Tilly Boler led the Tigers with 25 points. Two other Tigers scored in double-figures while Alasia Smith produced 11 rebounds. photo by Don Mooney
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — The Tulsa women’s basketball team escaped a high-octane battle at Memphis Saturday, prevailing 81-79 off the backs of four double-figure scorers. The Golden Hurricane’s fourth straight win moves them to 16-13 overall and 10-7 in American Athletic Conference action, while dropping Memphis to 7-21 and 5-12 in league play. A win at Wichita State on Tuesday, March 4, will secure TU the No. 5 seed at the AAC Championship in Fort Worth, Texas (March 8-12).
Tulsa leading scorer senior guard Delanie Crawford lays up two of her game-high 22pts. photo by Don Mooney
Leading the way was none other than senior Delanie Crawford, who finished with 22 points off 8-of-19 shooting from the field. Joining her in double-digit scoring territory was Sophomore Mady Cartwright (19), junior Hadley Periman (18) and senior Kristol Ayson (10).
Periman coordinated the TU offense with a career-high nine assists, setting up six of her teammates for scores. She also led the Hurricane with six boards and two blocks. Redshirt junior Paige Bradley helped boost the defense with a floor-high four steals.
A strong 30-21 second quarter by the Hurricane put Tulsa in a strong position at the half, 45-37. Tulsa had its biggest lead of the game at 6:56 in the fourth quarter, but saw Memphis fight back with a strong rebounding game, finishing with 50 on the day compared to Tulsa’s 33. Despite a one-point difference at multiple points late in the fourth quarter, TU never gave up the lead, kept their composure and closed a thrilling ending.
Tamya Smith scoring 2 of her game total 19 pts against Tulsa. photo by Don Mooney
“No road games are easy,” Head Coach Angie Nelp said. “No home games are easy either. There’s such great competitiveness in our league. We knew today would be a hard-fought game and wouldn’t have expected it any other way. Just so proud of our team’s effort. Road games are never easy, especially this one. There were some things that didn’t go our way. We didn’t do a great job on the boards and there were some things defensively that we needed to do a little better, but this team’s fight and heart and everything they did down the stretch to stay with things and stay together was so impressive.”
Jersey retirement ceremony at halftime honoring former Tiger lengend and WNBA all-star Tamika Whitmore. photo by Don Mooney
Memphis jumped ahead 8-4 to start the game. Their start was due in part to Tilly Bolers 2 made 3-pointers in the first two minutes. Then, Tulsa utilized an 11-0 scoring to launch ahead 15-8. Points came from four different Hurricane in that stretch. For the remaining 3:42 of the quarter, the Tigers enjoyed a scoring run of their own, closing out the first period on top 16-15. Tulsa finished the quarter 35.3 percent from the field with 10 points off turnovers, while Memphis shot 37.5% in the frame and outrebounded the Hurricane 13-8.
Along with grabbing 11 total bounds Senior forward Alasia Smith drives the paint against Tulsa defense. photo by Don Mooney
Tulsa put on an offensive clinic in the second quarter, scoring 30 points. Delanie Crawford and Hadley Periman each scored eight points and combined for five assists with Kristol Ayson following with seven points. As a unit, the Hurricane shot 57.9% from the field (11-19) and 44.4% from deep. Memphis’ 21 points came from just three players. The Hurricane forced four Tiger turnovers, leading to fast break scores for Tulsa. When the half ended, TU led 45-37.
At the half, TU was 47.2% from the field (17-36), including 33.3% from 3-point land (6-18), 83.3% from the line (5-6), while Memphis was 41.9% in field goal shooting (13-31), 37.5% in threes (3-8) and 88.9% from the charity stripe (8-9).
Redshirt sophmore Tanyuel Welch sizing up Tulsa defense scored 16 pts in afternoon lost. photo by Don Mooney
The third quarter was high-scoring and tight between the two teams, with Memphis edging out Tulsa 25-23. Mady Cartwright scored 10 points in the frame and Hadley Periman came away with 3 assists. Although Memphis brought the score to within a point at 56-55, Tulsa remained in control and pulled ahead 68-62 to end the quarter.
Senior guard Kristol Ayson scores two of her 10 pts here on a layup. photo by Don Mooney
Tulsa enjoyed its largest lead of the game at 12 points (76-64) at the 6:56 mark, but the Tigers fought back with a 10-0 scoring run to make it 76-74 at 3:24. Snapping the scoring drought for TU was Delanie Crawford on a layup from Hadley Periman. Tulsa kept control of the lead and relied on clutch free throws from Crawford to keep the edge. Despite missing 11 of its last 12 shorts, TU held Memphis to just five points in the final three minutes, including a layup by Tilly Boler with five seconds left that put the score at 80-79 Tulsa. Crawford went 1-of-2 from the line after the subsequent Memphis foul, and Tulsa survived the last-second 3-point attempt by Boler, prevailing 81-79.