Tulsa Women Move into First-Place Tie with 79-74 Win over North Texas

Sunday, February 4

Reynolds Center

2:00 PM

Tulsa

17-6,7-3AAC

North Texas

17-5,7-3AAC

North Texas

Tulsa

Photo by: Dave Crenshaw

Tulsa Women Move into First-Place Tie with 79-74 Win over North Texas

2/4/2024 5:38:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score GAME BOOK (PDF)TULSA POSTGAME PRESS CONFERENCE SEASON STATS Photo Gallery

TULSA, Okla. –– Delanie Crawford scored a game-high 31 points in leading Tulsa (17-6, 7-3 AAC) to a 79-74 come-from-behind victory over North Texas (17-5, 7-3 AAC) in front of 1,792 fans Sunday afternoon at the Donald W. Reynolds Center.

The win moved Tulsa into a three-way tie for first place with North Texas and UAB (16-6, 7-3 AAC).

Crawford connected on 11-of-26 from the field, 4-of-10 from three-point range and 5-of-6 from the free throw line for her second 30+ scoring game of the season and added a game-high seven assists. Crawford scored 14 fourth quarter points, including 10 in the final 2:30, as Tulsa overcame a 10-point deficit in the final period.

Temira Poindexter added 20 points, while Crawford, Poindexter and Hadley Periman each shared the lead for rebounds with six apiece. Katia Gallegos, who returned to the Tulsa lineup after missing the last nine games with an injury, scored seven points, all in the fourth quarter, and added two assists in 13 minutes of play.

"What a great game," said Head Coach Angie Nelp. "We knew coming in that it was going to be a really challenging opponent, and I cannot say enough about our team's hearts and our toughness down the stretch. You were able to see us fight for each other and just do really whatever it took to win the game. I'm telling you it was such a team effort."

It was a strong first half for the Hurricane, scoring 22 points in each of the first two quarters to take a 44-37 lead into halftime, behind 16 points from Crawford and 11 from Poindexter. North Texas rebounded to outscore the Hurricane 16-8 in the third period to take a 53-52 lead heading into the final 10 minutes.

North Texas went on a 14-5 run for the first 4:57 minutes of the fourth quarter for a 67-57 lead with 5:03 remaining in the contest. Gallegos' driving layup at the 4:36 mark began Tulsa's comeback. Two Poindexter free throws and three-pointers from Crawford and Gallegos knotted the score at 69 with 2:09 left.

The score was again tied at 71 on DesiRay Kernal's first of two made free throws that gave UNT a one-point lead, 72-71, with 1:06 to play. Tulsa's Crawford knocked down a three-pointer for a 74-72 lead with 0:51 on the clock.

The Hurricane closed out the game by making 5-of-6 free throws in the final 0:16 to claim the five-point victory.

"We hit big buckets down the stretch coming from key assists from our players. I really can't say enough about this team and the teamwork that they have in the way that they play together. I felt down the stretch, also, it was really our defense that came through to be able to hold them the last five minutes to just seven points. Then, we had to finish those possessions with rebounds. I mean Delanie Crawford had an exceptional night. Temira Poindexter had an exceptional night as well. And Katia Gallegos came in off the bench and what she was able to give us with the minutes that she played was huge. I'm really excited about our team effort and the way that we won this game."

For the game, North Texas dominated the paint 42-to-24, but the Hurricane knocked down 13 three-pointers to just five for the Mean Green.

HOW IT HAPPENED
IN THE FIRST QUARTER . . .
North Texas jumped out to a 6-2 lead before Tulsa scored the next five points to take a 7-6 lead.

Tulsa jumped out to a 6-point lead at 17-11 before the Mean Green went on an 8-0 run for a 19-17 lead at the 2:03 mark.

The period ended with the teams tied 22-22.

North Texas converted 50 percent from the field on 10-of-20, while Tulsa shot just 33 percent, but made 4-of-12 treys to UNT's one made three-pointer.

IN THE SECOND QUARTER . . .
Temira Poindexter's three-pointer began the second quarter scoring for a 25-22 Tulsa lead.

Tulsa took an eight-point lead at 41-33 on back-to-back three pointers by Caranda Perea and Mady Cartwright and a layup by Delanie Crawford.

In the quarter, Tulsa shot 50-percent from the field on 9-of-18 and made 4-of-10 from three-point range. UNT connected on 46-percent overall and was 2-of-4 from behind the arc.

The Hurricane went into the half ahead by seven points, 44-37, after Cartwright knocked down another three-pointer with 0:44 on the clock.

At the half, Crawford had 16 points to lead Tulsa, while Poindexter added 11 points. UNT's Tommisha Lampkin's 14 led the Mean Green.

IN THE THIRD QUARTER . . .
Tulsa took its largest lead of the game at 11 points, 50-39, at the 8:42 mark.

UNT used a 6-0 run to cut its deficit to five points at 50-45 at the 7:15 mark.

Poindexter's layup pushed Tulsa's lead back to seven points at 52-45 at the 4:42 mark, but the Mean Green scored the next eight points to take a 53-52 lead going into the final quarter.

Tulsa scored just two points in the final eight minutes of the game and was scoreless for the final 4:41.

UNT outscored Tulsa 16-8 in the quarter.

IN THE FOURTH QUARTER . . .
Three Crawford free throws and a layup put Tulsa back up on top at the 9:33 mark of the period by a score of 57-53.

North Texas went on a 14-5 run for the first 4:57 of the fourth quarter for a 67-57 lead with 5:03 remaining in the contest.

A driving layup by Katia Gallegos, two Poindexter free throws and three-pointers from Crawford and Gallegos knotted the score at 69 with 2:09 left.

Tulsa outscored the Mean Green 10-5 in the final two minutes for the 79-74 win.

GAME NOTES
• Tulsa improved to 17-6 on the season and 7-3 in the American Athletic Conference.
• The Hurricane improved its series record against North Texas to 9-1.
• Tulsa was tied after the first quarter (21-21) for just the third time this season.
• Tulsa led at halftime for the 16^th time this year and now stands at 13-3 in those games.
• Tulsa came back from 4^th quarter deficit for the fourth time this season and 12^th game in which the Hurricane trailed at one point in the game.
• Tulsa had double-figure 3-pointers made for the seventh time this year, and the 13 made today ties for second-most this year.
• Juniors Temira Poindexter and Delanie Crawford have now combined for double-figure scoring contests in the same game 21 times this year, each scoring 20+ points in the game.
• Tulsa is now 7-0 on the season when two players score 20+ points in the same game and 6-0 when those two players are Crawford and Poindexter.
• Poindexter scored in double-figures for the 23^rd game this year and for the 68^th time in 81 career games with 20 points.
• She now has scored double-digits in her last 27 games dating back to last season.
• Crawford had her 21^st double-figure scoring game of the season and the 47^th of her career with 31 points.
• The 31 points is her second highest point total, second to her 35 scored in the season opener at Lindenwood, and it is her 11^th game this year with 20 or more points
• Crawford's 31 points is the fourth 30+ scoring game of the season for a Tulsa player.
• It was Poindexter's 13^th 20+ scoring game of the season and 27^th of her career.
• Hadley Periman had her third straight game with multiple blocked shots with three blocks.
• Crawford has moved into 17^th place on the school's all-time scoring chart with 967 points, needing 33 points to become the 13^th player in school history to reach 1,000 career points.

Tulsa travels to Houston next Saturday for return game against the Rice Owls with tipoff scheduled for 5:30 pm (CT). Tulsa won the earlier match this season at home. 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+.