Tulsa Standard

Tulsa led from start to finish in the 43rd Annual Mayor's Cup against cross-town rival Oral Roberts as the Golden Hurricane captured a 92-77 victory Sunday afternoon in front of 1,362 fans at the Donald W. Reynolds Center.

 

Tulsa improved to 3-1 on the season, while ORU dropped to 0-5 under first-year coach Kelsi Musick.

 

"We knew it would be a fast-paced game.  ORU plays at a really high tempo and we play at a high tempo so we knew going in there would be a lot of possessions in the game and we hoped that we scored more than they did," said Tulsa Head Coach Angie Nelp.

 

Temira Poindexter led five double-figure scorers for Tulsa with a game-high 22 points. Fellow sophomore Delanie Crawford had a career-high 17 points, senior Maddie Bittle totaled 14 and newcomers Katelyn Levings and Ahrray Young scored season-highs with 13 and 12 points, respectively.

 

Bittle, Crawford and Poindexter each pulled down eight rebounds, while Bittle led the way with six assists. ORU's Delanie Nix was the game's second-leading scorer with 21 points for the Golden Eagles.

 

Crawford and Young's combined 29 points led a bench attack that outscored ORU 34-9.

 

"Delanie did such a great job.  One thing I love about Delanie is her versatility and her ability to play multiple positions on the floor," said Nelp. "She can really come in and play anywhere and today we needed her more at that point guard spot and when she was in there she ran the team very well."

 

"Maddie did so much for us this game.  She was able to get some steals early that created some open looks in transition for us.  Even more than what is on the stat sheet is her heart and her ability to give our team energy possession after possession.  She gets defensive stops and does a great job on both sides of the ball for us," Nelp said.

 

The Hurricane was balanced throughout the game, scoring 20 points in each quarter for the first time this season. Tulsa ended the game with a field goal percentage of .493 and ended at 35.3 percent from three-point range.

 

The two teams battled in the paint as Tulsa held a slim two-point margin for points in the paint wat 40-38.

 

 

HOW IT HAPPENED

Tulsa jumped out to a 9-0 lead in the first two minutes of the game and led by six after one period, 22-16. The Hurricane took its first double-digit lead at 32-21 at the 7:23 mark of the second quarter on a 3-pointer by Young.

 

The Hurricane took a 12-pioint lead into halftime at 49-36 and a big reason was Tulsa's 11-4 advantage on points off turnovers. Tulsa converted 48.6 percent from the field after a 9-of-16 second quarter and outscored the Golden Eagles 27-21 in that period.

 

Poindexter led all first-half scorers with 13 points, followed by Bittle's nine points. Nix led ORU with 11 first-half points.

 

Tulsa opened the second half on an 8-3 run to take a 57-40 lead at the 7:53 mark and kept its double-digit lead for the entire second half. In the third quarter, the Hurricane had its largest lead of 18 points, 68-50, when Crawford connected on a traditional three-point play with 2:39 remaining.

 

Maya Mayberry's first trey of the game gave Tulsa an 80-59 lead for its biggest margin of the game. ORU cut 10 points off Tulsa's lead to get as close as 11, 84-73, at the 3:15 mark.

 

The Hurricane reached the 90-point mark on Young's three-pointer with 2:07 remaining on the game clock.

 

 

GAME NOTES

• This was the 43rd version of the Mayor's Cup between Tulsa and Oral Roberts.

• Tulsa won its fourth straight Mayor's Cup game, but only the 12th in the history of the series.
• The 15-point win is the largest margin of victory for Tulsa since a 15-point win in the 205-06 seasons (88-73), and ties for the third-largest win for Tulsa in series history.
• Tulsa's 92 points ties for the seventh most in school history and was the second 90-point game in the last five contests, dating back to last year's 97-90 loss at Wyoming in the WNIT second round game.
• Tulsa jumped out to a 9-0 lead in the first two minutes, before ORU scored the next 5 points
• The Hurricane attempted 12 three-pointers in the first 10 minutes, making just three, and was only 1-of-6 from the free throw line in the first quarter.
• Tulsa was perfect from the free throw line (6-6) in the 2nd quarter after its 1-of-6 first quarter.
• Tulsa has reached the 40-point plateau in the first half in all four games this season.
• Tulsa's 27 points in the 2nd quarter tied its season-high for points in a quarter, which came in the first quarter of the season against Alcorn State (27-8).
• Temira Poindexter had her 22nd career double-figure scoring output in 32 career games … she reached double digits in the first half with 13 points.
• With 22 points, it was Poindexter's fifth career 20-point game and her second this season.
• Maddie Bittle and Delanie Crawford each had their second double-figure scoring games of the season
• Crawford's 17 points bettered her previous career-high of 15 points which came last year against Central Arkansas.

Original source can be found here