FORT SMITH – One for the history books.
The UAFS women’s basketball team held Tulsa to just 17-percent shooting from the field in the fourth quarter, erasing a late four-point deficit on its way to upsetting the NCAA Division I Golden Hurricane 61-58 in exhibition play on Wednesday night at the Reynolds Center in Tulsa, Okla.
It was the first-ever exhibition win against a NCAA Division I opponent for the Lady Lions, who played the Golden Hurricane for the first time in school history.
UAFS trailed by four points at halftime (34-30) and fell behind by as many as nine points three times in the third quarter – the last time (46-37) coming with 2:36 left to play in the period. Senior forward Taylor Taylor sank a pair of free throws to trigger an 8-0 run.
Taylor capped the run with a jumper with nine seconds left to get the Lady Lions within one point (46-45) going into the fourth quarter.
Tulsa ended its 3 ½-minute scoring drought when guard Alexis Gauldin drained a 3-pointer to push the Golden Hurricane’s lead to four points (49-45) with 9:09 left to play.
The Lady Lions held the Golden Hurricane to only two field goals over the final nine-minute stretch to take control of the game, building as much as a seven-point lead (59-52) on a 3-pointer by junior guard Lundon Williams with 2:51 left.
Tulsa cut its deficit to one point (59-58) with 1:28 to play on a 3-pointer by guard Tatyana Perez, but UAFS increased its lead to three points on a pair of free throws by sophomore guard Alexsis Brown with six seconds left.
Golden Hurricane guard Shug Dickson missed a potential game-tying 3-pointer at the buzzer – the last of five missed Tulsa field goals in the final 1 ½ minutes.
UAFS shot 35 percent from the field (19 of 54) for the game – it was just 3-of-17 shooting from 3-point range – and shot 71 percent from the free-throw line (20 of 28). Taylor led the Lady Lions with 19 points, while junior guard Mariah Green had 11 and Alexsis Brown and sophomore guard Micayla Haynes had 10 points apiece.
The Lady Lions out-rebounded the Golden Hurricane by 10 rebounds (45-35) and turned 17 offensive rebounds into 17 second-chance points. Taylor, who was named Preseason All-Heartland Conference last week, just missed a double-double, finishing with a team-leading nine rebounds.
UAFS held Tulsa to 32-percent shooting from the field (19 of 59) – the Golden Hurricane was 7-of-21 shooting from 3-point range – and Tulsa shot 77 percent from the free-throw line (13 of 17).
Dickson had a team-high 19 points, Gauldin had 16 and forward Kendrian Elliott had 11. Elliott just missed a double-double, finishing with a team-leading nine rebounds.
UAFS will finish its preseason exhibition schedule at 6 p.m. on Friday when the Lady Lions play NCAA Division I Mississippi State at Humphrey Coliseum in Starkville, Miss. Mississippi State was national runner-up last season.
WOMEN
UAFS 61, TULSA 58 (EXH.)
UAFS 13 17 15 16 — 61
Tulsa 18 16 12 12 — 58
UAFS: Taylor 19, Green 11, A. Brown 10, Haynes 10, Gulley 4, Williams 3, D. Brown 2, Lehne 2
Tulsa: Dickson 18, Gaulden 16, Elliott 11, Polk 7, Vornes 3, Perez 3
