Ebony Parker Scores Career-High 20 Points in 85-68 Loss to #19/20 Oklahoma

Sunday, December 11

Norman, Okla.

2:00 pm

Tulsa

3-7

Oklahoma

7-2

Tulsa

Oklahoma

Ebony Parker Scores Career-High 20 Points in 85-68 Loss to #19/20 Oklahoma

12/11/2016 4:06:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

By: Stephanie Hall

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Tulsa junior-transfer Ebony Parker scored a career-high 20 points in an 85-68 loss to #19/20 Oklahoma on Sunday afternoon at the Lloyd Noble Center in Norman, Okla. TU fell to 3-7 on the season, while OU moved to 7-2 overall.

Parker had six three-point baskets in the contest to tie for fifth-most in school history in a single game with five former TU players. She shot 60-percent from behind the arc, and was 7-of-13 from the field in the contest. Kendrian Elliott and Alexis Gaulden both finished with nine points, while Tatyana Perez added eight points and Shug Dickson scored seven. Elliott and Gaulden both had team-bests of four rebounds, while Perez had four assists and Erika Wakefield had four steals.

"That's why we recruited Ebony," Head Coach Matilda Mossman said. "She shot the ball well and it was fun to watch her today. We try to get more of our guards to shoot if off kicks. Ebony has a quick release and she knows she is a shooter. I wish we had a better mentality with some of our other guards. I also don't think Ebony took any bad shots, every shot she took was a good shot, even her floater field goal, so that was good to see from her arsenal."

Oklahoma had a 39-34 lead in rebounds, a 14-13 advantage in assists, a 15-8 lead in steals and a 7-1 advantage in blocks. TU hit 11-of-21 three-pointers, while the Sooners were 4-of-9 in the contest.

Tulsa shot 39-percent from the field, 52-percent from three-point range and was 7-of-7 from the free throw line, while OU shot 48-percent from the field, including 44-percent from behind the arc, and were 19-of-24 for 79-percent from the charity stripe.

"I didn't think we attacked well enough and that is evidenced by our seven free throws, but Oklahoma did attack the basket, which is shown by their 24 free throw attempts," Mossman said. "We knew they would attack, but we haven't been good all year about guarding the ball and we didn't again today."

OU scored first on a pair of free throws made by T'ona Edwards, and then Chelsea Dungee recorded a jumper, but TU battled back with a three-pointer by Gaulden and a pair of baskets made by Elliott to take a 7-6 lead with 7:15 on the clock. The Sooners inched ahead to a 12-point lead (25-13) with just 1:18 on the clock in the first frame, but a three-pointer by Perez closed out the period for Tulsa with a nine-point deficit (25-16).

Three's by Parker, Ashley Hughes and Parker again pulled Tulsa to within eight, 33-25, at the 5:28 mark of the second quarter, but the Sooners outscored the Golden Hurricane, 9-4, for a 42-29 advantage at the break.

Tulsa shot 34-percent from the field, 63-percent from three-point range and didn't attempt a free throw in the first half, while Oklahoma was 50-percent from the field, 50-percent from behind the arc and hit 9-of-12 (75-percent) from the charity stripe in the first 20 minutes. TU hit seven three-pointers in the first half, compared to OU's one.

The Hurricane tallied their first four points of the third quarter on free throws made by Erika Wakefield and Shug Dickson, and went 7-for-7 in the frame, but ended the quarter trailing 63-46.

Oklahoma inched ahead to a 23-point lead in the final frame (77-54), but both teams had 22-poitns in the fourth quarter.

The Sooners were led by Maddie Manning with 24 points and eight rebounds, while Peyton Little added 15 points.

Tulsa will return to action on Thursday, December 15 against Saint Louis. Game time is set for 7:00 pm at the Donald W. Reynolds Center.