Tulane University
South Alabama
Women's Hoops Rallies To Defeat South Alabama, 73-71
Dec 1, 2009 | Women's Basketball
Dec. 1, 2009
MOBILE, Ala. - Senior guard Chassity Brown scored 14 of her 19 points in the second half, but none was bigger than her layup with 4.7 seconds left in regulation to lift the Tulane University women's basketball team to a 73-71 win at South Alabama Tuesday evening at the Mitchell Center.
The Green Wave led by four at 70-66 with 1:56 left to play but the Jaguars' Shakira Nettles sandwiched a layup and a 3-pointer around a free throw by Tulane freshman Olivia Grayson to tie the game. Brown took the inbounds pass, drove the length of the floor and converted the biggest shot of the game to help the Wave improve to 3-2 on the season. South Alabama, meanwhile, falls to 2-4.
"I think the defense tried to double team her a little bit with the ball, and that really gave her the seam to go full court," Tulane head coach Lisa Stockton said of Brown's game-winner. "She's so good at that. I was glad to see her take it to the basket and finish."
The Green Wave shot 58.8 percent from the field, connecting on 30-of-51 shots and hit a season-best 85.7 percent of its free throws (12-of-14). Tulane's defense, meanwhile, held South Alabama to a .446 clip (29-of-65), including a 38.7 shooting percentage in the second half when the Jags hit just 12-of-31 shots.
Brown was one of three Tulane players to finish with a double-digit scoring total as junior forward Brittany Lindsey had 21 and sophomore center Brett Benzio added 18. Benzio paced the Green Wave with a game-high eight rebounds while junior point guard Roshaunda Barnes tied a career high with seven assists.
South Alabama was able to keep pace by hitting seven 3-pointers and turning 13 offensive rebounds into 10 second-chance points. Tulane, however, used its size advantage to outscore the Jaguars in the paint, 52-30, including Brown's game-winner.
"Shooting 58 percent and feeling lucky that you win is ridiculous," Stockton said. "They (South Alabama) have so many players that can shoot the three. It was definitely a mismatch. You look at our two posts with 21 and 18, so they definitely couldn't guard our post. And I thought our posts had a hard time guarding their wings. It was kind of a stubborn contest to see who was going to win it."
The game began as a back-and-forth battle as the first half featured five ties and eight lead changes. South Alabama jumped out to an early 6-2 lead and Tulane took its first advantage of the night at 11-10 when Brown hit her first jump shot of the night with 14:58 left in the opening stanza. The Green Wave led by as many as eight at 32-24 and later at 34-26 before South Alabama went on an 8-0 run to tie the game at 34-all with 1:11 to go before the break.
A Brown 3-pointer, the Green Wave's lone trey of the night, put Tulane back on top but the Jaguars' Tashley Gaines converted a layup and an and-one free throw to tie the contest before she hit the second half of a two-shot foul with 0.3 seconds left on the clock to give the Jaguars a 38-37 lead going into the locker room.
Down by one, the Green Wave scored the first nine points of the second half to take a 46-38 advantage just under three minutes into the stanza. The Tulane advantage swelled to nine at 43-52, but the Jaguars used a 15-2 rally to take a 58-54 lead with 7:28 left to play. The Green Wave rallied to reclaim a 59-58 lead only to see South Alabama answer with a 6-2 rally to take a 64-61 advantage with just over four minutes left to play.
From there, however, the Green Wave defense came up with three consecutive steals and converted them into six points on two layups and a pair of free throws to take a 70-66 lead to set up the late-game dramatics.
"I think we played really hard," Stockton said. "They're a difficult team to play because of their offense. A five-out motion is not something we've ever seen with a team this athletic. They haven't shot the three very well all year consistently. They did shoot it well tonight and that was our biggest fear tonight, that if they shot the ball well it would be a game."
Christian Shelter tied Lindsey for game-high scoring honors with 21 points while Nettles followed with 17, Tashley Gaines had 13 and Sarda Peterson added 10. Cylenthia Kennon paced South Alabama with six rebounds while Nettles led the Jags with four assists.
The Green Wave return to action on Friday, Dec. 4 when they open play in the Big Easy Classic against Prairie View A&M at 7 p.m. in Fogelman Arena. The Big Easy Classic is co-hosted by cross-town rival University of New Orleans and Saturday's game against Longwood will take place at UNO's Lakefront Arena at 3:30 p.m.
For tickets to this weekend's Big Easy Classic, as well as future Green Wave events, may be purchase in person on the first floor of the James W. Wilson, Jr., Center, over the phone at (504) 861-WAVE (9283), or online at www.TulaneGreenWave.com. Tickets can also be purchase on the date of competition at Fogelman Arena.
In addition, fans are encouraged to bring a non-perishable, canned-food item to any Tulane basketball game through Dec. 22 to receive $1 off regular general admission prices. All proceeds from the food drive benefit the New Orleans Second Harvest Food Bank.
