Tulane University
Pennsylvania
Women's Basketball Powers Past Penn
Dec 8, 2001 | Women's Basketball
Dec. 8, 2001
NEW ORLEANS, La. - -
Delacey Joseph took care of the first half and Teana McKiver took care of the second to lead No. 25 Tulane to an 82-64 win over defending Ivy League champions Pennsylvania at Fogelman Arena on Saturday.
Joseph had 12 points in the first half to help the Green Wave build a 38-22 lead at the break. In the second half, when Penn tried to rally, McKiver scored 14 of her game-high 19 points to give Tulane (8-1) its fourth straight win. The Green Wave are ranked 25th in the lastest ESPN/USA Today Coaches' poll. After opening the year with a pair of victories, Penn lost its sixth straight to fall to 2-6 overall.
The Green Wave held Penn without a field goal for nearly eight minutes to start the game. After the Quakers' first field goal cut Tulane's lead to 13-5, Joseph, Britt Themann and Sarah Goree each hit three-pointers as part of a 17-4 Wave burst that gave Tulane a 30-9 cushion with 6:23 left. Penn scored nine straight points to pull to within 12, but Kelly Nadeau hit another three-pointer and Joseph added a pair of fast-break lay-ups to give the Green Wave a 38-18 lead with one minute left in the half and Tulane would take a 38-22 lead into the break.
When Penn rallied in the second half, Tulane turned to its inside duo of McKiver and Gwen Slaughter. The Quakers twice cut the lead to just 13 points, the second time coming with 3:28 left, but McKiver answered with a lay-up each time.
McKiver had just five points at the break, but was 5-of-8 from the floor and 4-of-6 from the free throw line in the second half to finish with a game-high 19 points. She just missed a double-double with nine rebounds. Slaughter had six points and six rebounds in each half to finish with 12 points and 12 rebounds, recording her fourth double-double of the year. She also added four assists, five blocks and two steals.
"We knew coming in that Penn was a good team and that they won their conference last season," Tulane head coach Lisa Stockton said. "I was really happy with the way we came out and played defense in the first half. We were very aggressive and got our hands on a lot of balls. In the second half, we weren't as aggressive until we needed to be. We had the game under control, but when they made a comeback, we responded."
Joseph finished with 16 points and three assists for Tulane, while Kelly Nadeau hit three three-pointers as part of a 12-point, five assist performance. Sarah Goree added nine points, four rebounds and three assists.
The Green Wave held Penn to just 34.8 percent shooting, including just a 24.1 percent (7-of-29) showing in the first half. Perhaps more impressively, Tulane held Penn without a three-point field goal as the Quakers were 0-of-18 from behind the arc.
As a team, Tulane connected on 28-of-56 shots (50.0 percent), including a 57.7 percent effort in the second half (15-of-26). The Wave recorded six blocked shots but had to overcome a season-high 27 turnovers.
Tulane continues action on Tuesday, Dec. 11, as the Green Wave play host to in-state rival Nicholls State at Fogelman Arena. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m.
