Tulane University
11-6, 2-2AAC
SMU
10-6, 1-2AAC
Women’s Hoops Bounces Back with 71-59 Win at SMU
Jan 11, 2017 | Women's Basketball
Green Wave out-rebound the Mustangs, 36-33
PRINTABLE STAT BOOK
DALLAS – The Tulane women's basketball team (11-6, 2-2) delivered a big bounce back win inside Moody Coliseum on Wednesday night, winning its sixth straight in the series against SMU (10-6, 1-2) via a 71-59 victory. Tulane also won the battle of the boards, 36-33, against The American's rebounding leader, primarily thanks to Meredith Schulte's career high 11-rebound performance.
Scoring wise, Kolby Morgan notched her second straight game with 20+ points with 21 tonight on 8-of-20 shooting. She was followed closely by Leslie Vorpahl, whose 18 points were powered by a 4-of-7 effort from three-point range. In addition, sophomore Ksenija Madzarevic came off the bench to tie her career high of eight points.
"I thought we really battled. We started the game really battling for the rebounds and only giving them one shot," Tulane head coach Lisa Stockton stated. "Two of our goals for the game were to shoot over 45 percent and out-rebound them, and we did just that. I thought we played tough, and offensively, we really shared the ball."
The Olive and Blue came out firing, shooting 60.0 percent in the first quarter to obtain a 23-20 lead. Vorpahl ignited the offense by tallying 11 points in the opening period behind three treys.
The Wave continued its efficient shooting in the second where they outscored SMU 17-10 to create a 40-30 advantage at the midway mark. Tulane got a big boost from its bench in the quarter, receiving eight combined points from Schulte, Madzarevic and Maddison Wells.
Next, Tulane jumped out to a 49-36 lead in the third, but the Mustangs rallied in the last 4:37 of the quarter with an 11-4 run, narrowing the gap to 53-47.
Morgan and Vorpahl then answered the call, scoring 11 of the team's first 13 points of the fourth quarter, extending the lead back to double-digits at 66-54. Later, at 3:01, Tulane recorded the final blow, as Schulte garnered an offensive rebound that led to a Madzarevic basket, handing the Wave its largest lead of the game at 70-54, before cruising to the final.
Up next, the Green Wave will return to New Orleans for one of two remaining home conference games this month, when they host Houston on Saturday, Jan. 14, streaming live on ESPN3 at 2 p.m. CT.
