Tulane University
SMU
Women's Basketball Tops SMU
Dec 6, 2000 | Women's Basketball
Dec. 6, 2000
DALLAS, Texas - - Tulane post players Janell Burse, Gwen Slaughter and Teana McKiver combined for 45 points and 31 rebounds to lead the Green Wave women's basketball team to a 75-66 win over SMU at Moody Coliseum on Wednesday.
The win snaps Tulane's three-game losing streak, improving the Green Wave to 4-4 on the season. SMU falls to 4-3 overall. The Wave has now won three straight against the Mustangs, while the victory was Tulane's first road win of the season.
Tulane used a 22-4 run in the second half to turn an eight-point deficit into a 10-point lead over a span of eight minutes. SMU led 41-33 with 17:57 remaining before Tulane scored 12 straight points to claim a 45-41 lead with 14:33 left and the Wave would never trail again. SMU cut the lead to three with a free throw but a lay-up from Burse and a tough jumper in the lane from McKiver gave the Wave a seven-point cushion. SMU again hit a free throw, but a Britt Themann three-pointer and a free throw from Burse gave Tulane a 10-point lead, 55-45, with 9:44 left. Tulane would push its lead to as many as 13, 62-49, with 5:52 left. Overall, the Wave held SMU to just one field goal and eight total points over a span of more than 13 minutes, while scoring 29 points to take a 62-49 lead with 5:52 remaining.
SMU would cut the lead to eight before baskets from McKiver and Burse gave the Wave a 12-point lead. An SMU three-pointer would trim Tulane's advantage to nine before Taryn Turnbull, Sarah Goree and Burse all hit a pair of free throws to give Tulane a 15-point lead with just one minute remaining as the Wave claimed the 75-66 win.
Burse led all scorers with 23 points on 8-of-9 shooting, while pulling down 11 rebounds and blocking three shots. Slaughter tied her career high with 14 points and pulled down 14 rebounds, adding four assists, two blocks and three steals. McKiver was 4-of-5 from the floor for eight points, while also grabbing six rebounds and posting two blocked shots. The three Wave post players combined to shoot 64.3 percent from the floor (18-of-28) and block six shots.
However, the three had a lot of help from the rest of the Green Wave squad. Themann scored in double figures for the second straight game, adding 12 points and three assists. Turnbull had eight points, three assists and two steals, while Kelly Scanlon chipped in a game-high five assists and a career-high tying seven rebounds.
In all, Tulane registered assists on 21 of its 25 field goals, while hitting 47.2 percent of its shots (25-of-53), including a 61.9 percent effort (13-of-21) in the second half. The Green Wave defense also came up strong, holding SMU to just 28.9 percent shooting (22-of-76) overall, and 25.0 percent shooting (9-of-36) in the second half.
The Wave jumped out to an early lead in the first half before SMU came storming back. Tulane scored the game's first eight points before the Mustangs trimmed the cushion to five, 10-5, with 14:56 left. However, the Wave responded with a 13-0 run in which six different Tulane players scored to take a 23-5 lead with 11:20 left. From there, however, SMU held the Wave to just two field goals and nine total points for the rest of the half and used a 31-9 run to take a 36-32 lead into the lockerroom.
Tulane returns to action on Sunday, as the Green Wave travel to Baton Rouge, La., to face nationally ranked LSU. Tip-off is set for 2 p.m.
