'We're Going To Continue To Learn And Grow From This Experience': Tulsa’s Season Ends With 69-61 Loss To Illinois In WBIT Quarterfinals

A historic season for the TU women's basketball team came to an end at the Reynolds Center Thursday night with a 69-61 loss to Illinois in the WBIT quarterfinals.

After jumping out to early leads over Arkansas and Georgetown in the opening two rounds of the WBIT, the Golden Hurricane found itself in a 12-2 hole early in the game. One of the reasons for the early deficit; foul trouble. Tulsa stars Temira Poindexter and Delanie Crawford were hampered with two early fouls each.

The Hurricane would cut the lead to as close as six in the final quarter, but two missed Tulsa three-pointers allowed Illinois to advance to the WBIT Final Four with the eight-point win. 

Despite the early foul trouble, Poindexter and Crawford combined to score 32 of Tulsa's 37 second-half points. 

Poindexter scored in double-figures in all 35 games this year, while Crawford had her 33rd double-figure scoring game of the season.

Tulsa finishes the season with a 25-10 record. The 25 wins are the second most in school history, behind the 26 wins in the '05-'06 season. Tulsa is now 5-7 in its postseason history.

After the game, head coach Angie Nelp met with the media to break down the game, and what this postseason experience has meant to the program.