Tulane University
14-3, 5-1
SMU
4-13, 0-6
Late Game Heroics Lift WBB 60-58 over SMU
Jan 17, 2015 | Women's Basketball
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NEW ORLEANS - At UCF this past Tuesday, the Tulane women's basketball team (14-3, 5-1) counted on their offense to deliver the game winner, and on Saturday afternoon, it was the Green Wave's defense that closed out a 60-58 win over the visiting SMU Mustangs (4-13, 0-6). Senior Danielle Blagg and sophomore Leslie Vorpahl paved the way for Tulane on both ends of the court, recording 16 points each and a combined 12 steals.
"I think you can learn a lot from games like this. One of the things we just talked about in the locker room is getting hungry again and making sure we play scrappy in the first half (as well)," Tulane head coach Lisa Stockton said. "We played with a lot more energy in the second half. We played more aggressively on offense and defensively we scrapped more for rebounds."
The beginning of the first half was a back and forth battle that featured seven lead changes. By the halfway mark of the period, SMU had built an early 16-11 lead primarily thanks to a 5-for-5 start from the free-throw line.
Tulane then rallied behind the scoring efforts of Vorpahl and Blagg, who recorded 11 of the squad's next 12 points, to pull the Green Wave within two at 25-23 with four minutes to go till half. However, the Mustangs surged to a 35-29 lead at halftime backed by a .419 shooting performance from the floor, including a 4-for-8 start from three point range.
Next, the Olive and Blue delivered an energized performance to start the second half, especially on the defensive end. Within the first two minutes alone, Tulane caused a shot clock violation and turned two turnovers into a 5-0 run thanks to a fast break lay-up from Tierra Jones and a three-pointer from Blagg.
At the 13:37 mark, Blagg hit her fourth trey in as many attempts to give Tulane its first lead since the 12:00 minute mark with the score now 41-39. Over the next nine minutes, Tulane and SMU traded baskets resulting in five different ties and a 50-50 score with just under five minutes to play.
After SMU scored seven straight points on free throws to take a 57-52 lead, Leslie Vorpahl stepped up in a big way for the Green Wave. The San Antonio native scored six of the team's final eight points, including the go-ahead three pointer at 1:26 to go up 59-58, and a final free throw with three seconds left to get to the final score of 60.
Not too be overshadowed by Vorpahl's late game heroics was Tulane's defense down the stretch. The Wave did not allow SMU to register a point in the final two minutes and 38 seconds, which included a defensive stand in the final 10 seconds of the game. In addition, Tulane held SMU to 28 percent (7-of-25) shooting in the second half and just 1-of-8 from beyond the arc.
Meanwhile, Tulane shot 44.2 percent from the field, 41.7 percent from three-point range and 9-of-16 from the free throw line. Also to note, the Wave are now 6-1 in games decided by single digits this season.
"I do think it gives a team a lot of confidence in the last minute when they know they can win it," Stockton said. "I know we have some real gamers that can turn it on and get rebounds and make shots at the end of the game, and that's something you can't teach. Every game we win like this, it really adds to that confidence."
Both Blagg and Vorpahl's 16 points came via eight points in the first and eight points in the second half. Blagg recorded her third straight game in double figures and nearly got her first double-double on the year with nine rebounds. The senior shot 6-of-12 from the floor and tied her career high with seven steals.
Speaking of steals, Vorpahl set a new career high with five this afternoon. The sophomore, finished 6-of-11 from the field and dished out a team high five assists.
Up next, the Green Wave will remain home to clash with Tulsa on Tuesday, Jan. 20. The game will air live on The American Digital Network at 7 p.m. CT.
