Tulsa Hosts East Carolina for AAC Opener

GAME 13:
Tulsa (6-6) vs. East Carolina (8-4)
2:00 p.m. CT - Sunday, December 29, 2024
Donald W. Reynolds Center (8,355) • Tulsa, Okla.

RADIO: 1300 AM/93.5 FM The Patriot
LIVE STATS: Click Here
TV: ESPN+
GAME NOTES: Tulsa
GAME NOTES: East Carolina

THE COACHES:
Tulsa: Angie Nelp (Colorado State '02), 4^th year
Career Record: 65-40
School Record: Same

East Carolina: Kim McNeill (Richmond '00), 6^th year
Career Record: 78-119 (59 wins vacated across three seasons at Hartford)
School Record: 78-81

Tulsa's Probable Starters
5          G         Delanie Crawford, 5-11, Sr-3L, Piedmont, Okla., 17.3 ppg, 5.6 rpg
7          G         Paige Bradley, 5-10, RJr-TR, Dallas, Texas, 7.6 ppg, 4.9 rpg, 1.4 apg
21        G/F      Hadley Periman, 6-2, Jr-2L, Tuttle, Okla., 6.2 ppg, 7.4 rpg, 1.6 apg
22        G         Mady Cartwright, 5-10, So-1L, Greenwood, Ark., 9.3 ppg, 5.0 rpg
24        G         Elise Hill, 5-7, So-1L, Tulsa, Okla., 10.0 ppg, 3.6 rpg, 2.3 apg

East Carolina's Probable Starters
00        F          Taliyah Wyche, 6-3, Sr, Fort Lauderdale, Fla., 6.1 ppg, 4.2 rpg, 1.3 apg
4          G         Synia Johnson, 5-9, Gr, Waldorf, Md., 5.2 ppg, 3.1 rpg, 3.2 apg
5          G         Jayla Hearp, 5-9, RSo, Hampton, Va., 10.6 ppg, 3.1 rpg, 1.7 apg
11        G         Khia Miller, 5-10, So, Woodbridge, Va., 8.3 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 1.7 apg
23        F          Amiya Joyner, 6-2, Jr, Farmville, N.C., 16.6 ppg, 9.5 rpg, 1.7 apg

The Series with East Carolina

Sunday marks the 31st meeting between Tulsa and East Carolina ... TU leads the series 16-14 and is 4-2 in the last six games and 8-4 when hosting the Pirates.
ECU won both of last year's matchups, including in Greenville and in the quarterfinal of the AAC Championship.
The past five matchups with ECU:

            03/11/2024.....Fort Worth, Texas........L, 71-75
            02/01/2024.....Greenville, N.C............L, 48-56
            12/30/2022.....Greenville, N.C............W, 55-47
            01/11/2022.....Tulsa, Okla...................W, 71-59
            01/30/2021.....Greenville, N.C............W, 68-59

Hosting the Pirates for AAC Opening Day

Tulsa will host East Carolina for the Hurricane's first American Athletic Conference game of the 2024-25 season.
TU is 14-14 in conference openers and 3-0 under Angie Nelp.
ECU went 8-4 in their nonconference schedule.
The Pirates were 3-4 before going on a five-game win streak to conclude nonconference play. Their win streak included wins over Elon, Hampton, Old Dominion, VCU and UNC-Wilmington.
ECU was voted to finish sixth in the AAC Preseason Coaches' Poll.
Amiya Joyner, a 6-2 forward, has earned two AAC Player of the Week awards so far this season. She leads the league with six double-doubles, ranking second for rebounds (9.5) and sixth for points (16.6) per game. Joyner was a second team preseason all-conference choice.
East Carolina sports a stingy defense, leading the conference as a group in steals (10.8) and forced turnovers (21.42) per contest.

Home Court Advantage

The Hurricane has been deadly in the Donald W. Reynolds Center under fourth-year head coach Angie Nelp.
TU is 19-4 at home since the start of last season, 30-8 since 2022-23 and 38-13 since Nelp joined the program.
2024-25: TU is 4-2 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.

