Tulsa Drops 56-48 Decision at East Carolina

Thursday, February 1

Greenville, N.C.

5:00 PM

Tulsa

16-6,6-3AAC

East Carolina

12-8,5-4AAC

Tulsa

East Carolina

Photo by: Bill Powell

Tulsa Drops 56-48 Decision at East Carolina

2/1/2024 11:19:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score Game Book (PDF)Season Stats (PDF)

GREENVILLE, N.C. –– In a tough back-and-forth contest that featured 11 lead changes and nine tie scores, the Tulsa women's basketball team would come up short in North Carolina, falling 56-48 to the East Carolina Pirates Thursday night. The Golden Hurricane dropped to 16-6 and 6-3 in American Athletic Conference action, while the Pirates improved to 12-8 and 5-4.

"Proud of our team as always," said Head Coach Angie Nelp. "There's a lot we're going to be able to take from this game learn from it, and it's going to help our team grow. It certainly stings right now a little bit coming up short in some of the areas that we knew that we needed to excel in. I didn't think I didn't think that we were our best today, but I never thought that we've quit fighting. We're fighters, and this team's heart is still unmatched even when we don't get to come out victorious like today."

Tulsa struggled in the rebounding battle, coming away with 32 total boards—seven on offense and 25 on defense—to ECU's 44 (15 offensive and 29 defensive).

Free throws were another key factor in Saturday's outcome as Tulsa made only 7-of-17 free throws for a season-low .412 percentage, while the Pirates made 13-of-17. Both teams made exactly 19 field goals with the Pirates landing two more three-pointers than the Hurricane.

Temira Poindexter scored nearly half of Tulsa's points with 23 on the day for her 27^th career 20+ scoring game and 26^th consecutive game with double-figure points. Delanie Crawford followed with 15 points, and three Hurricane scored four or fewer points to close out the night. Tulsa's bench scored only two points.

Poindexter also led the way with four assists.

East Carolina's Danae McNeal led the Pirates with 17 points with Karina Gordon closely behind with 16.

Jessika Evans and Hadley Periman led Tulsa with six rebounds, each coming away with one offensive board and five defensive rebounds.

HOW IT HAPPENED
IN THE FIRST QUARTER . . .
Temira Poindexter got things going with a step-back jump shot outside the paint to put Tulsa on the board first. Two minutes later at 6:18, Delanie Crawford hit a three-pointer to put the Hurricane up 7-3.

From there, ECU used an eight-point run to take control of the quarter at 11-7 and would finish the period on top 13-9.

Tulsa's offense chose the aggressive route to open the game as the Hurricane attempted 19 total field goals, which included 10 three-pointer attempts. TU would only come away with four made baskets, including the lone trey by Crawford.

IN THE SECOND QUARTER . . .
Tulsa's defense stepped up big-time in the second quarter, holding the Pirates to 3-of-15 shooting while the offense slowed down the aggressiveness by making 5-of-12 from the field.

Tulsa tied it up on four separate occasions in the second frame. Temira Poindexter accounted for two of these moments, knotting up the game at 15-15 and again at 18-18 to answer back a three by the Pirates with a three of her own.

With less than five seconds to go in the half, Delanie Crawford drove down the length of the court to attempt a go-ahead layup but drew a foul on the miss instead. She made her subsequent free throws to put TU ahead 22-21 at the break.

IN THE THIRD QUARTER . . .
The Hurricane repeated its 5-of-12 shooting mark from the second quarter in the third period. ECU's offense with awaken a bit in the frame, scoring 14 points to Tulsa's 12 to take the lead 35-34.

East Carolina out-rebounded Tulsa 15-4 in the third quarter. All of TU's rebounds came on defensive, while nine of the Pirates' boards were on offensive, leading to five second-chance points.

IN THE FOURTH QUARTER . . .
Four of the game's lead changes came within the final 10 minutes of regulation.

The two teams traded blows up until the 3:34 mark when free throws by ECU's Bobbi Smith put the Pirates up 44-43. From there East Carolina would never trail again as the Pirates used a 12-5 scoring run from there to run away with the game 56-48.

GAME NOTES
• Tulsa fell to 16-6 on the season and 6-3 in the American Athletic Conference.
• Tulsa trailed after the first quarter for the seventh time this year and is now 3-4 in those games.
• Tulsa led at halftime for the 15th time this year and now stands at 12-3 in those games.
• Junior Temira Poindexter scored in double-figures for the 22nd game this year and for the 67th time in 80 career games with 23 points.
• It was Poindexter's 12th 20+ scoring game of the season and 27th of her career
• Junior Delanie Crawford had her 20th double-figure scoring game of the season and the 46th of her career with 15 points.
• Tulsa shot .158 from three-point range for the third game this year shooting under .200, while Tulsa's .412 percentage from the free throw line was a season low.

Tulsa returns home to the Donald W. Reynolds Center to face North Texas (17-4, 7-2 AAC) on Sunday, Feb. 4, with a tipoff time of 2 p.m. 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+.