Taleya Mayberry scored 22 points and Loren McDaniel grabbed 15 rebounds as Tulsa took a 54-51 victory against Central Florida Thursday night at the Reynolds Center.
Kadan Brady also finished in double digits for the Golden Hurricane (7-11 overall, 2-3 in Conference USA) with 11 points. Tiffani Couisnard also did the same on the boards, with 10 in the department.
TU would finish getting the long end of a game that went back and fourth when the last second ticked off the clock.
"I thought the way that we won tonight was huge," Tulsa coach Matilda Mossman said. "We haven't been good at finishing halves, whether it's the first or second half. I don't want to play those games all the time where you have to grind it out. The fact that we came out with a win tonight and the way we did it I think will pay dividends down the road."
TU was down 31-25 at halftime and fell behind by nine points by giving up a 3-pointer by UCF’s Sara Djassi in the first minute of the second half. But the Hurricane chiseled their way to the lead with a 17-6 run and a 42-40 lead with 9;35 left.
There would be an exchange of leads, but after TU was found itself down 49-46 with 4:43 left, Mayberry hit a 3 to tie the game. With the game tied at 51-51, Couisnard would sink a free shot with 1:59 to go, then she would get the last basket on a jumper with 11 seconds remaining.
TU shot just 29 percent (16-of-55) from the floor, 40 percent (8-of-20) in 3-pointers and was 70 percent (14-of-20) in free throws.
UCF was led by Gevenia Carter’s 11 points and Erika Jones’ 10 rebounds. The Knights shot 37 percent (20-of-54) in field goals, 36 percent (5-of-14) and was 75 percent (6-of-8) from the foul line.
TU remains at home to play SMU on Sunday. That game starts at 2 p.m.
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