Tulane University
Memphis
Women's Hoops Defeats Conference USA Foe Memphis, 75-63
Feb 20, 2011 | Women's Basketball
Feb. 20, 2011
Tulane/Memphis Game Book in PDF Format 
NEW ORLEANS - Senior forward Danielle Nunn scored a team-best 20 points to surpass the 1,000-point plateau for her collegiate career as the Tulane University women's basketball team snapped a four-game skid with a 75-63 victory over Conference USA foe Memphis Sunday evening at Fogelman Arena.
Nunn hit 5-of-7 shots from the field and all 10 of her free throw opportunities to lead the Green Wave effort. With 20 points against the Tigers, she now has 1,008 for her career - 372 at TCU from 2006-08 and 636 at Tulane over the last two seasons. With the win, the Green Wave improved to 18-8 on the year and 7-6 in C-USA action. Memphis, meanwhile, dropped its third straight contest to fall to 18-9 overall and 7-6 in league play.
"It's certainly in many ways a relief, but I felt like we did some really good things today," Tulane head women's basketball coach Lisa Stockton said. "We played a very physical team today and we handled it. We out-rebounded the No. 1 team in the conference in rebounds, so that helps. But we really won it from the free throw line."
Tulane shot 42.9 percent from the field against Memphis (24-of-56), including a 15-of-29 performance in the second half (.517). The Wave were able to capitalize on 27 personal fouls by the Tigers and hit 26-of-34 free throws on the night (.765). Memphis entered the contest atop the C-USA rankings with a plus-6.2 rebounding differential, but Tulane grabbed 42 boards to the Tigers' 36 and turned 14 offensive rebounds into 19 second-chance points.
Nunn was one of four Tulane players to post double-digit scoring totals as freshman forward Whitney Bibbins and sophomore guard Olivia Grayson had 15 each while senior point guard Roshaunda Barnes came off the bench to score 11. Junior center Brett Benzio had a game-high 11 rebounds and three blocks in 20 minutes of work off the bench and Grayson was next for the Wave with nine boards. Grayson led Tulane with seven assists while Nunn and senior forward Brittany Lindsey each posted a trio of steals.
"We've been working on it for weeks, but we were just a lot more aggressive to the basket," Stockton said of Tulane's rebounding effort. "We were in great position with their post players. We boxed them out and got position on them. The only thing I'm disappointed in is at the end not getting out on their shooters. They certainly made some tough shots."
Tulane scored the first points of the game on a Nunn layup 38 seconds into the contest but neither team could establish control early on. While the two teams traded blows over the first seven-plus minutes of the ballgame, Memphis used a 5-0 run to take a four-point lead at 15-11 with 12:31 to play before the break. The Green Wave cut the deficit to one three times over the next 3:04, but the Tigers continued to hold a four-point edge at the 7:46 mark and the scoreboard reading 23-19.
From there, Nunn hit a pair of free throws to spark a 10-0 Green Wave rally to give Tulane a 29-23 lead with 2:04 left in the first half. Memphis answered with an Alex Winchell 3-pointer and a free throw by Ramses Lonlock, but Nunn hit a jumper with 49 seconds to go in the stanza and Benzio followed with a put-back layup the next time down the court to give the Wave a 33-27 lead heading into the locker room.
Following intermission, the Green Wave came out on fire and scored 24 of the half's first 30 points to take a commanding 24-point lead at 57-33 with 11:31 to play in regulation. Memphis, however, refused to go away quietly and used a 13-0 run over the next 4:04 to make it an 11-point affair at 58-64. That, however, was as close as the Tigers would get the rest of the way as Tulane pushed its advantage to as many as 18 at 71-53 with 2:21 to go. Memphis hit four-of-five field goals - including a pair of 3-pointers - and held Tulane without a basket the rest of the way, but the big lead proved to be too much to overcome.
"We knew we were ahead and we wanted to keep the lead," Nunn said of Tulane's second-half surge. "I think that's kind of been our downfall this season, not being able to maintain when we have a lead or if we make a run. We stayed together as a team, and the one thing that we really had fun out there. We were sharing the ball a lot. We had four or five players in double figures. It felt really good to go out there and just have fun."
Winchell led all players with 22 points in the strength of a 7-of-11 performance from 3-point land, and also led Memphis with four assists. She was one of three Tigers to post double-digit scoring totals as Lonlack had 13 and Nicole Dickson came off the bench to score 123.Taylor Mumphrey led Memphis with six rebounds.
The Green Wave return to action on Thursday, Feb. 24, when they travel to Houston, Texas, to take on C-USA rival Rice at 7 p.m. (CST) at the Tudor Fieldhouse. From there, Tulane returns to Fogelman Arena to close out the home portion of the 2010-11 regular season against Tulsa at 2:30 p.m.
Tickets to 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.
