Women's Basketball Set To Open WNIT Thursday Against Southern
Mar 16, 2011 | Women's Basketball
March 16, 2011
Coach Stockton's Comments Prior To Thursday's WNIT Opener vs. Southern
Video Interview With Coach Stockton
Tulane Game Notes in PDF Format 
NEW ORLEANS - The Tulane University women's basketball team will open postseason play on Thursday, March 17, when the Green Wave play host to the Southern Lady Jaguars in the first round of the 2011 WNIT at Fogelman Arena. Tipoff is slated for 7 p.m.
Tickets are available through the Tulane Athletics Ticket Office with student tickets selling for $4, while general admission and floor seats are available for $6 and $16, respectively. The Tulane 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) and via the Internet at www.TulaneGreenWave.com.
Fans unable to attend Thursday's game can follow the action live on the web as live video streaming is available for free and live stats will be provided via GameTracker. In addition, the game will be broadcast on the flagship state of Tulane Athletics, WIST AM 690, with Tim Grubbs handling the play-by-play duties.
"We're excited to be back in Fogelman and we're excited to be playing," Tulane head women's basketball coach Lisa Stockton said. "We've talked about this with the team and there are two kinds of teams right now - ones that are playing and ones that aren't. We've glad to be playing and we're glad to be playing at home. It's a Louisiana opponent. I think it's a great way to start. Southern has done very well this season. They won their regular-season conference title, so it should be a great game.
"I think it's great to be back at Fogelman. This is a little bonus. You don't expect to be back at your own gym again. We love playing here. I think we can build a great atmosphere here. Hopefully we'll have a great crowd tomorrow night and it'll be a lot of fun."
The Green Wave enter Thursday's WNIT opener 22-10 on the year and fresh off a trip to the Conference USA Women's Basketball Championship title game. Tulane finished fourth in the C-USA regular-season standing with a 9-7 league mark and went on to post an 83-72 quarterfinal win over East Carolina and a 70-60 upset of No. 22 Houston in the semifinals before falling to UCF in the C-USA Championship game on Saturday, 85-73.
As a team, the Green Wave are averaging 72.9 points, 38.6 rebounds, 15.8 assists, 9.8 steals and 4.8 blocks per game. Senior forward Danielle Nunn leads five Tulane players averaging double-figure scoring totals with 15.5 points per outing. Senior point guard Roshaunda Barnes is next with a 12.9 average, followed by senior forward Tiffany Aidoo at 12.8, sophomore guard Olivia Grayson at 10.8 and senior forward Brittany Lindsey at 10.5.
Junior center Brett Benzio paces the squad with 7.3 rebounds and 2.3 blocks per contest while Grayson headlines the team with 5.0 assists per game. Barnes, meanwhile, leads Tulane with 3.0 steals per outing.
"I certainly think we're playing well right now," Stockton said. "I think that's what you have to look at when you go into the postseason. Has your team peaked or are you still playing well? Well, we're still playing well. We lost a game to a very good team in the C-USA finals and we beat a Top 25 team in the semifinals. I think this team has a good run left in them and hopefully we can make that run."
Southern, meanwhile, comes to town with a 20-11 overall record and won the regular-season Southwestern Athletic Conference crown with a 15-3 mark in league play. Like Tulane, the Lady Jags advanced to the title game of their conference tournament but fell to Prairie View A&M, 48-44.
As a team, Southern is averaging 58.5 points, 41.7 rebounds, 11.8 assists, 10.5 steals and 3.9 blocks per game. Hannah Kador is the lone Lady Jaguar to average double-figure scoring totals for the year with a 13.3 mark but Freda Allen and Jamie Floyd chip in with respective averages of 9.2 and 8.9. Allen paces Southern with 7.8 rebounds and 1.3 blocks per contest, Kador has a team-leading 53 steals and Tiffany Foster paces the squad with 68 assists.
The 2011 WNIT invite marks the second consecutive year the Green Wave have advanced to the postseason and the first time a Tulane team has played past the conference tournament in back-to-back seasons since the 2001-02 and 2002-03 teams played in the NCAA Tournament. It is the Green Wave's 13th overall postseason bid - 12 of which have come under Stockton's direction - and third trip to the WNIT as Tulane also played in event following the 1993-94 and 2006-07 seasons.
Tulane is 2-3 all-time in WNIT contests. The 1994 trip to the WNIT marked the Green Wave's first-ever postseason appearance as then-head coach Candi Harvey led her team to a 78-75 win over Louisiana-Monroe in the opening round before dropping 72-66 and 71-66 decisions to Arkansas State and Pittsburgh, respectively. In its last trip to the WNIT, Tulane defeated Jackson State 76-43 on March 14, 2007, before concluding a 26-7 campaign with a 79-73 loss to Mississippi State on March 18 in Starkville, Miss.
Thursday's WNIT matchup with Southern marks the first time the two teams will face each other on the hardwood since 1984, and the Lady Jags hold a 4-1 advantage in the all-time series. Tulane's lone win along the way came on Feb. 24, 1983, when the Green Wave defeated Southern 76-67 in Fogelman Arena. The last time the two teams played, the Jaguars defeated Tulane 73-55 in New Orleans on Dec. 28, 1984.
The winner of the Tulane/Southern contest will advance to take on the winner of Thursday's TCU/Oral Roberts game, which will take place on Thursday in Fort Worth, Texas. The four teams share a bracket with Arkansas and Lamar - who will square off on Thursday in Fayetteville, Ark. - as well as Missouri State and Rice - who will play on Thursday in Springfield, Mo. Dates, times and locations for the WNIT's second-round contests will be announced after the conclusion of first-round competition.
