16 rebounds in the fourth quarter and had six second-chance points, which was enough to hold off any chance of a furious comeback by the Hurricane. The Bluejays would go on to win by 22, 81-59.

GAME NOTES

Tulsa fell in the fifth all-time game against Creighton … all games have ended in the Bluejays' favor
TU moved to 1-3 all-time against Big East programs.
Despite the loss, Tulsa is still strong at home with a 28-8 record in the Donald W. Reynolds Center since 2022-23 and 36-13 under fourth-year head coach Angie Nelp.
2,043 fans in the Reynolds Center mark the highest home game attendance of the season so far.
Freshman Kennedi Alexander enjoyed her first career double-digit scoring game with 11 points.
Sophomore Elise Hill produced 12 points – her fifth game scoring in double-figures this season and eighth of her career.
Senior Delanie Crawford's team-leading 15 points marks her sixth double-digit point game and 65^th of her career.
Junior Hadley Periman led the floor with three blocks, while Hill recorded a Hurricane-high six boards while being one of seven TU players to earn a steal.
Creighton scored 32 points in the third quarter, the most in a single quarter by an opponent in the Reynolds. Center.
Delanie Crawford is now eighth in TU program history for career points (1,315), passing Lila Osceola's (1996-00) 1,301 points Sunday … she needs eight points to pass Kasie Pittman's (1996-00) 1,322 points for seventh on the all-time Hurricane chart.
Crawford ranks third for career three-pointers (201) in program history and needs 22 more to pass Kara Pongonis-Paslay's (2002-06) 222 threes.
Crawford also stands at No. 8 in the all-time field-goals-made chart for TU with 445 and needs six more to move to No. 7 and pass Kasie Pittman's (1996-00) 450 field goals.

The Hurricane will wrap up their three-game home stretch on Thursday, Dec. 5, when they host Grambling State for Education Day in the Reynolds Center at 11 a.m. The game will stream on ESPN+.