Tulsa Set for The American Women's Basketball Championship

Sunday, March 9

Fort Worth, Texas • Dickies Arena

2:00 p.m.

Tulsa

Charlotte

Photo by: Joshua Rogers

Tulsa Set for The American Women's Basketball Championship

3/8/2025 10:27:00 AM | Women's Basketball

Bracket Championship Central Postgame Press Conferences

GAME 31:
Tulsa (17-13, 11-7 AAC) at The American Championship
Dickies Arena (14,000) • Fort Worth, Texas
vs. No. 12 Charlotte • 2nd Round
2:00 p.m. Central • Sunday, March 9, 2025

RADIO: 1300 AM/93.5 FM The Patriot
LIVE STATS: The American StatBroadcast
TV: ESPN+
GAME NOTES: Tulsa
Championship Central: Click Here

THE COACHES:
Tulsa: Angie Nelp (Colorado State '02), 4^th year
Career Record: 76-47
School Record: Same

Charlotte: Tomekia Reed (Georgia Southwestern '03), 1^st year
Career Record: 134-74
School Record: 9-20

Tulsa's Probable Starters
2          G         Kristol Ayson, 5-8, Sr-TR, Tacoma, Wash., 7.0 ppg, 2.2 rpg, 2.3 apg
5          G         Delanie Crawford, 5-11, Sr-3L, Piedmont, Okla., 16.9 ppg, 5.7 rpg, 2.5 apg
7          G         Paige Bradley, 5-10, RJr-TR, Dallas, Texas, 7.7 ppg, 4.2 rpg, 1.7 apg
21        G/F      Hadley Periman, 6-2, Jr-2L, Tuttle, Okla., 8.7 ppg, 8.7 rpg, 2.3 apg
22        G         Mady Cartwright, 5-10, So-1L, Greenwood, Ark., 10.8 ppg, 6.0 rpg, 1.9 apg

Charlotte's Probable Starters
1          G         Jordan Peete, 5-6, Gr, St. Louis, Mo., 3.6 ppg, 1.5 rpg
2          G         Kay Kay Green, 5-6, Gr, Chicago, Ill., 6.7 ppg, 2.3 rpg, 2.9 apg
22        G/F      Caroline Thiel, 6-0, So, Rocky Mount, N.C., 2.1 ppg, 2.3 rpg
23        G         Hayleigh Breland, 5-8, Jr, Wiggins, Miss., 11.4 ppg, 4.6 rpg, 2.4 apg
31        F          Keanna Rembert, 6-2, RJr, Murphy Texas, 11.3 ppg, 2.9 rpg, 1.7 apg

Tulsa's Conference Tournament History

This is the 28th conference tournament that Tulsa will be a participant, playing in eight Western Athletic Conference tournaments (1998-2005), nine in Conference USA (2006-14) and 11th in The American (2015-present).
Tulsa has an overall 17-25 record in postseason conference tournaments and is 5-10 in The American Championship.
Tulsa has won two conference tournaments, including the 2006 C-USA Tournament at Moody Coliseum in Dallas, Texas and the 2013 C-USA Championship at the BOK Center in Tulsa.
In the 2006 tournament, Tulsa was the No. 1 seed, in the 2013 tournament Tulsa was the No. 6 seed. TU is the 5-seed entering this year's tournament.

Alexander and Crawford Earn AAC Honors

Freshman guard Kennedi Alexander and senior guard Delanie Crawford were selected to end-of-the-year American Athletic Conference awards.
Alexander was named to the All-Freshman Team, while Crawford earned unanimous First Team All-Conference honors and a share of the Ambassador Award with Rice's Malia Fisher.
In 10.6 minutes per game off the bench, Alexander averaged 3.6 points and 2.0 rebounds through 27 games played.
Crawford earned the Ambassador Award through sportsmanship, ethical behavior, fair play and integrity, and 200+ hours of community service during her time at Tulsa.
As one of three unanimous first team choices, Crawford averaged 16.9 points, 5.7 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.7 steals, earning two double-doubles and scoring in double figures in 26 contests, including 10 with over 20 points and one 30+ scoring game.

