Tulane University
Marquette
Women's Basketball Tops Marquette
Feb 2, 2001 | Women's Basketball
Feb. 2, 2001
MILWAUKEE, Wis. - - The Tulane women's basketball team built a 20-point second half lead and then held off a Marquette rally, as the Green Wave posted a 78-66 win over the Golden Eagles at the U.S. Cellular Arena on Friday.
Tulane improved to 15-7 overall with the win and stands atop the Conference USA National Division with an 8-2 league mark. Marquette dropped to 9-11 overall and are 5-4 in league action.
The Green Wave led by as many as 20, 66-46, with 7:05 left before the Golden Eagles began to cut into the lead. Marquette scored five straight points to trim the lead to 15 when Teana McKiver scored on a lay-up to give Tulane a 49-66 advantage. Marquette answered with a three-pointer to cut the deficit to 14 before McKiver hit two free throws to restore the 16-point lead. The teams traded points, and Tulane led 72-56, when Marquette used an 8-1 burst to pull to within nine, 73-64, at the 1:57 mark. But from there, the Tulane defense held strong, stopping the Golden Eagles on three straight possessions and the Wave connected on five of six free throws inside the final 61 seconds to hold on for the 78-66 victory.
Janell Burse led all scorers with 18 points and nine rebounds, while Gwen Slaughter posted her seventh double-double of the year with 16 points and 10 rebounds. She also added four blocked shots and three steals. Sarah Goree scored 11 points, giving her double figures for the seventh time in eight games. McKiver chipped in with 10 points and seven rebounds. Senior Taryn Turnbull dished out a career-high nine assists, while committing just one turnover in 32 minutes of action.
Tulane scored the first six points of the game and led 12-4 when Marquette scored seven straight points to pull to within one, 12-11, with 10:28 left. The Wave used a Kelly Nadeau three pointer and two free throws from Gwen Slaughter to build a six point cushion. The teams traded points before Tulane used a 10-2 run to build a 33-21 lead with 1:13 left. McKiver started the run with a lay-up and Slaughter scored eight straight points, but Marquette's Kristi Johnson hit a jumper with two seconds left to cut the Wave lead to 33-23 at halftime.
Marquette scored the first point of the second half with a free throw when Tulane again scored six straight points to give the Wave a 39-24 lead at the 18:16 mark. The teams traded points before a Sarah Goree hit a three-pointer to give Tulane a 46-28 lead with 15:55 left. Marquette rallied to trim the lead to 11, but the Wave would extend its lead to as many as 20 before the Eagles fought back.
Sarah Zawodny led Marquette with 17 points and 12 rebounds, but she was the only Golden Eagle player in double figures. The Wave held Heidi Bowman, Marquette's leading scorer coming in, to just seven points, less than half of her 14.7 points per game average. The Tulane started outscored the Marquette starters 50-37.
Marquette held a 43-41 edge in rebounding, marking just the third time in 22 games this year that the Wave have been outrebounded. Tulane did hold the Golden Eagles to just 36.8 percent shooting, while connecting on 28-of-54 shots (51.9 percent). It marked the sixth time in the last eight games that Tulane has made over 50.0 percent of its shots.
Tulane returns to action on Sunday, as the Green Wave travel to face Conference USA rival DePaul in a game that will be broadcast nationally on ESPN2. Tip-off is set for 4 p.m. CST.
