Alexis Gaulden and Tatyana Perez Score Career-Highs in 71-68 Loss to South Dakota

Sunday, November 20

Reynolds Center

1:00 pm

Tulsa

1-3

South Dakota

3-1

South Dakota

Tulsa

Alexis Gaulden and Tatyana Perez Score Career-Highs in 71-68 Loss to South Dakota

11/20/2016 3:51:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

By: Stephanie Hall

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Alexis Gaulden and Tatyana Perez had career-highs of 19 points and 16 points, respectively, as Tulsa dropped a 71-68 decision to South Dakota on Sunday afternoon at the Donald W. Reynolds Center. TU fell to 1-3 on the season, while USD moved to 3-1 overall.

"Alexis was a great spark for us in the first half," Head Coach Matilda Mossman said. "We chose to bring her in off the bench in the second half as well to be another spark for us. She also played really well at both ends."

"Tatyana is much improved from last year, which I think has a lot to do with her confidence," Mossman added. "The game has slowed down for her this season as well, so she is having a lot more success."

Crystal Polk added 11 points and had team-bests of six rebounds and three steals, while Shug Dickson also had a season best of nine points.

South Dakota had a 38-26 lead in rebounds and a 10-7 advantage in steals, while Tulsa had a 15-13 edge in assists and a 2-0 lead in blocks.

TU shot 46-percent from the field, including 42-percent from three-point range, and was 7-of-11 from the free throw line, compared to USD's 41-percent from the field, 38-percent from behind the arc and 78-percent (15-of-19) from the charity stripe.

"We gave up 15 points at the free throw line and we only shot 11 ourselves," Mossman said. "I like the stat where we make more free throws than our opponents attempt, and they did that to us today. That's two games in a row where we have fouled too much on defense and put teams at the free throw line."

There were four tied scores and eight lead changes in the first 10 minutes, with both teams owning a four-point lead at one point in the frame, including a 22-18 advantage by USD to close out the period.

South Dakota took a 41-39 lead into halftime, as the second quarter had another four tied scores and six lead changes. TU had a game-high five-point lead (28-23) with 7:29 to play in the frame.

South Dakota inched ahead in the third quarter to a 10-point lead (64-54), to close out the frame. The Coyotes outscored the Golden Hurricane, 23-15, in the period.

Both teams struggled to score in the fourth quarter, as neither team hit a basket until Dickson had a layup at the 6:11 mark. TU chipped away at the Coyotes advantage and pulled to within one, 67-66, with 2:04 left in the contest.

A layup by Gaulden at the 1:17 mark gave Tulsa a 68-67 lead, but Allison Arens countered with a layup to give USD the 69-68 advantage with 20-seconds to play. A turnover called on Tulsa gave the Coyotes the ball back with 12-seconds left in the contest and Arens made two free throws to make it a three-point game (71-68) with 6.1-seconds remaining, but TU wasn't able to score a basket for the final score. The Hurricane outscored the Coyotes, 14-7, in the final 10 minutes.

South Dakota was led by Arens and Jaycee Bradley with 17 points apiece, while Ciara Duffy added 13 points. Abigail Fog had 10 rebounds, while Arens added five steals.

Tulsa will return to action on Friday, November 25 at New Mexico in the UNM Thanksgiving Tournament in Albuquerque, N.M.