Tulsa Women Dominate SMU 91-73 on Senior Day

Saturday, March 2

Reynolds Center

2:00 PM

Tulsa

22-8,12-5AAC

SMU

14-14,8-9AAC

SMU

Tulsa

Photo by: BRETT ROJO, For the University o

Tulsa Women Dominate SMU 91-73 on Senior Day

3/2/2024 7:35:00 PM | Women's Basketball

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TULSA, Okla. — It was another home triumph for the Tulsa women's basketball team as the Golden Hurricane dismantled SMU 91-73 on Senior Day Saturday in front of 1,583 fans in the Donald W. Reynolds Center.

The Golden Hurricane improved to 22-8 overall and 12-5 in the American Athletic Conference while SMU fell to 14-14 and 8-9 in league action. Tulsa remains atop the standings in a tie with 12-5 North Texas while Temple plays on Sunday with an 11-5 mark.

With Saturday's win, Tulsa clinches a double-bye for The American Championship for the first time in program history and will begin the conference tournament on Monday, March 11, as a top-four seed.

"I'm really proud of this team and the way they competed today," said Head Coach Angie Nelp. "I love the way that we had great teamwork and had toughness. We shared the ball, and you see that with so many double figures in the scoring column. We had four players that even if they didn't reach double figures, you saw the balance of our offensive attack. You see that 15-2 scoring run in the third quarter and it's easy to see all the offense we got from that. But what was huge was the defensive stops from the whole team during that run. To hold them to two points really allowed us to get those scores that we wanted to get. We outrebounded them, which was a huge goal of ours today. We knew that we would, and we knew that we would have to be locked in on the defensive side of the ball and we were today."

TU honored seniors Jessika Evans, Katia Gallegos and Katelyn Levings on the court postgame. Gallegos started for the Hurricane, putting up 12 points off 5-of-6 baskets to go with a team-leading four assists, while Evans came off the bench to score 10 points and add two boards and a block. Levings contributed a pair of free throws along with an offensive rebound and was one of six Tulsa players to stuff a Mustang shot.

"We got to honor our three seniors today. It's a bittersweet day, but we're so excited to be able to honor Katia Gallegos, Jessika Evans and Katelyn Levings today. I'm really happy that our team was able to give them a win here, but I can't say enough about them. We can talk about all their contributions from a basketball standpoint. The legacy that they're leaving with our team is going to last forever.

Tulsa's offense clicked the whole game, finishing with a collective 55.4 percent shooting mark from the field, including 13-of-21 three-pointers (61.9%) along with 16-of-25 free throws made (64 percent). It's the first time since March 4, 2018, that Tulsa hit 60 percent or more in three-pointers.

Leading the way was none other than Temira Poindexter who had 21 points off an 8-of-16 clip from the field and 4-of-7 treys with Delanie Crawford close behind with 19 points coming from 7-of-12 field goals and 5-of-8 shots from beyond the arc. Gallegos (12 points) and Evans (10) were the third and fourth TU players to reach double-figures in scoring.

On defense, Tulsa won the rebounding battle 38-37 with Hadley Periman bringing down a team-high 10 boards for her fifth game of double-digit rebounds this season. Poindexter followed with nine rebounds, and together they each recorded two of Tulsa's eight blocks. Mady Cartwright was the floor leader in steals with three.

"I can't say enough about the community and the support that we have had here at the Reynolds Center," said Nelp. "Today's crowd was unbelievable. And what I love about it is that we feel the love and support. We hear them in games, and that's been so critical to our success, and we're so appreciative of that. Another thing I love about it is that you know that they're coming to see our players compete on a great team, and they're fun to watch."

From the 5:26 mark in the first quarter onward, SMU never held the lead as Tiara Young would lead the Mustangs with 22 points with TK Pitts leading with 10 rebounds.

HOW IT HAPPENED
IN THE FIRST QUARTER . . .
Delanie Crawford scored the first points of the game with an uncontested layup at 9:34.

