Tulane University
UCF
Women's Basketball Falls At UCF In Overtime, 73-69
Feb 17, 2011 | Women's Basketball
Feb. 17, 2011
Tulane/UCF Game Book in PDF Format 
ORLANDO, Fla. - A year ago, the Green Wave found a way to overcame a pair of late deficits to post come-from-behind victories over the UCF Knights. On Thursday evening at the UCF Arena, however, it was the Knights' turn to exact some revenge as the Tulane University women's basketball team dropped a 73-69 overtime decision in Conference USA action.
Tulane led by 10 at 53-43 with 7:28 left to play in the second half but UCF outscored the Green Wave 13-6 the rest of the half before scoring the first points of the extra period and never trailed again,. Along the way, UCF held the Green Wave without a field goal for a 10:52 stretch spanning the final 6:23 of regulation and the first 4:26 of overtime as Tulane was 0-for-9 from the field during that span.
The loss was the Green Wave's fourth in a row and the sixth in their last eight contests. In defeat, Tulane falls to 17-8 on the year and 6-6 in C-USA play. UCF, meanwhile, improves to 15-10 overall and 8-4 in league action.
"As coaches, we don't always know what to say," Tulane head women's basketball coach Lisa Stockton said. "We've lost five games by four points or less. We've lost three in overtime games by four points. We're right there...There's always one stat and it always changes. Tonight, it was 22 (UCF) offensive rebounds. There was so much contact in the paint, we get called for some fouls and then they get some free throws at the end of the game. I thought we did a great job most of the game of not putting them on the free throw line at all. Then, at the end of the game when it gets physical, they're on the free throw line.
"We have a good team. There are a lot of things we do well and it's always something that steps up and gets us. We needed a couple of stops and didn't get them. We needed a couple of rebounds and didn't get them. It wasn't really converting on the other end until the very end when we had some shots roll out. It's just right there. It's not good enough and all you can do is keep fighting."
As a team, Tulane connected on 40.6 percent of its shots for the night (26-of-64) and held the Knights to a .329 clip (24-of-73). UCF out-rebounded the Wave 49-43 and turned 22 boards off the offensive glass into 19 second-chance points. Sixteen of UCF's offensive rebounds came after halftime and the caroms wound up becoming 16 points for the Knights.
Senior forward Brittany Lindsey was one of four Tulane players to finish with double-digit scoring totals and led the team with 16 points. Sophomore guard Olivia Grayson was next with 15, followed by reserve Danielle Nunn with 14 and senior forward Tiffany Aidoo with 10.
Lindsey also led the Wave with nine rebounds and shared team-high blocks honors along with senior point guard Roshaunda Barnes, junior center Brett Benzio and freshman forward Whitney Bibbins with one each. Grayson and Barnes both posted five assists and Aidoo paced the Green Wave defense with two steals.
Tulane scored the first four points of the ballgame only to see UCF score the next 10 and use a 10-5 rally midway through the stanza to take a 10-point advantage at 21-11 with 10:56 to go before the break. The Green Wave answered with a 16-4 run over the next 6:54 to take a 27-25 lead and the two teams went into the locker room at halftime deadlocked at 29-all.
The two teams traded blows early in the second half, and Tulane used a 17-6 rally over the next eight minutes to turn a 37-36 deficit into a 53-43 lead at the 7:28 mark. From there, however, UCF's Jalesa Caldwell canned a 3-pointer and Bibbins answered with a layup on the ensuing possession to make it 55-46 with 6:23 left in regulation.
That would be the Green Wave's last field goal the rest of the half and UCF outscored Tulane 13-4 the remainder of the half to send the game to overtime. Tulane had two chances to win at the end of regulation, but Nunn's layup rolled in and out, Grayson's jumper from seven-feet out was off the mark and the buzzer sounded with players scrambling for the rebound.
"I think there were some good looks," Stockton said of her team's shots down the stretch. "At the end of regulation, that wasn't the look we were looking for. Turtle got into the paint and got a look that could win in. We got a seven-foot shot and that's what you need. A couple of the shots we got in the paint, they fouled us and we got to the free throw line. Again, you just get some stops in that time and you can use your offense to milk the clock a little bit. We just didn't get them."
Both teams missed shots to open the overtime period, but UCF's D'Nay Daniels broke the deadlock with a layup 45 seconds into the extra frame to give the Knights a 61-59 lead. A pair of Aidoo free throws tied the game at 61-all but two Chelsie Wiley free throws put UCF on top 63-61 and UCF did not trail again. Lindsey hit one of two free throws the next time down the court to cut the deficit to one before Aisha Patrick sandwiched a pair of free throws around a Caldwell layup to put the Knights up 67-62.
Grayson snapped Tulane's field goal drought with a 3-pointer with 34 seconds to go to make it 67-65. UCF, however, hit 6-of-8 free throws the rest of the way to put the game out of reach.
"I thought our defensive execution today was as good as we've had in conference play this season," Stockton said. "I thought that was very, very good. I thought we were very focused. You look at those last five minutes of regulation and those five minutes of overtime, and they just made plays. That's what I told our team. They made plays at the end of the game. We didn't give them those rebounds. They got them. They went out there and got them.
"They hit some free throws. One player stood up there who is a 40 percent free throw shooter and she hit two. They did that and I give them a lot of credit. It's a tough loss because I thought we were a lot better today."
Daniels led all players with 17 points and Patrick posted a double-double with 15 points and a game-high 15 rebounds. Gevenia Carter also scored 15 points and Caldwell finished with 12. Patrick paced the Knights with four assists and Day had a game-best five steals.
The Green Wave return to action on Sunday, Feb. 20, when they play host to Memphis at 5 p.m. in Fogelman Arena. That game will be televised nationally on CBS College Sports Network. Tickets to all Tulane 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.
