Tulane University
7-1
Arkansas-Little Rock
5-1
Tulane Earns 74-58 Road Win at Arkansas-Little Rock
Dec 6, 2014 | Women's Basketball
Box Score | Printable Box | Vorpahl Interview
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - The Tulane women's basketball team (7-1) picked up a big win on the road Saturday afternoon, handing Arkansas-Little Rock (5-1) its first loss of the season with a 74-58 victory inside the Jack Stephens Center. The Green Wave were the first team this season to score 60+ points on a Trojans defense that ranked sixth in the country.
"I thought we beat a very good team today," said Tulane head coach Lisa Stockton. "Obviously, their defense is really tough to go up against, but I loved to see how we came out in the second half and were aggressive offensively."
Leslie Vorpahl tied her career high with a 22-point performance. The sophomore, who entered the contest just 2-of-18 from beyond the arc, connected on 4-of-6 three's Saturday, also tying a career high for made three-pointers. Lastly, Vorpahl also got it done on the free-throw line with a 6-for-7 day.
"It was only a matter of time with Leslie," Stockton stated. "She is such a good shooter and offensive player. She struggled a little bit in those first few games, and I'm happy we survived them, because she's such an instrumental part to our game. It was good to see her in rhythm, confident, and taking those shots."
At the first media timeout (15:52), Tulane's offense was still finding its rhythm, with only a Morgan three-pointer and three offensive fouls to their name. Next, a Ka'Nesheia Cobbins layup pushed UALR's lead to 8-3 with just under 15 minutes remaining in the opening half.
However, the Wave quickly shifted the tide and captured the momentum with an 11-0 run, capped by three successful free throws by Vorpahl to move the score to 14-8. In fact, it was Tulane's free throw shooting that helped the squad gain and sustain their first half lead as they converted on 7-of-9 attempts.
Up 20-13 after a Chinwe Duru layup at 6:36, the Trojans rallied to pull within three (22-19) with 1:49 left in the first half. Yet, Vorpahl's three-point shooting would answer the call, connecting on back-to-back treys to help the Wave take a 28-22 lead into halftime.
The Green Wave defense also played a major part in the squad's halftime lead. The Trojan offense, which started 4-for-7 from the field with all eight of their points coming in the paint, only sunk four of their next 19 shots, with only two more of those points coming in the paint.
The second half witnessed the Olive and Blue record their highest field goal percentage in a half this season, shooting 65.4 percent (17-for-26). Tulane started the stanza on a 15-1 run and built a lead as large as 23 points at the 14:32 mark. In addition, the Wave reached their first half points total (28 pts) just seven minutes and 35 seconds into the half.
Tiffany Dale tallied 11 points in the second half as she finished with a season high of 13. The senior shot 6-of-9 from the field and recorded three rebounds, two assists, one block and one steal. Furthermore, freshman Kolby Morgan scored 10 points, making it her eighth straight game in double figures.
Meanwhile, Tierra Jones was busy on the boards, earning her first double-digit rebound game of the year with 10. In addition, senior guard Danielle Blagg crept closer to 1,000 career points, adding three today to get to 992.
Team wise, Tulane outrebounded UALR 37-32 and finished with 32 points in the paint and 44 bench points, with the latter being the second highest of the season. Also, the Olive and Blue tallied its fifth game this season in which they forced 20+ turnovers, earning 22 today, in which they converted into 23 points.
Up next, Tulane will have a week off from games for final exams then return to action Dec. 18-19 when they host the DoubleTree Classic inside Devlin Fieldhouse. The Green Wave will clash with Samford on the 18th at 7 p.m. CT before taking on Miami the next day at 7 p.m. as well.
