Feb. 1, 2003
Box Score
Tulsa, Oklahoma -
Tulsa senior Allison Curtin scored a game-high 25 points to lead the Golden Hurricane to a narrow, 45-42, victory over Hawaii in front of 2,521 fans in Western Athletic Conference action at the Donald W. Reynolds Center.
Curtin, an All-America candidate from Taylorville, Ill., recorded what proved to be the deciding bucket after she rebounded teammate Kayla Elliott's missed attempt and nailed a short jumper to put TU up 43-38 with 4:21 to go. Hawaii (11-7, 5-4 WAC) pulled to within a single point at 43-42 when Jade Abele converted a lay-up with 1:36 remaining in the game. After missed opportunities for both teams, TU gained control of the ball with 30-seconds remaining and the Rainbow Wahine was forced to commit four straight fouls to put the Hurricane in the bonus. After the fourth foul gave TU a 1-and-1 opportunity, freshman Kara Pongonis stepped up to the line and drained both shots. After a timeout and with 14-seconds left, UH's Michelle Gabriel fired a desperation shot, but the attempt was long and Tulsa (12-8, 7-2 WAC) recorded just its second victory over Hawaii in 10 attempts.
Both teams struggled from the field offensively in the second half. After outshooting Hawaii in the first half, 40-percent to 20-percent, Tulsa managed just five field goals in the second period, while Hawaii found the net 10 times. TU shot a miserable 16-percent to the Wahine's 35.7 percent.
The first half belonged to Curtin, who finished with 19 points on 8-of-13 field goal attempts and 3-of-6 from the three-point line. With the game tied at 13-13, Curtin knocked down back-to-back treys and scored 12 of Tulsa's final 17 points of the half and the Hurricane reeled of a 17-4 run over the final 7:56 of the first half. TU took a 13-point, 30-17, lead into the locker room at intermission. Curtin became the school's single season scoring leader with her bucket at the 2:35 mark. In 20 games, she has scored 459 points and surpassed former Hurricane Cheryle Meppelink's 449 points recorded during the 1986-87 campaign in 24 games.
Curtin finished 10-fo-23 from the field and also grabbed nine boards and dished out four assists. Sophomore
Alison Carney suffered through a shooting slump, but grabbed a game-best 11 rebounds. The Hurricane outrebounded the Rainbow Wahine, 48-42 and improved its home wins streak in WAC play to 5-0.
April Atuaia and Natasja Allen led the Hawaii effort with 13 and 12 points, respectively, while Christen Roper pulled down a team-high 10 rebounds.
In eight years as a member of Conference USA, Tulsa athletic teams have won a league-best 48 conference championships.
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Since the opening of the Donald W. Reynolds Center in 1998, Tulsa’s athletic facilities have undergone a major facelift. New facilities include the Michael D. Case Tennis Center, the Collins Family Softball Complex, the Hurricane Soccer and Track Stadium, the J. Bird Sr. Shell Nest, the Jack Zink Indoor Rowing Center, the Case Athletic Complex and major renovation to H.A. Chapman Stadium.
TU is 75th among national doctoral universities in U. S. News & World Report's 2012 edition of America's Best Colleges. TU's 2011 freshman class had a mean cumulative grade point average of 3.8, and 74 percent graduated in the top 10 percent of their high school classes. Their average ACT was 28.
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