The Series with Charlotte

Sunday's potential meeting would be the sixth all-time meeting.
TU leads the series 4-1 with wins in the last four matchups.
Charlotte is the only team this year TU has surpassed 75 points against twice.
Delanie Crawford landed seven-of-10 3-pointers last time the two teams met in February. In January's contest in Tulsa, Hadley Periman was two assists shy of a triple-double, finishing with a 16/15/8 statline.
All five matchups with Charlotte:

            02/05/2025.....Charlotte, N.C.............W, 81-53
            01/08/2025.....Tulsa, Okla..................W, 76-70
            01/27/2024.....Charlotte, N.C.............W, 65-55
            03/05/2014.....Tulsa, Okla..................W, 68-57
            12/29/2006.....Jersey City, N.J...........L, 65-85

Finding Ways to Beat the 49ers

Charlotte finished the regular season with a 4-14 conference mark tied for 11th place. A tiebreaker in favor of Wichita State gave the Niners the No. 12 seed in the AAC Championship
The Niners have gone 2-6 since falling to Tulsa in February with losses in their last three showings.
Charlotte was picked to finish 11th in the AAC Coaches' Preseason poll.
Entering Sunday's contest, the Niners maintain the highest-scoring bench in the conference, who average 22.9 points per game as a unit.
Jayla Kelly is fifth in the AAC for blocks per game (1.21), while Keanna Rembert is fourth for free throw average (.800).

Looking at the Last-Place Owls from Florida Atlantic

A 3-15 conference mark earned FAU the 13-seed in the American Championship.
The Owls had lost seven in a row before ending the regular season with a 69-62 home win over Memphis on Tuesday.
FAU's only other conference wins came against East Carolina on the road (64-48) and Rice at home (66-61).
The Owls failed to exceed expectations as they were picked to finish last in the AAC preseason coaches' poll.
Florida Atlantic plays fairly clean, averaging only 13.7 fouls per game, the league's best mark.
Second Team All-Conference player Mya Perry finished the regular season ranked third in threes per game (2.57) and fifth for points per contest (15.6).

Trends Over the Last 5 Games

Tulsa won its last five games to end the regular season.
Over those last five contests, the Hurricane has led the AAC in 3-pointers made (9.4), steals (13.8) and turnover margin (+6.8).
In that span, TU also ranks second for assists (15.4) and free throw percentage (.809).
Mady Cartwright is fifth in the league for scoring (17.6) with Delanie Crawford in 13th at 14.8.
Cartwright and Crawford have taken turns leading TU in scoring, with Crawford leading in three games and Cartwright leading in two.
Cartwright has scored in double-figures in each of the last five, while Crawford surpassed 10+ points in four, peaking with two 22-point games.
Hadley Periman has come away with two or more blocks in four of the last five, peaking with 3 against Tulane (2/19) and Wichita State (3/4).
2.4 blocks per game by Periman in the last five contests leads the AAC.
Periman's stamina has been proven in the last five games, averaging 38.42 minutes per game, third in the conference.
Four Hurricane rank among the top 10 in the league for steals per game, with Crawford leading the way in second (2.8), Paige Bradley seventh (2.4), Periman ninth (2.2) and Mady Cartwright 10th (2.0).

Dynamic Crawford Can Do It All

All-American senior guard Delanie Crawford continues to be a scoring leader in the AAC with her 16.90 points-per-game mark, the fourth-best effort in the league.
The multi-level scorer has earned double-digit points in all but four games, peaking with 36 against East Carolina (12/29) in the conference opener, the most scored by an AAC player in a game this year.
She enjoyed her 26th career 20+ scoring game with 22 points at Memphis (3/1).
This season, Crawford is averaging 5.9 FG, 2.5 3PT and 2.7 FT per game.
She's shooting .374 from the field (176-470), .312 in threes (74-237) and .871 at the charity stripe (81-93) - currently the 11th-best single-season average in team history.
Crawford is also first in the AAC for field goal attempts (470), 3-point attempts (237) and free throw percentage (.871) and second for points (507) and treys (74) and fourth for points per game (16.9).
Her 237 total 3-point attempts are the fifth-most in Division I.
She has also been one of Tulsa's most prominent rebounders and assisters. Crawford is second on the team with 170 total rebounds, ranking only behind teammate Hadley Periman with a 5.7 average per game - 17th in the AAC.
Crawford also leads the team in assists with 76 (2.5 apg). Tulsa is 7-2 when she records four or more in a game and 5-1 when having five or more.
She's earned five AAC Weekly Honorable Mention nods this season. The latest came in the final awards list after earning a double-double of 16 points and 10 boards at Wichita State (3/4) in the regular season finale.
Crawford dropped 36 points on East Carolina (12/29) on a 14-20 clip from the field, 3-7 from three and 5-5 at the line, earning her second career AAC Player of the Week award and first of the season.
Crawford's led Tulsa in scoring 19 times this season and paced the Hurricane in assists 10 times, steals eight times and rebounds seven times.

