Tulane University
Houston
Women's Basketball Drops Overtime Decision At Houston, 90-84
Mar 5, 2011 | Women's Basketball
March 5, 2011
HOUSTON - Senior forward Danielle Nunn scored a career-high 25 points and the Green Wave connected on 47.4 percent of its shots from the field (37-of-78), but it was not enough as the Tulane University women's basketball team fell to Conference USA regular-season champion and the 24th-ranked Houston Cougars in overtime, 90-84, Saturday afternoon at Hofheinz Pavilion.
With the score knotted at 73-all at the end of regulation, Tulane held the Cougars to just one basket during the five-minute overtime period. Houston, however, took advantage of 18 trips to the free throw line in the extra fame and sank 14 of them to become just the second team in league history to finish the year undefeated in C-USA play.
In defeat, the Green Wave fell to 20-9 on the year and 9-7 in league play. Tulane will be the No. 4 seed in the upcoming Conference USA Women's Basketball Championship. Houston, meanwhile, improved to 25-4 overall and a perfect 16-0 in conference action.
"They only made one basket in overtime and the rest of them were free throws, and that was very significant," Tulane head women's basketball coach Lisa Stockton said. "I thought we played great today...We didn't get many free throws, we were only 9-for-13, and that really hurt us. Their free throws in overtime were really a back-breaker.
"I think our team really feels like we can beat them so we take a lot of confidence from this. They're a very good team and they do things very well. When it's the tournament, it's a new season. It's unfortunate to come out of here with a loss, but I felt that we played tremendously well."
Nunn hit 9-of-18 shots from the field and connected on 7-of-8 free throw opportunities to lead the Green Wave offensively. She was one of four Tulane players to post double-digit scoring totals on the day as senior point guard Roshaunda Barnes had 16 while sophomore guard Olivia Grayson and freshman forward Whitney Bibbins scored 14 apiece.
Junior center Brett Benzio came off the bench to lead the Wave with eight rebounds and fell one point shy of joining the double-digit scorers after connecting on 4-of-6 shots from the field and hitting 1-of-2 free throws. Grayson led Tulane with seven assists and Barnes had four of the team's nine steals.
Tulane got off to a good start, scoring 10 of the game's first 15 points before Houston responded with a 15-2 run to stake claim to a 20-12 advantage with 10:50 to play before the break. The Green Wave cut the deficit down to one on three occasions over the final nine minutes of the opening frame and a Bibbins jumper with five seconds on the clock made it a 44-41 contest in favor of Houston at halftime.
The Cougars opened the second half with a 6-2 run over the first 1:49 of the period to go ahead by seven at 50-43, but Tulane came back with a 12-4 run over the next four and a half minutes to claim a 55-54 advantage with 13:41 left to play in regulation. The two teams traded blows for much of the remaining time in the second half as Houston held a 68-67 lead with 3:56 to go.
Grayson put Tulane ahead by a deuce courtesy of a 3-pointer with 2:38 showing on the clock and a Nunn free throw put the Wave ahead by three 26 seconds later. With the defense keying on the Cougars' top scorers, reserve guard Jasmine Johnson - who entered the game with just six 3-pointers all year - canned a trey from the left wing to knot the score at 71-all. Houston went ahead 73-71 on a Brittany Scott layup, but Tulane came right back with a Nunn basket to tie the game for the ninth time and send the game into overtime.
The Cougars scored the opening points of the extra period as Lesslee Mason connected on a pair of free throws before Tulane tied things up on a Barnes jumper. From there, however, Johnson hit 1-of-2 free throws and Scott hit a 3-pointer to give Houston a 79-75 advantage it would not relinquish. The lead swelled to as many as six and each time Tulane cut into the deficit and fouled to stop the clock, the Cougars hit their freebies to account for the final score.
"I think their consistency is something to be impressed with," Stockton said of the Cougars. "Their 3-pointer to tie it near the end of regulation was from a player who made just five threes in conference play all year. We took their scorers away on that last possession and she hit a three. That's what good teams do - everyone is able to step up. I don't know that in the history of the conference one team has had three scorers in the top five in the league. That speaks a lot of just how dominant some of their players are."
Scott led Houston with a game-high 28 points while Courtney Taylor and Mason followed with respective totals of 24 and 12. Taylor led all players with 14 rebounds while Scott and Johnson each had five assists each. Johnson, Brittany Mason and Porsche Landry each posted a trio of steals in the Cougar victory.
The Green Wave return to action on Thursday, March 10, when they open play in the 2011 Conference USA Women's Basketball Championship in El Paso, Texas. The four-day tournament concludes on Saturday, March 12, with the winner of the championship game receiving the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
