Women's BBall Set to Host 19th Annual DoubleTree Classic
Dec 16, 2014 | Women's Basketball
| 19th Annual Tulane DoubleTree Classic featuring Tulane, Miami, Samford and UCLA | |
| Tourney Central | Click Here |
| Thursday, Dec. 18 | Game 1: UCLA (3-4) vs. Miami (7-2), 5 p.m. CT Game 2: Samford (5-4) vs. Tulane (7-1), 7 p.m. CT |
| Friday, Dec. 19 | Game 3: Samford vs. UCLA, 5 p.m. CT Game 4: Miami vs. Tulane, 7 p.m. CT |
| Where | New Orleans | Devlin Fieldhouse (4,100) |
| Interviews | Coach Stockton | Danielle Blagg |
| Tickets | Buy tickets | $20 courtside | $10 Chairback | $5 Bleacher For more info call 504-861-WAVE (9283) ***Ticket counts for both games that day |
| Watch Tulane Online | All-Access vs Samford | All-Access vs Miami |
| Listen | WRBH 88.3 FM - Gus Kattengell (play-by-play) |
| Live Stats | | Game 2 | | Game 4 |
| Printable Notes | Tulane | American | Samford | Miami | UCLA |
| Social Media | @GreenWaveWBB  | #RollWave | Facebook  | YouTube |
| Promotions | Liberty Cheesesteak coupon giveaways |
| Tulane Probable Starters | |||||||||
| Pos. | No. | Name | Ht. | Yr. | PPG | RPG | Other | ||
| G | 3 | Kolby Morgan | 5-8 | Fr. | 14.6 | 5.9 | .523 field goal percentage | ||
| G | 23 | Jamie Kaplan | 5-8 | Sr. | 7.4 | 1.8 | 4.3 assists per game | ||
| G | 20 | Danielle Blagg | 5-11 | Sr. | 8.6 | 3.6 | 1.8 three pointers per game | ||
| F | 30 | Tierra Jones | 5-9 | Jr. | 7.3 | 4.8 | .742 field goal percentage | ||
| C | 45 | Chinwe Duru | 6-2 | Jr. | 6.0 | 3.6 | 0.9 blocks per game | ||
NEW ORLEANS - The Tulane women's basketball team (7-1) look to continue their hot start to the season when they begin a three game home-stand starting with the DoubleTree Classic, Dec. 18-19, inside Devlin Fieldhouse. UCLA (3-4) and Miami (7-2) will kick-off the two day tournament on Thursday at 5 p.m. CT, followed immediately by Tulane and Samford (5-4) at 7 p.m. On Friday, UCLA takes on Samford at 5 p.m., once again followed by Tulane at 7 p.m. vs the Hurricanes.
"We are going up against a very good Samford team Thursday, who are really tough to play with their style," Tulane head coach Lisa Stockton said. "Then on Friday, it's going to be a physical game against a quality ACC team in Miami. Hopefully we can get some people from the community to come in and enjoy what's going to be a great week of basketball."
"It's always a challenge, especially when the team is playing well and had some momentum heading into exams," Stockton stated on the squad coming off of finals week. "Coming out and trying to have that same sharpness is a challenge. The nice thing though is that their minds are free and there's not any extra pressure on them."
Last time out, Tulane became the first team this season to not only deliver Arkansas-Little Rock its first loss of the year (5-1), but also score 60+ points (74-58) on the then sixth nationally ranked Trojan defense. Leslie Vorpahl erupted with a career tying 22 points and season high five rebounds.
In addition, senior guard Danielle Blagg hopes to capture a historic moment in front of the home crowd this week. The San Antonio native, who averages 8.6 points per game, needs just eight points to reach the 1,000 career points mark. Blagg would become the 26th Green Wave player to achieve the feat.
The DoubleTree Classic originated in 1996 with the Green Wave claiming the inaugural tourney title with a 105-72 win over Colorado State. The victory marked the first of what would be 15 DoubleTree Classic championships over the next 18 years.
Last year, Jamie Kaplan was named MVP after averaging 13.0 points, 6.5 assists and 3.0 rebounds over the two game span. Kaplan was joined by Tiffany Dale and Tierra Jones on the All-Tournament Team.
This year marks the first time that the DoubleTree Classic will venture away from the classic tournament format. Instead, each team will play a pre-determined opponent each day. However, a MVP and All-Tournament Team will still be chosen.
Tulane and Samford have only met once in the series history, but it was in familiar territory, clashing in the DoubleTree Classic back on Dec. 28, 2005, where the Bulldogs bested the Wave 64-55.
After winning three of its first four games this season, Samford has failed to win consecutive games since. The Bulldogs are coming off of a 64-41 loss at Auburn on Dec. 14. They are shooting .452 from the field and .386 from beyond the arc, which rank 34th and 21st in the country, respectively.
Hannah Nichols leads Samford's offense with 14.2 points per game, primarily thanks to superb three-point shooting. The 5'10" sophomore guard ranks 14th in the nation in both three-point field goals per game (3.2) and three-point field goal percentage (.509).
Then on Friday, the Olive and Blue will once again try to conquer another top-15 nationally ranked defense in the Miami Hurricanes. Like the Wave, Miami's defense is surrendering just 52.1 points per game, but also forcing 22.7 turnovers and averaging 12.3 steals.
Adrienne Motley leads the squad averaging 16.0 points per game. The sophomore guard's .547 shooting percentage ranks 46th in the country.
Tulane leads the series vs Miami, 2-1. The series started back on March 6, 1987, with a 76-72 loss on the road. The Wave then bounced back with consecutive victories at home in Nov. of 1998 (63-56) and Nov. of 1999 (75-66).
Fans can follow along the live stats via Gametracker for every game of the tournament, as there will also be a stream made available for the games featuring the Green Wave via Tulane All-Access. Both can be accessed on tulanegreenwave.com
Tickets can be purchased by either calling the Tulane ticket office at 504-861-WAVE (9283), online at tulanegreenwave.com, or in person at the Wilson Athletics Center on Ben Weiner Drive between 9 am - 5 pm. In addition, tickets are good for both games on the day you purchased them for. Single game prices include: $20 courtside, $10 chairback and $5 bleacher.