SMU took its first and only lead of the game at 7-6 at the 5:34 mark off a three by Chantae Embry. Tulsa responded with a trey from Temira Poindexter to take back and secure the lead at 9-7.

Tulsa led by as many as seven points multiple times in the quarter, including the frame-ending score of 21-14. By the end of the quarter, Poindexter had six points and five boards while Delanie Crawford already scored seven from the field.

IN THE SECOND QUARTER . . .
The Hurricane enjoyed its biggest lead of the half (11) when Delanie Crawford drained a three-pointer to make it a 27-16 game. Both teams would score 21 points in the second quarter as the score at halftime was 42-35.

Seven different Tulsa players got on the board as Temira Poindexter (12 points) and Delanie Crawford (10 points) were already in double-digits for scoring before the break.

As a team, TU shot 50 percent from the field (16-32), 58 percent in threes (7-12) and 50 percent from the line (3-6) in the first half.

IN THE THIRD QUARTER . . .
The third quarter was all Tulsa as the Hurricane would outscore the Mustangs 30-12 in an offensive and defensive masterclass. TU made 10-of-16 shots from the floor, 4-of-7 from three-point land and 6-of-9 from the charity stripe while holding SMU to 5-of-17 baskets, two free throws and no three-pointers.

Hadley Periman was a key contributor, coming away with three offensive boards and two defensive rebounds in the quarter.

Tulsa enjoyed its biggest lead of the game at 72-45 (27-point advantage) before closing out the stanza on top 72-47.

IN THE FOURTH QUARTER . . .
16 of SMU's 26 fourth-quarter points came in the paint, while 11 of Tulsa's 19 came off the bench.

Though the Mustangs won the quarter in scoring 26-19, it wasn't enough to put a dent in Tulsa's lead as the Hurricane cruised to a 91-73 finish. Katia Gallegos and Jessika Evans each passed the 10-point mark in the quarter, finishing with 12 points and 10 points, respectively.

GAME NOTES
• Tulsa improved to 22-8 on the season and 12-5 in the American Athletic Conference.
• Tulsa finishes with a 13-1 record in the Donald W. Reynolds Center. It's the best home finish in program history.
• Tulsa remains atop the standings in the AAC in a tie with 12-5 North Texas. Temple is a half-game behind at 11-5 and will play on Sunday against East Carolina.
• The win clinches a double-bye for Tulsa. It's the first time in program history the Hurricane gets a pass to the quarterfinal of the AAC Championship.
• Tulsa's win streak extends to four with the win over SMU.
• Tulsa shot a season-high .554 field goal percentage.
• Tulsa also shot a season-high .619 three-point percentage … Tulsa's contest against Cincinnati on March 4, 2018, in the AAC tournament was the last time the Hurricane hit over 60% of its three-pointers.
• Junior Temira Poindexter scored in double-figures for the 30th game this year and for the 75th time in 88 career games.
• Poindexter's 12 first-half points marked the 15th time this season that she scored in double-figures in the first half.
• Poindexter has now scored double-digits in her last 34 games dating back to last season.
• Poindexter had her 14th game this year with 3 or more three-pointers made as she knocked down 3-of-5 treys.
• Junior Delanie Crawford had her 28th double-figure scoring game of the season and the 54th of her career with 19 points today … it was also her 21st consecutive double-digit game.
• Senior Katia Gallegos had her sixth double-figure scoring game of the year with 12 points.
• Senior Jessika Evans recorded her second double-figure scoring game and 13^th in her career with 10 points.
• Sophomore Hadley Periman had her 12th game this year with 2 or more blocks
• Periman led Tulsa in rebounding for the 16th time this season with 10 boards.
• Poindexter has now tallied 1,451 career points to rank 5th in school history and Crawford has scored 1,112 points to rank 11th on the TU scoring chart.

Tulsa will wrap up the regular season at Tulane on Tuesday, March 5, with a tipoff time of 6:00 p.m. In clinching a top-four seed, the American Athletic Conference Championship begins for Tulsa on Monday, March 11. Seedings and game times are to be determined. 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+.