Tulsa’s Season Ends with 69-61 Loss to Illinois

Thursday, March 28

6:30 PM

Tulsa

25-10,13-5AAC

(4) Illinois

17-15,8-10Big Ten

Illinois

Tulsa

Photo by: Bill Powell

Tulsa’s Season Ends with 69-61 Loss to Illinois

3/28/2024 10:38:00 PM | Women's Basketball

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TULSA, Okla. –– Tulsa's season came to an end Thursday in the WBIT Quarterfinals as the Illinois captured a 69-61 win in front of a season-high crowd of 3,054 fans at the Donald W. Reynolds Center.

Tulsa ended the year with an overall 25-10 record, while the Fighting Illini moves on to the WBIT semifinals with a 17-15 mark. The 25 wins for Tulsa is the second-most in school history behind 26 victories in the 2005-06 season.

Early foul trouble handicapped the Hurricane as star players Temira Poindexter and Delanie Crawford were saddled with two fouls.

Crawford sat the final 13:53 of the first half after picking up her second personal at the 3:53 mark of the first period. Crawford was scoreless in just 6:07 of the first half while Poindexter scored just four points in 10:09 of the first 20 minutes.

Poindexter finished the game with 19 points and Crawford 17, as the duo combined for 32 of Tulsa's 37 second-half points.

The Fighting Illini had a balanced attack with four double-figure scorers, led by Genesis Bryant's 19 points, while Makira Cooks added 17. Kendall Bostic and Adelia McKenzie added 10 points apiece, while Bostic had a game-high 16 rebounds.

"I cannot say enough about this team. I cannot say enough about their heart. I cannot say enough about their fight," said Tulsa Head Coach Angie Nelp. "I want to make sure that everybody hears me on just how proud I am of our heart, how proud I am of our fight, the perseverance that we have to continue even in March. We're honored to be playing this late in March.

"We didn't shoot the ball as well as we wanted to and we got off to a little bit of a slow start. But you saw the way that we were able to continue to compete and continue to kind of turn the tide when we got down and be able to kind of fight and claw our way back," said Nelp.

The visitors jumped out to a 12-2 lead to start the game and led by nine, 18-9, after the first quarter. Tulsa got as close as seven points twice in the second period before the Illini scored the final four points to take a 35-24 halftime lead.

The Illini connected on 50-percent of its field goals and three-pointers in the first half, while Tulsa shot just 32-percent from the field and 33-percent from behind the arc through the first 20 minutes.

Tulsa would get as close as seven points in the third period three times, while Illinois' largest third quarter lead reached 15 points at 48-33 on a Gretchen Dolan layup. The Illini's lead reached 16 at the 7:55 mark of the fourth quarter, 59-43, when Makira Cook hit a three-pointer.

The Hurricane would get as close as six points on a Poindexter lay-in with 1:34 remaining on the game clock. Three-point attempts at 0:21 and 0:09 for the Hurricane missed leaving the Illini to claim the nine-point victory.

HOW IT HAPPENED
IN THE FIRST QUARTER . . .
After an opening Temira Poindexter layup in the first 0:23, the Illini went on a 12-0 run to take a 12-2 lead with 4:57 on the game clock.

Hadley Periman's layup at the 2:57 mark gave Tulsa its third and fourth points, ending a scoring drought of 6:40 for the Hurricane.

Tulsa opened the first five minutes shooting just 20-percent from the field on 1-of-6 and ended the period just 2-of-10 overall and 0-of-5 from behind the arc as Illinois took a 18-9 lead at the end of the opening quarter.

IN THE SECOND QUARTER . . .
Illinois led by double-digits for most of the second quarter with its biggest lead of 13 points at 22-9.

The Hurricane got as close as seven points twice in the final six minutes before the Illini ended the half by scoring the final four points for an 11-point halftime lead.

Tulsa converted 3-of-6 treys in the quarter as compared to just 1-of-6 in the first 10 minutes.

IN THE THIRD QUARTER . . .
Tulsa cut its deficit to seven points in the first minute of the quarter, making the score 35-28 at the 9:05 mark.

The Hurricane would trail by few as seven points two more times in the period, while the Illini led by as many as 15 at the 5:40 mark.

Crawford and Poindexter combined for 15 of Tulsa's 17 third quarter points.

IN THE FOURTH QUARTER . . .
Illinois took its largest lead of the game at 59-43 with 7:55 remaining in the contest.

Tulsa would outscore the Illini by 18 points in the final 7:18 as Elise Hill's three-pointer started Tulsa's comeback attempt.

The Hurricane got as close as six points on a Poindexter lay-in with 1:34 remaining on the game clock.

POSTGAME NOTES
• Tulsa's season ended the season at 25-10 on the season, while Illinois moved on to the WBIT semifinals with a 17-15 record.
• Tulsa fell to 5-7 in its postseason history (2-1 WBIT, 1-2 NCAA, 2-4 WNIT)
• Tulsa made double-digit three-pointers for the 15^th time this season, as the Hurricane converted on 11-of-34 treys.
• Tulsa's junior tandem of Temira Poindexter and Delanie Crawford combined for 32 of Tulsa's 37 second-half points after totaling just four points in the first half in just a combined 16:15 playing time due to foul trouble.
• Poindexter ended the season with a school record 734 points on the season.
• Poindexter scored in double-figures in all 35 games this year and for the 80^th time in 92 career games.
• Poindexter has scored double-digits in her last 39 games dating back to last season.
• With 17 points junior Delanie Crawford had her 33^rd double-figure scoring game of the season and the 59^th of her career.
• Crawford had her 28^th game this season with multiple three-pointers made and her 17^th time to connect on three or more treys, as she was 5-of-12.
• Hadley Periman had a team-high seven rebounds, marking the 19^th time this year that she led Tulsa in rebounding.