Tulsa Women's Basketball Welcomes Kansas City for Christmas in Reynolds

GAME 10:
Tulsa (4-5) vs. Kansas City (3-8)
2:00 p.m. CT - Sunday, December 15, 2024
Donald W. Reynolds Center (8,355) • Tulsa, Okla.

RADIO: 93.5 FM/1300 AM The Patriot
LIVE STATS: Click Here
TV: ESPN+
GAME NOTES: Tulsa
GAME NOTES: Kansas City
AAC Release: Click Here

THE COACHES:
Tulsa: Angie Nelp (Colorado State '02), 4^th year
Career Record: 63-39
School Record: Same

Kansas City: Dionnah Jackson-Durrett (Oklahoma '05), 3^rd year
Career Record: 24-51
School Record: Same

Tulsa's Probable Starters
5          G         Delanie Crawford, 5-11, Sr-3L, Piedmont, Okla., 17.0 ppg, 5.9 rpg
7          G         Paige Bradley, 5-10, RJr-TR, Dallas, Texas, 7.6 ppg, 5.1 rpg, 1.8 apg
21        G/F      Hadley Periman, 6-2, Jr-2L, Tuttle, Okla., 4.7 ppg, 6.0 rpg
22        G         Mady Cartwright, 5-10, So-1L, Greenwood, Ark., 8.9 ppg, 5.7 rpg
24        G         Elise Hill, 5-7, So-1L, Tulsa, Okla., 10.4 ppg, 4.2 rpg, 1.6 apg

Kansas City's Probable Starters
0          G         Emani Bennett, 5-11, So, Lee's Summit, Mo., 13.4 ppg, 5.5 rpg
3          G         Alayna Contreras, 5-6, Jr, Minneapolis, Minn., 12.0 ppg, 2.4 rpg
20        F/C       Chloe Dallas, 6-3, Jr, Milwaukee, Wis., 5.0 ppg, 3.2 rpg
22        G         Ana Oliveira, 5-6, So, Porto Feliz, Brazil, 3.9 ppg, 1.7 rpg, 2.5 apg
24        G         Zaire Harrell, 5-8, Jr, St. Louis, Mo., 4.3 ppg, 4.5 rpg

Christmas in Reynolds/Teddy Bear Toss

Join the Tulsa women's basketball team for Christmas in the Donald W. Reynolds Center on Sunday at 2 p.m. as the Golden Hurricane takes on Kansas City (3-8).
Bring teddy bears or stuffed animals and be ready to toss them on the court at halftime.
All toys will be donated to the St. Francis Children's Hospital in Tulsa.
The first 500 fans to arrive at the game will receive a free Santa hat upon entry.

The Series with Kansas City

Sunday marks the 12th meeting between Tulsa and Kansas City ... TU leads the series 8-3 and is 5-1 when hosting the Roos.
Tulsa won the last three matchups and the previous two by 10 or more points.
Tulsa is 20-19 all-time against opponents from the Summit League (previously MCAA, AMCU, Mid-Continent Conference) ... the Hurricane is 8-5 when facing Summit League teams other than Oral Roberts (member from 1997-present).
The past five matchups with Kansas City:

            11/18/2017.....Tulsa, Okla.............W, 76-52
            11/11/2016.....Kansas City, Mo.....W, 80-70
            11/17/2009.....Tulsa, Okla.............W, 62-57
            12/03/2008.....Kansas City, Mo.....L, 55-61
            11/20/2005.....Tulsa, Okla.............W, 59-46

Researching the Roos

The Hurricane looks to move to 4-2 at home when it hosts the Kansas City Roos on Sunday.
The Roos are 3-8 on the year, highlighted by wins over Utah State, William Jewell and UT Dallas.
Kansas City enters the game on a three-game losing streak with a 79-49 loss at Kansas last time out.
Emani Bennett, a 5-11 guard, leads the Roos with 13.4 points and 5.5 rebounds per game and maintains a team-high seven blocks.
As a team, Kansas City steals the ball well, ranking 75th in the country for turnovers forced per game (19.73) and 79th for steals per game (10.1). Both marks lead the Summit League.

Home Court Advantage

The Hurricane has been deadly in the Donald W. Reynolds Center under fourth-year head coach Angie Nelp.
TU is 18-4 at home since the start of last season, 29-8 since 2022-23 and 37-13 since Nelp joined the program.
2024-25: TU is 3-2 at home so far this season.
2023-24: The Hurricane enjoyed their winningest home record in program history, going 15-2 under the lights of the Reynolds Center, including 2-1 in postseason play in the WBIT.
2022-23: Tulsa went 11-4 and started the home slate 9-0.
2021-22: The Hurricane enjoyed its first winning home record in three years at 8-5 under Nelp in her first season.

Fun Facts About Player Names

Tulsa is one of two teams in the country (Sacramento State) to have four players with a last name that starts with the letter "A", including Tobi Ademuwagon, Brooklyn Alexander, Kennedi Alexander and Kristol Ayson.
TU is also the only team in the country with over the half the roster having last names starting in the A-C letter range. This list includes Tobi Ademuwagon, Brooklyn Alexander, Kennedi Alexander and Kristol Ayson, Paige Bradley, Mady Cartwright, Jade Clack and Delanie Crawford.

