During a dominant season, Tulsa loses a close game to Houston, says sports editor Callie Hummel
The University of Tulsa women’s basketball team put on a good show Feb. 2 for the fans that showed up despite the severe weather outside. The game was initially supposed to hold a celebration for National Women in Sports day where they honor the players, coaches and alumni who made the team what it is today. The snow outside though postponed the ceremony, but the women indoors still continued with their game.
Temira Poindexter, a freshman forward on the team who has been crucial to their winning record this season, put up a one-game-high of 20 points. Prior to the game, Poindexter was named the American Athletic Conference freshman of the week, which brought the tally of her accolades up to six in the 11 weeks of the season. She has shown range in all aspects of the game, with high shooting percentages but also high rebounding statistics.
While Tulsa’s team led the majority of the game, Houston slowly started closing the lead during the second half of the game, until the two teams were just one point apart. A basket by Houston switched them into the lead, and the ball, and score, kept going back and forth between the two teams for the duration of the time left. At a crucial point when the clock was rapidly winding down, Tulsa’s Maya Mayberry scored a layup to put Tulsa ahead 64-63 with 18 seconds left. After holding a timeout, Houston came back strong on offense and with just a few seconds on the clock, with a rebound shot allowing Houston to win the game 65-64.
Losing is not a feeling that the Tulsa team knows well though, as they currently hold a 13-5 overall record. Their recent loss against Houston marks the only time in their season where they’ve lost two games in a row, having fallen to Cincinnati just a few days prior.
Like Poindexter, many other players on the team are receiving personal accolades and recognition for their work on the court. Wyvette Mayberry is currently holding the position of most points scored on the team with 248 and was recognized on Jan. 27 for having the highest three-point shot percentage in the nation at 50%. Her sister, Maya Mayberry is right below in points with 195. The team as a whole is also nationally recognized and ranked for having the second-highest number of three-pointers. They are currently 3-5 in their conference, though all games Tulsa has lost in their conference have been back and forth scoring with a final that could have gone either way.
The next game will be on Feb. 6 at Wichita, before returning home on Feb. 12 against Temple to celebrate National Women in Sports Day. At halftime, Alicia Conner-Todd, a former basketball player in the late 1970s, will be recognized for her contribution to sports. Connor-Todd also received her bachelor’s and master’s in nursing at the University of Tulsa. She is now a member of Tulsa’s Letterwinner’s Association and the Athletic Hall of Fame Committee.
