Tulane University
UAB*
Women's Basketball Rally Comes Up Short
Feb 20, 2004 | Women's Basketball
Feb. 20, 2004
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - - The Tulane women's basketball team trimmed a 27-point UAB lead to just six, but could not get over the final hurdle as the Green Wave dropped an 80-74 decision to the Blazers at Bartow Arena on Friday.
Tulane falls to 9-16 overall with the loss and is now 2-10 in Conference USA play. UAB improved to 8-17 overall and is also 2-10 in league action.
UAB led 44-21 at halftime and scored the first two baskets of the second frame to build a 48-21 cushion with 18:54 left to play. The Wave slowly fought back, however, cutting the lead to 19, 51-32, at the 15:55 mark. The teams traded baskets, and UAB led 58-37 with just over 10 minutes remaining before Tulane used a 13-6 burst to trim the margin to just 14 with 6:02 left. UAB hit a three-pointer, but Kelly Nadeau answered with a three of her own and added a jumper on a fast-break before a D'Aundra Henry three-pointer cut the Blazer lead to just nine, 67-58, with 3:01 left. But from there, UAB hit nine of 12 free throws to hold off the Green Wave.
"I am proud of our team for not giving up, but we just dug ourselves too deep a hole," Tulane head coach Lisa Stockton said. "We played much better in the second half, but we couldn't quite turn the corner."
Tulane outscored UAB 53-36 in the second half, but surrendered 20 offensive rebounds to the Blazers and were outrebounded as a whole 42-37.
Sophomore D'Aundra Henry led Tulane with 18 points for her eighth double-figure outing in the last 10 contests. She also had four assists, three steals and a blocked shot. Lakethia Hampton added 17 points and four rebounds, and was 6-of-7 from the floor.
Freshman Jami Montagnino scored 13 points off the bench for Tulane and had three assists, while senior Kelly Nadeau added 11 points, five rebounds and three assists. Natasha Thomas led UAB with 27 points and 11 rebounds.
Tulane hit 60.7 percent of their shots in the second half (17-of-28), including a 7-of-12 effort from behind the three-point line after the break (58.3 percent).
Tulane returns to action on Sunday, as the Green Wave travel to face South Florida in Tampa. Game time is set for 1 p.m. CST.
