Women cruise past New Orleans in home opener

TULSA –– The Tulsa women cruised to an 88-61 win over New Orleans on Monday afternoon in front of 2,258 fans on Education Day Monday at the Donald W. Reynolds Center.

Temira Poindexter scored a careerhigh 30 points and Delanie Crawford added 22 for the Hurricane effort. Hadley Periman grabbed a career-best 12 rebounds. Poindexter finished the game 12-of-17 from the field, 3-of-7 from behind the arc and 3-of-3 from the charity stripe.

After a paultry first-quarter shooting performance at 26 percent, the Hurricane (2-0) rebounded to finish the game at 47.5 percent from the field, 36 percent from three-point range and 82.6 percent from the free-throw line.

Tulsa took control of the game in the third quarter, outscoring the Privateers 29-14, expanding a five-point halftime lead to 20 points after three periods. The Hurricane led by as many as 35 points at the 5:10 mark of the final quarter when Katelynn Levings knocked down a midlevel jumper.

In the second half, Tulsa put up 56 points to New Orleans 36 as the Hurricane converted 58 percent of its field goals, 42 percent from three-point range and 94 percent from the charity stripe.

The Privateers fell to 0-2 with the loss.