Tulsa Women Down UAB 84-72 for 19th Win

Wednesday, February 21

Reynolds Center

6:30 PM

Tulsa

19-8,9-5AAC

UAB

18-9,9-6AAC

UAB

Tulsa

Tulsa Women Down UAB 84-72 for 19th Win

2/21/2024 9:23:00 PM | Women's Basketball

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The win moves Tulsa into a second-place tie in The American

TULSA, Okla. –– Temira Poindexter's game-high 30 points led Tulsa to an 84-72 win over UAB Wednesday night in front of 1,058 fans at the Donald W. Reynolds Center.

Tulsa improved to 19-8 overall and 9-5 in the American Athletic Conference while UAB fell to 18-9 and 9-6 in league action. Tulsa's 19 wins is the most since posting 26 victories in the 2005-06 campaign.

The win moved Tulsa into a second-place tie in The American with North Texas.

Poindexter converted 9-of-16 from the field, 5-of-8 from three-point range and 7-of-7 from the charity stripe for her fourth 30+ scoring game of the season. Delanie Crawford added a double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds while Mady Cartwright tallied 13 points and Katia Gallegos scored 11.

"Really proud of the way that our team has bounced back and came through with a win today," said Tulsa Head Coach Angie Nelp. "I thought a couple things were just huge for us. The first thing is we were so efficient offensively. You saw the way that we had great teamwork. You saw the way that we moved the ball. And you we knew it was going to be a high scoring game. When you look at UAB, they're a good team and well- coached. They play quicker on the floor and we were able to get our transition game going as well.

"Defensively, we knew we had to guard the three-point line and I felt like we did a good job of that. They did shoot some threes, but we felt like those were well contested. And then we were able to finish with rebounds. Rebounding has been a growth area for us that we've really focused on and I felt that out-rebounding them today was a big part of the success that we found."

UAB took a 15-point lead at the 7:19 mark of the second quarter before the Hurricane closed out the period by outscoring the Blazers 36-21 for a 42-41 halftime lead. Tulsa went on to outscore UAB 63-36 after trailing by 15.

Tulsa opened the second half on a 9-0 run for a 51-41 lead in the first 2:29 of the quarter. UAB got as close as three points, 53-50 on a Maddie Walsh trey. Tulsa pushed its lead to 12 points in the first 2:40 of the fourth quarter when Poindexter's three-pointer made the score 70-58 at the 7:20 mark.

The Hurricane took its largest lead at 15 points when Poindexter knocked down two free throws with 3:56 remaining in the contest.

"We had multiple players in double figures and anytime we can have that kind of balanced scoring attack, our team can be pretty dangerous. Temira ended with 30 points for what was definitely a spectacular performance by her. What I love about the scoring that she had was it was all over the floor. She shot the ball well from three, she was able to score around the rim, and she did a lot more in getting her teammates going whenever their players guarded her harder," added Nelp.

"Delanie also had a double-double today at 17 and 10. The way that we get those defensive stops is with everybody on the floor rebounding and her 10 rebounds were huge. You look at Katia Gallegos in the way that she was able to get the ball in the paint for us in the way that she hit a couple big threes and had some scores at the rim. She distributed the ball with the assists that she had. That was pretty big for our team."

Tulsa connected on 49-percent of its field goals and shot a season-high 56-percent from behind the arc and was 72.7 from the line. The Hurricane defense held the Blazers to nearly 10-percent below its season three-point percentage, limiting UAB to 7-of-25 treys for 28 percent.

HOW IT HAPPENED
IN THE FIRST QUARTER . . .
Temira Poindexter's three-pointer with just 0:13 off the clock gave Tulsa the early 3-0 lead.

Tulsa's first five field goals of the game came on three-pointers.

With the score tied 17-17 at the 2:22 mark, the Blazers outscored the Hurricane 11-2 to close out the quarter.

There were four ties and five lead changes in the first 10 minutes.

UAB hit 61% of its field goals and 60% from three-point range in the opening period, while Tulsa converted 5-of-9 for 55.5% from behind the arc, but just 1-of-8 for 12.5% from two-point range.

IN THE SECOND QUARTER . . .
UAB took the game's first double-digit lead on a quarter-opening layup to put the Blazers up 30-19.

The Blazers took its largest lead at 15 points, 36-21, on a Tracey Bershers three-pointer at the 7:19 mark of the period.

Jessika Evans three-pointer started a Tulsa run that erased the UAB double-digit lead.

Evans added another three-pointer, Elise Hill knocked down the next trey and Poindexter added a layup for an 11-0 Tulsa run that cut the UAB lead to 36-32.

Tulsa took its first lead 40-39 with 1:30 left in the half … it was the first Tulsa lead since the 3:23 mark of the opening quarter.

Tulsa closed out the quarter on a 21-5 run to take a 42-41 halftime lead.

In the quarter, the Hurricane shot 64.3% from the field (9-of-14) and 80% from three-point range (4-of-5).

IN THE THIRD QUARTER . . .
Tulsa scored the first nine points of the quarter to take a 51-41 lead at the 7:28 mark.

UAB got as close as three points, 53-50 on a Maddie Walsh trey.

Tulsa pushed its lead to 12 points in the first 2:40 of the fourth quarter when Poindexter's three-pointer made the score 70-58 at the 7:20 mark.

IN THE FOURTH QUARTER . . .
Tulsa made it a 12-point lead, 70-58, at the 7:20 mark of the period.

The Hurricane had its biggest lead of 15 points with 3:56 to play when Poindexter connected on two free throws.

Poindexter scored 10 of her game-high 30 points in the fourth quarter.

GAME NOTES
• Tulsa improved to 19-8 on the season and 9-5 in the American Athletic Conference.
• Tulsa's 19 wins is the most for a Golden Hurricane team since winning 26 games in the 2005-06 season.
• Tula trailed after the first quarter for the 8^th time this season and the second time at home, and now is 2-0 at home in those games.
• The Hurricane led at halftime for the 19^th time this season, improving to 15-4 when leading at the break.
• Tulsa had their ninth game with 10 or more three-pointers this year, tying its season-best of 14 coming against Wichita State (1/20)
• Temira Poindexter had her fourth 30+ scoring game of the season with 30 points.
• Poindexter has now scored in double-figures for the 27^th game this year and for the 72^nd time in 85 career games.
• Poindexter's 15 first-half points marked the 12^th time this season that she scored in double-figures in the first half.
• Poindexter has now scored double-digits in her last 31 games dating back to last season.
• Poindexter's had her 11^th game this year with 3 or more three-pointers made as she knocked down 5-of-8 treys.
• Junior Delanie Crawford had her 25^th double-figure scoring game of the season and the 51^st of her career with 17 point today.
• Crawford reached the 500+ point plateau this season with her eighth point of the game on a 3-pointer, joining Poindexter as the only 4^th and 5^th players (and 6^th & 7^th time) to score over 500 points in a season.
• Crawford had her team-best fourth double-double of the season with 17 points and 10 rebounds
• Freshman Madi Cartwright had her ninth double-figure scoring game of the season with 13 points and the 14^th time that she has made multiple 3-pointers.
• Senior Katia Gallegos scored 11 points for her fifth double-digit scoring game of her career, all coming this season … it was her first double-digit game since the UAPB game on Nov. 24.
• Poindexter has now tallied 1,379 career points and Crawford has scored 1,039 points in her three seasons.

Tulsa will be back at the Reynolds Center this Sunday afternoon against the South Florida Bulls in a 2 p.m. game. 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+.