Tulane University
Memphis
No. 20 Women's Basketball Cruises Past Memphis
Jan 11, 2002 | Women's Basketball
Jan. 11, 2002
NEW ORLEANS, La. - - The 20th-ranked Tulane women's basketball team started the second half with a 19-2 run to cruise to a 77-59 win over Memphis at the Elma Roane Fieldhouse on Friday.
The Green Wave, ranked 20th by the Associated Press and 21st in the latest ESPN/USA Today Coaches' poll, improved to 14-3 overall and 2-0 in Conference USA play with the win. Memphis dropped to 7-8 overall and 1-1 in league action.
Memphis led 34-31 at halftime, but Tulane exploded out of the gate to start the second stanza. A pair of Delacey Joseph free throws brought the Wave to within one, before a Salome Hector fast-break lay-up gave Tulane a lead it would never relinquish. Teana McKiver and Gwen Slaughter hit back-to-back lay-ups to give Tulane a 41-34 advantage at the 17:00 minute mark. The Lady Tigers scored their first point of the second half on a free throw with 16:05 left to pull to within six, but Joseph quickly answered with another fast-break lay-up to give the Wave a 45-35 lead. Another Memphis free throw cut the lead to nine, but Joseph hit a long three-pointer and Slaughter scored on an offensive rebound to give Tulane a 50-36 lead at the 12:35 mark.
Memphis answered with a pair of free throws before hitting their first field goal of the second half, a Lauren Jackson three-pointer at the 11:13 mark, to cut the Tulane lead to nine. The teams traded points, and Tulane led 55-46 with 8:34 left, before the Wave used a 10-0 burst to seal the win. Hector started the run with a jumper, thanks to an assist from Sarah Goree, before Goree connected on two free throws to give Tulane a 59-46 edge. Lakethia Hampton hit the front end of a one-plus-one, but grabbed an offensive rebound on her missed second shot which led to a pair of free throws from Hector. Goree added a jumper on the baseline before McKiver capped the burst with a free throw to give Tulane a 65-46 advantage with 5:20 left.
McKiver led Tulane with 15 points on 7-of-9 shooting, despite playing just 14 minutes. She also added three rebounds, two blocks, an assist and a steal. Goree came off the bench to score 12 points while handing out five assists and grabbing a pair of steals. Joseph added 10 points for the Wave, all in the second half, and had five assists and three steals.
"This was a good team win, especially on the road early in the conference season," Tulane head coach Lisa Stockton said. "Everyone played and everyone contributed. As usual, Teana was incredible on the offensive end, but we also got scoring from almost everyone else."
Salome Hector scored a season-high nine points on 3-of-4 shooting, while Lakethia Hampton tied her career high with eight points. The freshman also pulled down eight rebounds. Gwen Slaughter had nine points and pulled down 14 rebounds, marking the fourth time in five games that she has pulled down at least 10 boards.
Tulane had nearly as many field goals in the second half (17) as Memphis had for the game (18). The Wave were 17-of-26 from the floor (65.4 percent) in the second stanza, while holding the Lady Tigers to just 28.0 percent shooting (7-of-25) after the break. For the game, Tulane was 28-of-57 (49.1 percent), while Memphis was 18-of-53 (34.0 percent).
The Wave held a 44-33 edge in rebounding, with 19 of those boards coming on the offensive end. Tulane also forced 22 Memphis turnovers, its highest total forced in seven games. Kelly Nadeau picked up a game high five steals.
Tulane is back in action on Sunday, as the Green Wave travel to face Conference USA rival Saint Louis. Tip-off is scheduled for 2 p.m., and the game can be heard on the radio in New Orleans on WRBH, which is located at 88.3 on the FM dial. The game can also be heard across the country at www.TulaneGreenWave.com.
