Tulane University
Chicago State (Fiesta Bowl Classic)
Chicago State Comes from Behind to Trip Tulane, 65-64
Dec 3, 2005 | Women's Basketball
Dec. 3, 2005
TUCSON, Ariz. - Sophomore guard Nikki Luckhurst scored a career-high 20 points, 16 in the second half, but the Tulane women's basketball team could not hang on to a 10-point lead, suffering its first loss of the season, 65-64 to Chicago State in the opening round of the Mission Management & Trust Fiesta Bowl Classic.
With Tulane trailing 65-62 with less than 20 seconds remaining, Luckhurst's three-point attempt from two feet beyond the arc was deflected by a Chicago State player. Freshman Kendra Barnes grabbed her team-high eighth rebound and scored on the put-back at the buzzer, but the Wave fell just short, 65-64, to drop to 2-1 on the season.
"We got into some foul trouble in the second half and that was a major factor." Tulane head coach Lisa Stockton said. "With a few players wit foul problems, we had to move Megan (Valicevic, a 5-11 guard/forward) to the four, and that hurt us.
"I was really disappointed in the defense, we had the lead and then let them score twice at the end. We have a really young team and have won all of the close ones so far, but today we needed to execute down the stretch."
As Tulane built a 10-point lead, the Cougars clawed their way back to tie the game at 54 behind five points from Ayesha Neasley. Tulane regained the lead momentarily as Sands hit a five-footer and Montagnino connected on her first three of the day at the 3:21 mark to push the lead to 62-58. Neasley then hit two jumpers and connected on two free throws to give Chicago State a 65-63 advantage with 20 seconds to go.
Sophomore Jennifer Sands handed off to Luckhurst who nailed a three to extend the 29-26 halftime lead at the 19:44 mark. The Cougars (5-1) responded with six points to tie the game at 32 apiece. Luckhurst's trey to start the half was just the start of things to come for the sophomore from Duluth, Ga., as she drilled two more three-pointers in the next five minutes as the Wave moved the lead to 38-34. She then moved her game inside the arc, hitting two short jumpers on the next two times down the floor, scoring all of the Wave's points during a 13-8 run.
The Green Wave tailed by as many as five in the first half, 24-19, but a steal and a lay-up by Langford followed by another Cougar turnover that Luckhurst turned into a short jumper knotted the game at 26. The Wave extended to a three-point lead, which it carried into the intermission after Barnes hit the front end of a free throw and Sasha Staidum took and in-bounds pass from Langford and hit the shot under the basket to move the score to 29-26.
Luckhurst scored 18 of her game-high 20 points in the second frame, hitting a career-high four three-pointers while Sands added 11 and Langford tossed in 10.
"Nikki really shot the ball well, and I wish we had gotten the ball to her a little more," Stockton said. "We've had really good play from our posts to far, and didn't get it tonight. We're a balanced team and need to move the ball around a little more."
Neasley scored seven of her 13 points in the final 2:11 and Faith Buchanan scored 15 to lead the Cougars. Renada Blackburn and Tina Hill each recorded 10 points while Blackburn paced Chicago State on the boards with seven.
Tulane will face either Lehigh or host Arizona at 2 p.m. (CST) in Sunday's consolation game at the McKale Center. Following tomorrow's game, the Green Wave returns to New Orleans for its true home opener on Dec. 18 against Central Connecticut State at Fogelman Arena.
