Tulane University
NICHOLLS STATE
Women's Basketball Races Past Nicholls State
Dec 11, 2001 | Women's Basketball
Dec. 11, 2001
NEW ORLEANS, La. - -
No. 22 Tulane 71, Nicholls State 48
No. 22 Tulane used a 28-0 run that spanned both halves to post a 71-48 win over in-state rival Nicholls State at Fogelman Arena on Tuesday.
It was Tulane's final game before semester exams, improving the 22nd-ranked Green Wave to 9-1 overall. The Wave are listed 22nd in both the Associated Press and ESPN/USA Today Coaches' polls. Nicholls State lost its second straight game to fall to 3-3.
"Its always nice to get a win right before the kids start exams," Tulane head coach Lisa Stockton said. "We started out a little slowly, but we responded at the end of the first half and beginning of the second. Games against in-state schools are always tough, and this was no exception. It took us a while, but we finally got things going our way."
Nicholls State held a narrow 24-22 lead with 3:44 left in the first half before Tulane used a 12-0 burst to claim a 34-24 lead at the break. Gwen Slaughter tied the scored with a lay-up before Teana McKiver gave Tulane the lead for good with three straight baskets. A pair of Tiffany Wilson free throws pushed the Wave lead to eight while Gwen Slaughter's lay-up capped the burst to give Tulane a 34-24 halftime lead.
Tulane scored the first 16 points of the second half to break the game open. A steal from Salome Hector led to a Delacey Joseph lay-up while Slaughter hit back-to-back lay-ups to give the Wave a 40-24 lead at the 18:38 mark. McKiver added a jumper in the lane before Joseph hit a three-pointer and another lay-up to push the Tulane advantage to 23. Sarah Goree capped the burst with a three-pointer, giving the Green Wave a 50-24 lead with 14:29 left in the game.
Joseph, who was named Conference USA's Player of the Week on Monday, hit four three-pointers as part of a 16 point, four rebound, two assist performance. Britt Themann came off the bench to score a season-best 13 points, connecting on three three-pointers of her own.
McKiver and Slaughter each scored 12 points, with McKiver adding 12 rebounds for her second double-double of the year. Slaughter also contributed two assists and three steals, while McKiver had a pair of blocks.
Heidi Broussard got Nicholls State off to a fast start, scoring 14 of her team's first 17 points to give the Colonels a 17-13 lead at the 13:21 mark. A Slaughter lay-up brought Tulane to within two, but Jessica Gipson hit a three-pointer to give the Colonels their biggest lead of the night, 20-15. However, Themann answered with a three-pointer and McKiver hit a lay-up to even the score at 20-20.
Tulane was 16-of-32 from the floor (50.0 percent) in the second half, finishing 30-of-65 for the game (46.2 percent). Nicholls State was just 19-of-58 from the floor (32.8 percent) and committed 28 turnovers which led to 32 Tulane points. The Green Wave committed 23 turnover of their own, but Nicholls converted those miscues into just 12 points.
The Green Wave held a 43-32 edge in rebounding and handed out 25 assists, with eight coming from Goree. Tulane also got a sizeable contribution from its bench, as the Green Wave reserves outscored their counterparts 25-7.
After a 10-day break for semester exams, Tulane returns to action on Fri., Dec. 21, as the Green Wave travel to face Drake.
