TU Women Hold Off UMKC in Opener

The Tulsa women's basketball team got a stiff test from the Kangaroos, but Taleya Mayberry and the Golden Hurricane hung on for the victory.

Thursday, May 26th 2011, 11:21 am

By: News On 6

Originally Published: Nov 18, 2009 12:5 AM CDT

Curt Hill
Oklahoma Sports Staff Writer

TULSA, Oklahoma – It didn’t take Taleya Mayberry long to burst onto the college basketball scene. The freshman guard scored 17 points in her first game for Tulsa and led the Golden Hurricane to a 62-57 victory over UMKC on Tuesday night.

Tiffani Couisnard was right behind Mayberry in the scoring column with a career-high 15 points and Jermaine Kermis totaled 11.

Tulsa jumped out to a 16-point advantage early in the first half, but the Kangaroos went on a 12-3 run and cut the lead to 34-27 heading into the break.

UMKC would make it a two-point game with seven minutes to play, but the Golden Hurricane held off the Kangaroos down the stretch.

“We have a young ball club, and yet we were able to still find a way to put it away and get it done,” head coach Charlene Thomas-Swinson said. “We'll take it any way we can get it. The biggest thing I want to make certain of is that we are able to learn from some of the challenges we were faced with.”

The Golden Hurricane will return to action on Saturday for a home contest against La Salle. Tipoff is set for 12:30 p.m.