Women’s Basketball Falls at Home to Tulsa

Wednesday, February 28

Philadelphia, Pa.

7:00 PM EST

Temple University

17-11,11-5AAC

Tulsa

21-8,11-5AAC

Tulsa

Temple

Photo by: Zamani Feelings

Women’s Basketball Falls at Home to Tulsa

2.28.24 | Women's Basketball

Box Score Game Book Temple Season Stats Press Conference

PHILADELPHIA, Pa. – The Temple Women's Basketball team (17-11, 11-5 AAC) lost to the Tulsa Golden Hurricane (21-8, 11-5 AAC), 76-67, in front of its largest standalone home crowd of the season at the Liacouras Center ending its five-game winning streak.

Three Owls led the offensive load, scoring in double figures: Tiarra East (16), Aleah Nelson (16), and Demi Washington (15). The loss moves Temple into a three-way tie for first place in the American Athletic Conference.

First Quarter: Temple 17, Tulsa 14

> Tulsa came out hot out of the gates, converting their first two field goal attempts to take a quick 5-0 lead within the first minute. Tiarra East put the Owls on the board with a mid range jumper (5-2, Tulsa).

> The Golden Hurricane built up a 10-3 lead at the first media timeout. Temira Poindexter, who came in averaging 20.5 ppg, had the early hot hand for Tulsa with its first seven points.

> Temple started off the game 1-6 from the field, before Aleah Nelson and East hit back-to-back jump shots to cut the deficit to 10-7 at the 5:19 mark.

> A 12-4 run beginning at 5:54 gave Temple its first lead of the game at 15-14 with 2:19 remaining.

> East led the way with eight first-quarter points, while Demi Washington added six.

Second Quarter: Temple 35, Tulsa 32

> Temple started off the quarter on a 6-0 run, extending its lead to 23-14. Tulsa responded with a 5-0 run of its own that pushed the Golden Hurricane back within four points at the 6:41 mark (23-19, TU).

> The Golden Hurricane retook the lead with 3:02 remaining in the half, behind a four-point play from Poindexter that put Tulsa up 28-25.

> By halftime, three Temple players scored 8+ points - East 12, Washington 10, and Nelson with eight - while Poindexter was Tulsa's lone scoring weapon with 18 points.

> The Owls capitalized off 24 points in the paint during the first half.

Third Quarter: Temple 47, Tulsa 46

> After both teams exchanged baskets to start the second half, Tulsa tied the game at 39-39 with a three-pointer by Elise Hill at the 5:13 mark of the quarter.

> After sitting for 4-plus minutes, Aleah Nelson re-entered the game and immediately sank a three-pointer to break a 41-41 tie at 1:46.

> Nelson and Ines Piper each scored five points in the quarter as Temple entered the final quarter with a one-point advantage (47-46).

Fourth Quarter: Temple 67, Tulsa 76

> After Tulsa built a 50-47 lead early in the fourth quarter, Nelson tied the game on a corner three with 9:01 to go.

> Both teams caught fire midway through the fourth, with Tulsa holding a narrow 57-56 lead at a timeout with 6:44 remaining in regulation.

> The Golden Hurricane embarked on a 5-0 run, taking a 62-57 lead with 5:36 to go.

> With 2:51 to go, Delanie Crawford converted an and-one to put the Golden Hurricane up 69-63.

> A technical allowed the Owls to cut the deficit to 72-67 with 52.3 to go.

> Poindexter reached 30 points for the Golden Hurricane, as Tulsa held on to win 76-67.

Game Notes

> The loss drops the Owls into a three-way tie for first place in the American Athletic Conference.

>Despite the loss, at 5-2, this was Temple's best February since a 7-2 month in 2017.

> The game against Tulsa included a variety of marketing promotions, including dollar hot dogs, "Yeah! Yeah" t-shirt giveaway, Nintendo Switch giveaway, and more.

> Tonight's attendance of 2,341 is the largest for a standalone women's basketball game this season.

Statistically Speaking

> With Nelson's 16 points tonight, she has now scored in double figures in seven of her last eight games. Likewise, East's 16 points marked her seventh double-digit scoring effort in the team's last eight outings. Overall, Nelson has 20 double-digit games and East has 19.

> Aleah Nelson finished with 16 points and five rebounds — she was one rebound shy of tying a season high.

> Tiarra East finished with 16 points and eight rebounds, coming up just three rebounds shy of her career high of 11.

> Tarriyonna Gary totaled eight points and eight rebounds, ending the game three rebounds short of a career high.

> Tulsa stayed in the game with success from three point land. In the first half, the Golden Hurricane were 6-15 from three while Temple was 0-6 from beyond the arc.

> East led the Owls in field goals in the first half, contributing 12 points to Temple's 35.

Up Next

Temple will head to Greenville, N.C. to take on the East Carolina Pirates on Sunday, March 3 at 3 p.m. for its final regular season road game. The game will air on ESPN+ and the Varsity Network App.