Dynamic Crawford Scores and Boards

All-American senior guard Delanie Crawford is Tulsa's scoring and rebounding leader through the first nine games.
The multi-level scorer has reached double-figure points in all but one game, peaking with 26 points against Marshall (11/23).
She enjoyed her 18th career 20+ scoring game against Chicago State (11/27) and had 15 points last time out against San Jose State.
This season, Crawford is averaging 17.0 points off 5.8 FG, 2.4 3PT and 3.0 FT per game.
She's shooting .374 from the field (52-139), .306 in threes (22-72) and .871 at the charity stripe (27-31).
Crawford leads the AAC for field goal attempts (139), three-point attempts (72) and free throw percentage (.871), ranks second for points per game (17.0) and points (153) and fifth for threes per game (2.44).
She has also emerged as a rebounding leader for the Hurricane with a team-leading 53 boards so far. She ranks just behind teammate Hadley Periman (6.0 rpg) with 5.9 rebounds per contest.

Hill Stepping up on Offense

Sophomore guard Elise Hill has scored in double-figures in eight of her last 12 games for the Hurricane dating back to the end of last year.
She has scored exactly 12 points four times this year, 13 points against Marshall (11/23) and a season-high 18 points against Grambling (12/5).
Tulsa is 2-2 when Hill records five or more field goals in a game.
Hill called her own number in the waning seconds of the season-opener against UAPB, sinking the game-winning three-pointer with less than a second to go to seal the 63-60 win.

Tidbits on the TCU Transfer Paige Bradley

Redshirt junior Paige Bradley, an offseason transfer from TCU, has made an immediate impact for the Hurricane with eight starts in nine games played.
Bradley is third on the team in rebounds (46) and fourth for boards per contest (5.1).
She averages 7.6 points, the Hurricane's fifth-best mark.
Bradley had her first double-figure scoring game for Tulsa against Marshall (11/23). She had three with the Horned Frogs in her two active seasons (injured her junior year in 2023-24).
She also brought down a career-high 10 rebounds against Marshall (11/23), helping her achieve her first double-double.

Cartwright the Swiss Army Knife

Mady Cartwright, a sophomore guard, shines on both offense and defense for the Hurricane.
She is one of three players to start every game this season, along with Delanie Crawford and Elise Hill.
Cartwright is second in the American Athletic Conference with a .788 free throw percentage (26-33).
Cartwright had a perfect 8-8 game at the line against Marshall (11/23) for TU's 14th all-time perfect free throw game over eight attempts.
She has reached double-digits in scoring in four of the last five games.
On offense, Cartwright ranks second on the team for free throws (26) and third for points (80) and scoring average (8.9).
On the defensive end, Cartwright is second on the team for steals (1.2 for 11 steals) and total boards (51), third for rebounds per game (5.7) and fourth for blocks (4).
Cartwright had her first career double-double against San Jose State with 12 points and 10 rebounds against the Spartans.
Tulsa is 3-0 this season when Cartwright steals the ball two or more times in a game ... she peaked with four against Chicago State (11/27).

Periman on the Blocks and Boards

After missing the first two games of the season and the Chicago State game (11/27) with injury, junior guard/forward Hadley Periman is still the Hurricane's top rebounder per game with a 6.0 average.
She has 423 career rebounds with a career rate of 5.96 per game, marking the 11th-best average among all active players in the AAC.
Only two players in the league - ECU's Amiya Joyner (686) and South Florida's Carla Brito (480) have more career boards than Periman.
Periman also blocks the ball well with nine blocks on the year at a 1.5 average. She had three in two of the last three games (Creighton (12/1) and Grambling (12/5)).
She ranks eighth in program history with 90 career rejections.

Ayson Adds Veteran Experience to Tulsa

Kristol Ayson, a senior transfer from Jacksonville State and Arizona Western, has seen action in all nine games for the Hurricane, averaging 21.7 minutes per game off the bench.
She leads TU with 14 steals at 1.6 per contest.
Ayson has hit three or more assists in four games, with a season-best five assists against San Jose State (12/10).
She had a 13-point game against Oral Roberts for her first double-figure scoring game with the Hurricane.
Ayson came to Tulsa after leading Jax State with 8.1 points, 1.7 assists and 1.1 steals per game while securing 3.7 rebounds in 26.1 minutes per contest.
At Arizona Western, a junior college, she recorded three double-doubles and 34 double-digits scoring games across two seasons. She was an NJCAA All-American Honorable Mention as a sophomore after averaging 14.9 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 2.7 assists per game.

