Poindexter Drops 33 in Hurricane’s 78-66 Setback at Rice

Saturday, February 10

Houston, Texas

5:00 PM

Tulsa

17-7,7-4AAC

Rice

14-9,8-4AAC

Tulsa

Rice

Photo by: Dave Crenshaw

Poindexter Drops 33 in Hurricane’s 78-66 Setback at Rice

2/10/2024 8:16:00 PM | Women's Basketball

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HOUSTON, Texas — Junior Temira Poindexter had a career night for the Golden Hurricane women's basketball team, scoring half of Tulsa's points in the 78-66 loss to Rice in Houston. TU dropped to 17-7 and 7-4 in American Athletic Conference play, while the Owls rose to 14-9 and 8-4 in league action.

"This was a tough trip, and we knew it was going to be a challenge coming into it," said Head Coach Angie Nelp. "Our team fought really hard, and we've we have got to be able to grow from this game and learn to handle the physicality that was put in front of us the entire game. Went used some different scoring options that allowed us to kind of break away from that in the second half. But at the end of the day, we didn't defend the way we're capable of defending. This was a tough game for us. But I absolutely believe in this team and believe that we're going to grow from this. We're going to learn from this and we're going to be better. You look at what Temira Poindexter was able to do there at the end of the game, and she was able to give us 33 points. She did she did a great job and she did a great job of adjusting and finishing at the rim in the fourth quarter, but we've got to be able to get a little bit more production all across the board."

Poindexter also had 10 rebounds to record her second double-double of the season and seventh in her career.

Another strong performance came from Hadley Periman, who stuffed six Owl shots near the rim, a personal best for the sophomore.

Rice won the rebounding battle 40-32, led by Hailey Adams' 12 boards. Adams also tied the team-high 17 points with Jazzy Owens-Barnett, who's joined by Emily Klaczek as the third double-figure scorer for the Owls.

HOW IT HAPPENED
IN THE FIRST QUARTER . . .
Rice started the game hot on a 9-2 scoring run, including the opening basket at 9:30. The Owls led by as many as seven points at 14-7 before TU fought back and scored eight unanswered points capped off by a jump shot by Caranda Perea with five seconds on the clock to end the first period on top 15-14.

IN THE SECOND QUARTER . . .
Tulsa's lead was short-lived as Rice would take control at 19-18 and never trail again for the rest of the game. Both teams had five turnovers and eight points in the paint, but the Owls scored 13 off the bench to outscore TU 26-18 in the second quarter to lead at halftime 40-33. Amira Brown sank a three-pointer at the buzzer to cut the deficit to seven at the break.

IN THE THIRD QUARTER . . .
Both teams made five field goals, including two treys and four free throws for an even 16-16 showing in the third frame. Rice led by as much as 13 before the scoreboard read 56-49 at the buzzer.

Temira Poindexter scored eight points and pulled down four rebounds, while Hadley Periman secured three boards of her own.

IN THE FOURTH QUARTER . . .
Temira Poindexter scored 12 of Tulsa's 17 points off 5-of-10 shooting from the field and two free throws in the fourth quarter to try to fuel the comeback, but Rice's offense held fast and ran away with 22 points in the period to end the game at 78-66.

In total, Poindexter scored 20 of her 33 points and added seven rebounds in the second half to help jumpstart the Tulsa offense, but it wasn't enough as Rice evened the season series at one win apiece and remains undefeated at home against the Hurricane.

GAME NOTES
• Tulsa fell to 17-7 on the season and 7-4 in the American Athletic Conference.
• Junior Temira Poindexter had her third 30+ scoring game this season and in her career with 33 points.
• It also marked the second straight game a Tulsa player scored 30+ points as Delanie Crawford had 31 in the previous game against North Texas.
• Poindexter's three 30+ scoring games is the fourth-most in school history for a Tulsa player, behind Taleya Mayberry's (2009-13) five 30-point games.
• Poindexter moved into 7th place on the school's all-time scoring list with 1,315 points, surpassing Lila Osceola (1996-00).
• With 10 rebounds, Poindexter had her seventh career double-double and second of the season.
• Poindexter has now scored in double-figures for the 24th game this year and for the 69th time in 82 career games with 20 points.
• She now has scored double-digits in her last 28 games dating back to last season.
• Junior Delanie Crawford had her 22nd double-figure scoring game of the season and the 48th of her career with 11 points.
• Hadley Periman had a career-high 6 blocked shots and it was her fourth straight game with multiple blocks.
• With her 11 points, Crawford moved from 17th to 13th place on the school's all-time scoring chart with 978 points, and now needs 22 points to become the 13th player in school history to reach 1,000 career points.

Tulsa returns home to the Donald W. Reynolds Center to face UTSA (11-10, 5-5 AAC) on Wednesday, Feb. 14, with a tipoff time of 6:30 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+.