Tulane University
Rice
Cold-Shooting Tulane Falls to Rice, 68-56
Feb 12, 2006 | Women's Basketball
Feb. 12, 2006
NEW ORLEANS - The difference in Tulane's women's basketball game with Rice Sunday was easy to see. It all came down to hitting shots. Despite getting plenty of open looks at the basket, Tulane could not convert and the result was a 68-56 victory for the Owls at Fogelman Arena.
Tulane, which dropped to 11-10 overall, 5-7 in Conference USA action, hit just 32.4 percent of its field goals (22-of-68), including a seven-for-33 effort (21.2 percent) in the first half and was unable to overcome a deficit that grew to as many as 15 points in the second period.
"We just didn't shoot the ball well," said Tulane Head Coach Lisa Stockton, who was denied in her first bid for her 300th career head coaching victory. "We out-rebounded them and we had easy shots, but we missed too many open shots."
Freshman guard Ashley Langford was the most effective Green Wave scorer as she scored 17 points on 7-of-16 shooting while adding five assists. Jami Montagnino, with 14 points, and Jennifer Sands, with 10, were the only other Wave players in double figures. All of Tulane's scoring came from its five starters.
By contrast, Rice connected on 56.8 percent of their shots, canning 25-of-44 field goals, including a blistering 68.4 percent in the second half. Lauren Neaves led the Owls with 19 points and 12 rebounds.
Rice scored the first 10 points of the game and Tulane never really recovered. The Green Wave cut the lead to four midway through the period on a three-pointer by Nikki Luckhurst, but Rice went on an 11-4 run to close the half and took a 29-18 halftime lead.
The Owls twice built the lead to 15 points in the second half, the second time on a three-pointer by Latricia Elder at the 10:31 mark. From there, Tulane went on an 18-7 run, capped by back-to-back layups by Alendra Brown, to close the gap to 56-52 with just over four minutes remaining. But Rice's Kadie Riverin, who scored 13 points in the game, answered with a layup against the press and the Owls pulled away to improve to 11-12 overall, 7-5 in league play.
With just two weekends of play remaining before the Conference USA Tournament in Dallas, Tulane will play its final home games of the season next weekend when they play host to Marshall and East Carolina on Friday and Sunday, respectively.
Tickets for the game go on sale one hour prior to tipoff at 6 p.m. at Fogelman Arena.
-- Roll Wave --