Periman's Remarkable Improvement

Junior guard/forward Hadley Periman's game has grown tremendously, averaging 3.0 ppg/7.2 rpg/1.6 apg a year ago to 8.7 ppg/8.7 rpg/2.3 apg today.
Despite missing three nonconference games with injury, Periman is still the Hurricane's top rebounder with 234 boards, the league's sixth-highest total to go with the fifth-best average (8.7) this season.
She has 621 career rebounds with a career rate of 6.75 per game, marking the seventh-best average among all active players in the AAC.
Periman also blocks the ball better than everyone in the conference this season with a league-highs of 51 rejections at 1.89 per contest. She's the only AAC player with more than 40 blocks.
She ranks fifth in TU history with 132 career rejections and 10th with 621 boards, only eight rebounds behind her teammate Delanie Crawford.
Her 17 rebounds against FAU (1/15) is tied for the fourth-most in a game by an AAC player so far this season.
Periman has led TU in rebounding 20 times, all in the last 23 games. She's also led the Hurricane in blocking for 23 games this season.
She has seven double-doubles this season, including a 20-point, 11 board game against Kansas City (12/15) - her first and only career 20+ point game.
She added her 7th double-double at UAB (2/22) with 10 points and 14 boards.
Tulsa is 6-1 when Periman records a double-double.
Seven double-doubles ties for the fifth-most among all AAC players this year.
Periman was two assists shy of a triple-double against Charlotte (1/8), finishing with 16 points, 15 boards, eight assists, three assists and two blocks, leading TU in the latter four categories.
She's currently tied with Ashley Clark (7, 32 games) for the 10th-most double-doubles in the a singles season for Tulsa.
Periman's stamina has also grown, averaging 32.56 minutes per game, the league's seventh-highest benchmark.
She played all 45 minutes against UAB (2/22).

Cartwright the Swiss Army Knife

Mady Cartwright, a sophomore guard, shines on both offense and defense.
She is one of two players to start every game this season for TU (Crawford).
Cartwright is seventh in the American Athletic Conference with a .736 free throw percentage (81-110).
Cartwright shot a perfect 8-8 game at the line against Marshall (11/23) for TU's 14th all-time perfect free throw game of over eight attempts.
She has reached double-digit scoring in 15 games this season, including in the last five games.
On offense, Cartwright leads the team for free throws (81) and free throw attempts (110), ranks second for points (314) and third for scoring (10.5).
On the defensive end, Cartwright is second on the team for steals (45) and third for total boards (113) and fourth for rebounds per game (3.8).
Cartwright had her first career double-double against San Jose State (12/10) with 12 points and 10 rebounds against the Spartans.
She had her first 20+ point game against Charlotte (1/8) with 21 points.
She enjoyed her second 20+ point game in a home win over Tulane (2/19) with 23 points, a new career-high.
Tulsa is 9-4 this season when Cartwright steals the ball two or more times in a game and 9-3 when assisting on three or more field goals.

Tidbits on the TCU Transfer Paige Bradley

Redshirt junior Paige Bradley, an offseason transfer from TCU, has made an impact for the Hurricane in 25 across 26 games played.
She came to Tulsa with only three double-digit scoring games in her career. She has eight this season.
Bradley is fourth on TU for rebounds (108) and third for boards per game (4.2).
Bradley had her first double-figure scoring game for Tulsa against Marshall (11/23) in the WBCA Showcase. She also brought down a career-high 10 rebounds, helping her achieve her first career double-double.
The Hurricane is 5-2 when Bradley records five or more field goals.
Bradley earned her first career AAC Weekly Honorable Mention after averaging 16.0 points and 8.0 boards in wins over San Jose State and UMKC.
She missed four conference games for TU for a medical decision and returned to action against Charlotte (2/5).
Bradley hit a perfect 4-for-4 clip from 3-point range against ECU (2/8) for TU's fourth-ever perfect 3-point shooting game with a minimum of four attempts.
With the NCAA easing up on jersey number restrictions over the offseason, Bradley is the first Golden Hurricane to don #7 in program history.

