Tulsa Standard

Maddie Bittle and Temira Poindexter each scored 20 points to lead the Tulsa Golden Hurricane to a 70-63 final quarter comeback victory over the Wichita State Shockers in front of 1,058 fans at the Donald W. Reynolds Center Wednesday night.
 
Tulsa outscored the Shockers 28-14 in the final quarter for the victory, coming back from a seven-point deficit after three quarters. Poindexter had 12 of Tulsa's fourth quarter points, while Maya Mayberry and Ahrray Young each chipped in with six points in the period.
 
Poindexter added a career-high 11 rebounds for her and had four blocked shots, while Bittle grabbed nine rebounds and dished out three assists.
 
Tulsa improved to 12-3 overall and 2-0 in American Athletic Conference play, while Wichita State dropped to 11-4 and 1-1 in league action.
 
"It was really just controlling the controllables.  We talked about how gritty and tough we know we are when we step on the court and we talked about having confidence and knowing those shots will go in.  We then talked about some adjustments on handling their zone and our defense, but at the end of the day it was about us staying true to us," said Tulsa head coach Angie Nelp.
 
Wichita State outscored Tulsa 21-9 in the third quarter to overcome a five-point halftime deficit. The Shockers took its first lead of the quarter at 37-35 with 5:29 to play and scored the final six points for a 49-42 lead after three periods.
 
The Shockers still had a seven-point lead with just over eight minutes to play in the final stanza, 53-46, before the Hurricane went on a 13-2 run in a span of 4:15 to retake the lead at 59-55 at the 4:24 mark. Tulsa kept its lead between four and seven points the remainder of the game for the victory.
 
"I am just so proud of them because we were able to come back.  There were some close games that we played this year where we've been a little bit ahead and we had to maintain the lead, but this was a game where we had to come back from being down," said Nelp. "The confidence they showed in each other and the confidence they showed as a team was incredible and I'm proud of the effort they put in."
 
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
Wichita State jumped out to a 7-2 lead as the Hurricane started out cold from the field, hitting hist one of its first seven shots.
 
Tulsa took its first lead at 8-7 on two straight three-pointers by Poindexter and Mayberry. The Hurricane ended the first half with a 15-14 lead despite its lowest scoring first period since scoring six points against Long Beach State on Nov. 25.
 
Tulsa warmed up from a slow shooting start to finish the quarter at 37-percent, while holding the Shockers to 25-percent from the field.
 
The Hurricane began the second quarter on a 5-0 run to take a 20-14 lead before the Shockers rattled off the next six points to knot the score at 20 at the 7:36 mark. WSU took its first second-half lead at 23-22 and expanded it to 25-22 before the Hurricane scored the next four points to jump ahead 27-25.
 
Bittle scored Tulsa's last eight points of the first half as the Hurricane took a 33-28 lead into halftime.
 
Wichita State came out of intermission and sprinted to a 49-42 lead after three quarters by outscoring the Hurricane 21-9 in the period. The Shockers made 50-percent of its field goals on 10-of-20 shooting, while Tulsa converted on just 4-of-15 field goals for 27-percent.
 
Bittle scored five of Tulsa's nine third-period points, while Poindexter and Delanie Crawford had two points apiece in the quarter.
 
The Shockers had a seven-point lead, 53-46 at the 8:39 mark of the final period before the Hurricane went on a 13-2 run to take a 59-55 lead with 4:24 left on the game clock. Poindexter had seven of Tulsa's 13 points during that stretch.
 
Four points was as close as Wichita State would get in the final four minutes as Tulsa had its largest lead of seven points four times, including the final margin of victory, 70-63.
 
 
GAME NOTES
•    This was the 29th meeting between Tulsa and Wichita State.
•    The win was the fourth straight for the Hurricane over the Shockers, continuing the  longest win streak in the series for Tulsa.
•     Tulsa led at halftime for the 13th time this season.
•     Tulsa trailed after three quarters for just the fourth time this season, trailing at Arkansas (53-51), Long Beach State (52-37) and Kansas (59-50).
•    This is the first time in eight home games that Tulsa trailed after three periods.
•    Tulsa's 9 points in the third quarter was the second-lowest point total in a single quarter this season for the Hurricane … the lowest of the season was 6 points against Long Beach State on Nov. 25.
•    Katelyn Levings played for the first time in nine games, missing the last eight contests since last playing against South Carolina State on Nov. 26.
•    Levings scored her first points since dropping in 5 points in the South Carolina State contest.
•    Katia Gallegos played for the first time since the ORU game on Nov. 20, missing the last 10 games.
•    Maddie Bittle had a season-high 20 points, bettering her previous best of 19 points at Texas Southern on Dec. 22.
•    Bittle had her 8th double-figure scoring game of the season and the 35th of her career … it was her third straight double-digit scoring contest.
•     Temira Poindexter had her 14th double-figure scoring game of the season and the 32nd of her career.
•     It marked Poindexter's 10th straight double-digit scoring game.
•    Poindexter set a new career-high for rebounds with 11, and it marks her third double-figure rebounding game of the season and the 5th of her career.
•    Poindexter had her third double-double of the season and the 5th of her career.
•    Maya Mayberry had her 9th double-figure scoring game of the season and the 41st of her career. 
 

The Hurricane will be on the road Saturday in Orlando, Fla., to take on the UCF Knights in a 12 p.m. game. Tulsa will return home for a 1 p.m. game against the Houston Cougars on Saturday, Jan. 14. 

Original source can be found here