Dynamic Crawford Leads the Way

It's no surprise that All-American senior guard Delanie Crawford has been one of Tulsa's most prominent scorers, rebounders and assisters.
The multi-level scorer has earned double-digit points in all but one game, peaking with 26 against Marshall (11/23) and Montana (12/20).
She enjoyed her 19th career 20+ scoring game against Montana (12/20) and had a team-high 17 points last time out against #18/16 Tennessee (12/21).
This season, Crawford is averaging 17.3 points off 6.1 FG, 2.7 3PT and 2.5 FT per game.
She's shooting .380 from the field (73-191), .308 in threes (32-104) and .882 at the charity stripe (30-34).
Crawford leads the AAC for field goal attempts (191), three-point attempts (104) and free throw percentage (.882), ranks second for points (208) and points per game (17.3) and fourth for three-pointers (32) and triples per game (2.67).
She leads Tulsa with her teammate Hadley Periman with 67 total rebounds so far, ranking behind Periman (7.4) with a 5.6 mark per game.
Crawford also has the third-most assists on the team with 25 (2.1). Only Elise Hill (27, 2.25 apg) and Kristol Ayson (28, 2.3 apg) assist more.
She earned her first AAC Weekly Honorable Mention nod after earning a double-double with 25 points and 13 rebounds vs Chicago State. She picked up her second one after averaging 21.5 point across the two West Palm Beach Classic games (Montana and Tennessee), including tying her season-high of 26 points in the win over Montana (12/20).
Crawford's led Tulsa in scoring nine times this season and paced the Hurricane in rebounds, assists and steals three times.

Hill Stepping up on Offense

Sophomore guard Elise Hill has scored in double-figures in seven of 12 games this season and in nine of her last 15 games for the Hurricane dating back to the end of her freshman season last year.
She has scored exactly 12 points four times this year, 13 points against Marshall (11/23), a season-high 18 points against Grambling (12/5) and 11 points against Kansas City (12/15).
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.
She has also recorded 5+ assists in three of the last five games.
Hill grabbed her first career AAC Weekly Honorable Mention award after she scored a team-leading 18 points, while adding five assists and six rebounds in the win over Grambling (12/5).
Hill had led Tulsa in assists four times and scoring twice.

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 nine starts in 10 games played.
She came to Tulsa with only three double-digit scoring games in her career. She already has three this season.
Bradley is third on TU in rebounds (59) and boards per contest (4.9).
She averages 7.6 points, the Hurricane's fourth-best mark.
Bradley had her first double-figure scoring game for Tulsa against Marshall (11/23) in the WBCA Showcase.
She also brought down a career-high 10 rebounds against Marshall (11/23), helping her achieve her first double-double.
The Hurricane is 5-2 when Bradley records three or more field goals.
Bradley took home her first career AAC Weekly Honorable Mention after averaging 16 points and eight boards in wins over San Jose State (12/10) and Kansas City (12/15).

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 sixth in the American Athletic Conference with a .729 free throw percentage (35-48) and 14th for defensive boards a game (4.0).
Cartwright shot a perfect 8-8 game at the line against Marshall (11/23) for TU's 14th all-time perfect free throw game of over eight attempts.
She has reached double-digit scoring in six of the last eight games.
On offense, Cartwright leads the team for free throws (35) and ranks third for points (111) and scoring average (9.3).
On the defensive end, Cartwright is second on the team for steals (1.3 for 16 steals) and third for total boards (60), rebounds per game (5.0) and fourth for blocks (4).
Cartwright had her first career double-double against San Jose State (12/10) with 12 points and 10 rebounds against the Spartans.
Tulsa is 4-0 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 with 67 boards at a 7.4 rate per game.
She has 454 career rebounds with a career rate of 6.1 per game, marking the 10th-best average among all active players in the AAC.
Only two players in the league - ECU's Amiya Joyner (723) and South Florida's Carla Brito (501) have more career boards than Periman.
Periman also blocks the ball well with 16 blocks this year at a league-high 1.78 average. She's had three blocks against four teams so far.
She ranks seventh in program history with 97 career rejections.
Periman has led Tulsa in rebounding four times.
She had a 20-point, 11-board game against Kansas City (12/15).