Nelp Becomes Third-Winningest Coach in Program History

Head Coach Angie Nelp earned her 73rd win for the Golden Hurricane at UAB (2/22) in a 72-68 overtime comeback thriller, surpassing Charlene Thomas-Swinson's (2005-11) 72 wins for third on the all-time TU coach wins list.
Nelp won her 70th contest with the Hurricane in a 56-42 home win over Wichita State (2/1).
She is currently 76-47 after 30 games into her fourth season.
No previous Tulsa coach had reached 70 wins in just their fourth season.
Only three other TU head coaches won more than 70 games in their careers.
Nelp needs 16 more to pass Kathy McConnell-Miller's (1999-05) 91 wins for second.
Nelp is the only coach in program history to earn 10+ home wins in three straight seasons.

Ayson Adds Speed and Versatility

Kristol Ayson, a senior transfer from Jacksonville State and Arizona Western, has played in all 30 games with seven starts in the last eight games.
Ayson has hit three or more assists in 15 games, with a season-best of five assists against San Jose State (12/10).
Tulsa is 10-5 when she records three or more assists in a game.
She had a 13-point game against Oral Roberts, 14 points against Rice (1/25) and a season-high 15 points in her first start for the Hurricane against Charlotte (2/5).
Ayson's scored in double-figures in three of the last four games.
She's third on TU with 42 steals at 1.4 per contest.
Ayson has led TU in steals eight times, assists five times and points twice.
She came to Tulsa after leading Jax State with 8.1 points, 1.7 assists and 1.1 steals per game while securing 3.7 rebounds in 26.1 minutes per contest.
At Arizona Western, a junior college, Ayson recorded three double-doubles and 34 double-digits scoring games across two seasons. She was an NJCAA All-American Honorable Mention as a sophomore.

Rolling Hill Continues to Succeed on the Floor

Sophomore guard Elise Hill has scored in double-figures in 13 of 22 games played this season and in 15 of her last 25 games for the Hurricane dating back to the end of her freshman season last year.
She has scored 10 points once this year, 12 points on four occasions, 13 points against Marshall (11/23), 14 against Memphis (1/25), 15 against the league's toughest defense in UTSA (1/4), 16 against FAU (1/15), 18 against Grambling (12/5), 20 at home against Wichita State (2/1) and a career-best 22 at North Texas (1/1).
Hill called her own number in the waning seconds of the season-opener against UAPB, sinking the game-winning 3-pointer with less than a second to go to seal the 63-60 win.
She went 8-of-14 with six treys for 22 points vs. UNT. It was the seventh-most threes in a game by a TU player.
Hill had another strong 3-point game against Wichita State (2/1), going 5-13 from deep.
She has also recorded 5+ assists four times this year.
Hill also thrives on defense, using her quickness and speed to steal the ball 31 times this season.
Hill stole the ball from ECU (12/29) eight times for Tulsa's second-highest effort in team history, spanning both nonconference and conference play.
She grabbed her first career AAC Weekly Honorable Mention award after she scored a team-leading 18 points with five assists and six rebounds in the win over Grambling (12/5).
Hill has led Tulsa in steals seven times and points and assists six times.
She's missed the last eight games for a medical decision.

We Share Because We Care

Tulsa has been a top three assisting team in the AAC since the Temple game.
Currently, the Hurricane is first in the league for assists per game at 14.7 with no single player averaging more than 2.5 per contest.
TU has assisted 441 of 727 field goals this season at a rate of 61%.
Tulsa has six games with 20+ assists and 10 games with 18+ assists.
The Hurricane's 25 assists against Kansas City (12/15) is the most by an AAC team in a single game.
Tulsa is 5-1 when recording 20 or more assists.

Get Used to the Hurricane 3-Ball

TU has been one of the best 3-point shooting teams in the AAC all season.
Although the Hurricane is seventh with a .313 3-point average, Tulsa shoots the deep often, earning the second-most made triples in the league per game at 8.33.
Tulsa has averaged 9.4 team threes per game in the last five games.
The Hurricane has reached 10 or more treys in a game 11 times this season, going 8-3 in such contests.
TU reached a season-high 13 made threes in a road loss at Temple (1/11) and recorded a season-high 38 3-point attempts at Memphis (3/1).
Delanie Crawford is one of five AAC players this season to reach seven made triples in a single game (vs. Charlotte). Elise Hill had six at North Texas (1/1).