Tulsa women go 2-1 in Van Chancellor Classic

KATY, Texas — Junior forward Temira Poindexter was named to the Van Chancellor Classic All-Tournament Team following a tournament ending 102-58 loss to No. 25 Mississippi State on Sunday evening at Merrell Center. The Golden Hurricane (5-2) went 2-1 in the event, finishing over Arkansas Pine-Bluff (which Tulsa beat 90-79 in overtime on Friday) and Clemson (which TU defeated 74-64 on Saturday) who each went 1-2. The Bulldogs were the outright champions with wins over every opponent.

In the win over UAPB, Tulsa’s bench shot 58.3 percent from the field and produced 19 total points.

Poindexter had a monster game on offense for Tulsa, putting up a careerhigh 32 points off 12 field goals, including five from beyond the arc to go with three made free throws. Delanie Crawford followed up with 19 points, Katia Gallegos put up 15 points and Ahrray Young had 12 points.

Hadley Periman stepped up for the TU defense with a team-leading 11 rebounds, including three on offense and eight on defense. She also stuffed four Golden Lion shots to close out the night. Crawford was right behind in rebounds with ten total boards.

In the victory over Clemson, Tulsa erased an eight-point deficit in the second quarter and used a 23-10 scoring run in the third quarter to propel itself to its first win over an Atlantic Coast Conference program since the 2006 NCAA tournament (beating North Carolina State 71-61).

Poindexter had another big game for the Golden Hurricane (5-2), going up for 26 points off 11 shots from the field, including three from outside the arc to go with one free throw. Crawford was close behind with 21 points and led the team in shooting at 57.1 percent from both the field (8-of-14) and the rim (4-of-7).

Mady Cartwright went 3-of-6 on the day with all three baskets made from beyond the arc.

Crawford led Tulsa’s defense with nine rebounds on the day. Poindexter, Gallegos and Periman each had five rebounds, with Periman leading the way in offensive boards with three. Gallegos was the team leader in steals (five).

In the loss to Mississippi State, Tulsa was held to 37.3 percent (22-of-59) shooting on the day while Mississippi State landed more than half its baskets at 51.4 percent (36-of-70).

Poindexter surpassed the 20-point mark for a third consecutive game, this time with 23 points to lead the Hurricane offense. She shot 8-for-22 from the field, 3-for-10 in 3-point baskets and 4-of-4 from the charity line.

Poindexter now has 989 career points, moving up four spots to 12th on TU’s all-time points leaderboard.

Periman led Tulsa with seven rebounds, including five on defense and two on offense, while Gallegos helped coordinate the offense with four assists.

Tulsa will wrap up its five-game road tilt at 6:30 p.m. Friday at Texas Christian University (7-0).