Tulane University
Louisiana Tech
Women's Basketball Falls To Louisiana Tech, 78-72
Dec 17, 2010 | Women's Basketball
Dec. 17, 2010
Tulane/Louisiana Tech Game Book in PDF Format 
NEW ORLEANS - All five Green Wave starters posted double-figure scoring totals, but it was not enough as the Tulane University women's basketball team dropped a 78-72 decision to Louisiana Tech Friday evening in Fogelman Arena.
The Lady Techster led by as many as 14 courtesy of a layup by Tarkeisha Wysinger-Mackey with 8:33 left to play in regulation which gave Louisiana Tech a 60-46 advantage. Tulane rallied to cut the deficit to three on three occasions and got it down to one on an Olivia Grayson basket with 1:51 left on the clock to make it 68-67. Louisiana Tech, however, had an answer each time to hold on for the win.
Two main reasons for the Louisiana Tech victory were free throws and rebounding. The Lady Techsters out-rebounded the Green Wave 53-26 and turned 19 offensive rebounds into 15 second-chance points. In addition, Tulane was just 17-of-31 from the free throw line while Louisiana Tech hit 17-of-28 shots from the charity stripe.
The loss snapped the Green Wave's three-game winning streak as Tulane fell to 7-2 on the year. Louisiana Tech, meanwhile, won its fourth straight game to improve to 6-3.
"I give them a lot of credit because the players that beat us tonight aren't the players who are their leading scorers," Tulane head women's basketball coach Lisa Stockton said. "(Adrienne) Johnson ended up with eight and she's averaging 23. It was people coming off the bench, other players were making plays. Every time we made a run, a different player made a play. I think that's the quality of a good team.
"It comes down to rebounding. When you lose the rebounding battle by 27 and you give them 19 offensive rebounds, that's the game. Every time we came back, we gave them an extra opportunity. We cut it to three, they got a rebound off a free throw and we gave them another possession. That can't happen if you want to beat a good team."
Senior forward Tiffany Aidoo led Tulane with 16 points, followed by Grayson and freshman wing Whitney Bibbins with 13 each, senior forward Danielle Nunn with 12 and senior point guard Roshaunda Barnes with 11. Barnes led the team with six assists and five steals.
Nunn played in her first game of the season after missing the first eight games due to a broken right pinky suffered in a preseason scrimmage. Also rejoining the team on Friday against Louisiana Tech was senior forward Brittany Lindsey, who missed the previous three games with a concussion. Lindsey finished the day with seven points, one block, one steal and a rebound.
But while Tulane welcomed the two front-court players back to the line-up, they had to take the court without one of its best rebounders as junior center Brett Benzio was in Pittsburgh, Pa., due to a death in the family.
"I thought Danielle did a great job," Stockton said. "She drew so many fouls and got a lot of (Louisiana Tech players) in foul trouble. I think her finger still bothers her on the free throws. I think she's a very good free throw shooter, but she missed a lot tonight. It was good having her back out there. She gives us some energy. Again, I'm just ready to have the whole team back at one time. We had Benzio out today and we hope to have her back on Monday. We'll just have to regroup."
The two teams traded the first eight points of the game, but Louisiana Tech broke the 4-4 tie on a jumper by Johnson to park a 12-4 rally to give the Lady Techsters a 16-8 advantage just over eight minutes into the ballgame. Tualne rallied to take a 22-21 lead on a Bibbins free throw with 6:14 left to play in the opening stanza. A back-and-fourth battle ensued, and with the score knotted at 25-all, Tulane got a Grayson 3-pointer and a Nunn layup to take a five-point advantage at the 1:50 mark. Louisiana Tech, however, answered with a layup by Kiara Young and a Jasmine Randolph 3-pointer made it a 30-30 contest heading into the break.
Louisiana Tech scored the first four points of the second half and never trailed again. The lead hovered around four points over the next seven minutes of play, but Whitney Jones sparked a 10-0 Techster rally to make it a 60-46 ballgame with 8:10 left to play. Tulane responded with a 12-1 rally to cut the deficit to three at 61-58 only to see Louisiana Tech come right back and take a 10-point lead on a pair of Johnson free throws with 3:23 on the clock.
Fueled by an energetic crowd, the Green Wave defense clamped down and the offense answered with nine straight points to make it 68-67 just over a minute and a half later, but Young hit a layup on the ensuing possession and Louisiana Tech hit 7-of-9 free throws down the stretch to walk away with the victory.
Jasmine Bendolph paced the Lady Techsters with a game-high 17 points and chipped in with seven assists. Wysinger-Mackey was next with 16 points while Whitney Jones and Kiara Young each had 12. Young posted the game's lone double-double with 12 rebounds.
The Green Wave return to action on Monday, Dec. 20, when they travel to north Louisiana to take on Louisiana-Monroe at 7 p.m. in Fant-Ewing Coliseum. From there, the team will enjoy the holiday break before resuming play on Dec 28-29 in the Tulane/DoubleTree Classic in Fogelman Arena.
Single-game tickets to future home contests are available through the Tulane Athletics Ticket Office. Floor seats are $15 while reserve and general-admission tickets can be purchased for $10 and $5, respectively. In addition, groups of 10 or more fans can purchase reserved tickets for $8 each and general admission seats go for $3 each.
The Tulane Athletics Ticket Office is located on the first floor of the James W. Wilson, Jr. Center, and tickets can be purchased in person, over the phone at (504) 861-WAVE (9283) via the Internet at www.TulaneGreenWave.com.