Ayson Adds Veteran Experience to Tulsa

Kristol Ayson, a senior transfer from Jacksonville State and Arizona Western, has seen action in all 12 games for the Hurricane, averaging 22.5 minutes per game off the bench.
She leads TU with 19 steals at 1.6 per contest.
She also leads the Hurricane in assists with 28 total for 2.3 per game.
Ayson has hit three or more assists in six games, with a season-best five assists against San Jose State (12/10).
Tulsa is 4-2 when she records three or more assists in a game.
She had a 13-point game against Oral Roberts for her first double-figure scoring game with the Hurricane.
Ayson has led TU in steals five times and assists three times this year.
She 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, Ayson 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.

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 65-40 12 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.

Defense Finds Ways to Slow Down Opponents

The Hurricane has excelled at turning opponents over and stealing the ball this season, ranking second in the American Athletic Conference with 114 steals at 9.5 per game, led by Kristol Ayson's 19 steals at a 1.6 average.
Tulsa has outstolen opponents 114-93 on the year.
The Hurricane is 3-2 when recording double-digit steals as a team. They peaked with 14 against Chicago State (11/27) and Montana (12/20). They also turned Montana over a season-high 29 times.
Tulsa is handling the ball better than its opponents through the first 12 games of the season with a positive turnover margin per game (+1.5), the fourth-highest among all AAC teams.
Opposing teams have struggled to shoot the ball against Tulsa. The Hurricane's defense is fifth in the AAC for field goal percentage defense, holding opponents to .382 shooting on the year.

Deadly Free Throw Shooters

Tulsa has been effective at the line, thanks in part to two of the AAC's top free throw shooters in Delanie Crawford and Mady Cartwright.
Crawford leads the league at .882 after shooting 30-34 with Cartwright at eighth at a 35-48 clip for a .729 mark. Cartwright has made her way to the line the most out of all TU players as she has gotten stronger at drawing fouls from the opponent.
Cartwright has had four perfect games from the stripe, including a 4-4 mark in the season-opener against Arkansas-Pine Bluff (11/6), a 2-2 clip vs. Oral Roberts (11/17), 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 a 4-4 contest against Chicago State (11/27).
She had a 6-10 contest against #18/16 Tennessee (12/21).
Crawford had an 8-9 game against Arkansas-Pine Bluff (11/6) and a 5-5 contest against Georgia (11/21).
Crawford is one of five players in the league shooting above 80% in free throws after averaging 2.5 free throws made per game.
Paige Bradley is 15-20 (.750) on the year in free throws at 1.3 per contest ... she is outside the threshold of 2.5 FT per game required to be ranked in the league.
Tulsa ranks sixth in the conference with a team free throw mark of .681.
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 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 104 career games in four seasons with the Hurricane stars in multiple top 10 career charts in program history.
She ranks third in three-pointers made with 216 ... she has a chance to set the team record this season as she is just six treys behind Kara Pongonis-Paslay's (2002-06) 222 and 17 behind Kelsee Grovey's (2012-16) 233.
Crawford is sixth for career points (1,403) and field goals made (479).
Crawford is also 10th for free throws (229) and free throw percentage (.809).
Junior Hadley Periman has played 74 games for Tulsa. She ranks seventh in TU history with 97 blocks, passing Kendrian Elliott's (2016-20) 94 rejections last time out vs. #18/16 Tennessee (12/21).

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, Kristol Ayson, Paige Bradley, Mady Cartwright, Jade Clack and Delanie Crawford.

Tulsa Hosts East Carolina for AAC Opener

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Brooklyn Alexander

Kennedi Alexander

Kristol Ayson

Paige Bradley

Mady Cartwright

Jade Clack

Delanie Crawford

Elise Hill

Hadley Periman

Tulsa Hosts East Carolina for AAC Opener

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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