Sports writer Daryl Turner discusses the beginning of the season for the TU basketball teams
Tulsa’s men’s and women’s basketball has started conference play, and both have started off in two seemingly different ways. For the women’s team, winning has become something they have become accustomed to over the course of this season.
The ladies started off the season with an impressive 10 game win streak, before eventually losing to San Francisco in a nail biter (78-76). Now with a record of 12-3 and only losing two conference games, one to the Houston Cougars and another in a close and hard-fought battle against South Florida, these ladies seem to have clicked under the guidance of first year head coach Angie Nelp.
Sophomore standout Wyvette Mayberry has been playing extremely well at the start of these conference games. Scoring 20 or more points in her last three games, Wyvette has turned on a switch that will hopefully stay on throughout the duration of this season. Another stand out player that has been a crucial part of the Tulsa women’s basketball success is Temira Poindexter. A freshman on the team that carries her weight, she impacts everything on the court, leading the American Athletic Conference in blocked shots per game with 1.70 and 15th in points in the conference with 11.86 points per game. Maddie Bittle has also played really well; against Memphis, she went five for six from three point land and ended the game with 22 points as they secured the win that night. All of these ladies have played great and I guarantee you that all of the Tulsa faithful are glad to see it.
Their next game is on Jan. 26 at the Reynolds Center at 6:30 p.m. against a Memphis team that resulted in a close game last time. I hope that these women will be ready to win again on their second go around with Memphis.
Now for the men, things have not gone as smoothly as predicted at the beginning of the season, but it’s still a long road ahead. The men have started off their conference play with zero wins and five losses. Now as bad as that sounds, out of those five losses four of them could have easily been wins if the ball bounced their way a couple of times, but as Wilzon Mizner once said, “The only sure thing about luck is that it will change,” and if there is anything these men need right now it’s surely for their luck to change.
Four out of their last five conference games have been lost by no more than five points, and the most exciting game of the season so far against number 11 ranked Houston was lost by two points after a missed shot that could’ve brought them into overtime after making a miraculous comeback down by seventeen at the half. If it’s one thing these men know how to do astonishingly well, it’s to make a game very nip and tuck.
This wasn’t the case for their last game against Cincinnati though, a game they lost by twenty one points, allowing the Bearcats 90 points that night. The men had a cold night from the field ending the game with a field goal percentage of 38.4 percent, going just 28 for 73 as a team. To top that off their three point percentage was an atrocious 21.4 percent while Ciny’s three point percentage was an astounding 55.2 percent for the game.
The Tulsa men will look to continue their journey, hopefully getting their first win against a depleted Memphis team at home—a team Tulsa lost to by three earlier this month. Their next game is on Jan. 23 at 2:00 p.m. and I would bet on it being a very close game.