Defense Finds Ways to Slow Down Opponents

The Hurricane has excelled at turning opponents over and stealing the ball this season, ranking third in the American Athletic Conference with 83 steals at 9.22 per game, led by Kristol Ayson's 14 steals at a 1.6 average.
Tulsa has outstolen opponents 83-72 on the year.
The Hurricane is 2-2 when recording double-digits steals as a team. They peaked with 14 against Chicago State (11/27).
Tulsa is handling the ball better than its opponents through the first eight games of the season with a positive turnover margin per game (+0.7), the fifth-highest among all American Athletic Conference teams.
On the block, Tulsa is ranked fourth in the league with 3.89 blocks per game. Hadley Periman and Jade Clack lead the way in blocks with Periman averaging 1.5 blocks per game and recording three stuffs in two of the last three games while Clack has five blocks on the season.

Deadly Free Throw Shooters

Tulsa has been very effective at the line, thanks in part to The American's top two free throw shooters in Delanie Crawford and Mady Cartwright.
Crawford leads at .871 after shooting 27-31 with Cartwright right behind at 26-33 for an .788 mark.
Cartwright has had three perfect games from the stripe, including a 4-4 mark in the season-opener against Arkansas-Pine Bluff (11/6), an impressive 8-8 tally against Marshall (11/23) for Tulsa's 14th-ever perfect free throw game when making over eight free throws and another 4-4 contest against Chicago State (11/27).
Crawford had an 8-9 game against Arkansas-Pine Bluff (11/6) and a 5-5 contest against Georgia (11/21) ... she's gone 2-2 in three of the last four games.
Crawford is the only player in the league shooting above 80% in free throws after averaging 2.5 free throws made per game.
Paige Bradley is 11-14 (.786) on the year in free throws at 1.2 per contest ... she is just outside the threshold of 2.5 FT per game to be ranked in the league.
Tulsa ranks third in the conference with a team free throw mark of .698.
TU shot its 19th perfect free throw game in program history against Chicago State (11/27), going 10-10 from the line … it's TU's third time ever having a perfect free throw game with over 10 attempts (10-10 vs. Hawaii (2-27-03); 12-12 vs. Nevada (3-8-03).
The Hurricane went 10-14 in free throws in the fourth quarter to outscore the Arkansas-Pine Bluff (11/6) 15-5 in the final period to complete a 17-point comeback victory, the largest in school history.

Crawford and Periman Climbing the Career Charts

Delanie Crawford through 101 career games in four seasons with the Hurricane stars in numerous top 10 career charts in program history.
She ranks third in three-pointers made with 206 ... she has a chance to set the team record this season as she is just 16 treys behind Kara Pongonis-Paslay's (2002-06) 222 and 27 behind Kelsee Grovey's (2012-16) 233.
Crawford is also sixth for career points (1,348) and seventh for field goals made (458).
Hadley Periman has played 71 games for Tulsa as a junior. She ranks eighth in TU history with 90 blocks and needs five more to pass Kendrian Elliott's (2016-20) 94 rejections.

Improvise. Adapt. Overcome.

Tulsa hosted Grambling State for a Thursday morning game in the Reynolds Center.
The Tigers came into the game with a 13.3 steals-per-game average.
They forced 30 turnovers by the Hurricane offense. It was the most committed by TU since Dec. 12, 2009, against Oral Roberts, when TU had 30 turnovers in an overtime loss.
The Tulsa offense still managed to score 77 points and held Grambling to just 60 points for the win.
It was the first time in program history Tulsa won a game with 30 or more turnovers.
Across Division I, only Syracuse (30 TO vs. Niagara) and Evansville (35 TO vs. Southeast Missouri State) have won games this year after committing 30 or more turnovers.

Turning Around the Slow Starts

TU has recently succeeded in turning around the slow starts.
So far, Tulsa has been outscored 307-290 through nine first halves, while outscoring opponents 292-247 in second halves. Before the Grambling game (12/5), opponents were outscoring TU by 58 points in first halves.
A huge 50-15 first half against San Jose State (12/10) helped trim the gap tremendously.
Tulsa's offense has come alive early in four of the last five games, outscoring Marshall 45-43, Chicago State 42-29, Grambling State 37-31 and San Jose State 50-15 in first halves.
Quarter Breakdowns:

                                    Q1       Q2       Q3       Q4       OT       Total
            Tulsa               141      149      151      141      11        593
            Opponents      148      159      129      118      15        569

Nelp Over Halfway to Century Mark in Wins.

Tulsa's Angie Nelp won her 60th career game in her four seasons with a 63-60 win against Arkansas-Pine Bluff in the 2024-25 season opener on Nov. 6, 2024.
She is currently 63-39 six games into her fourth season.
No previous Tulsa coach had reached 50 wins in their first three seasons … only three other Tulsa head coaches won more than 60 games in their careers.

Tulsa Women's Basketball Welcomes Kansas City for Christmas in Reynolds

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Brooklyn Alexander

Kennedi Alexander

Kristol Ayson

Paige Bradley

Mady Cartwright

Jade Clack

Delanie Crawford

Elise Hill

Hadley Periman

Tulsa Women's Basketball Welcomes Kansas City for Christmas in Reynolds

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Brooklyn Alexander

Kennedi Alexander

Kristol Ayson

Paige Bradley

Mady Cartwright

Jade Clack

Delanie Crawford

Elise Hill

Hadley Periman

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