Tulane University
16-5, 7-3
East Carolina
14-8, 5-6
Tulane Falls Short in Final Seconds Vs East Carolina
Jan 31, 2015 | Women's Basketball
NEW ORLEANS - The Tulane women's basketball squad (16-5, 7-3) did not conclude the month of January as they had hoped, as East Carolina (14-8, 5-6) avenged a loss from earlier this month by besting the Green Wave 67-63 on Saturday. Courtnie Latham recorded a season high 13 points while Chinwe Duru's 12 points was her second straight in double figures.
"I thought it was a well-played game on both ends, but we had our opportunities. We had a nice lead but East Carolina came down with four three's and were all over the court so that got them back into it. We had free throw and layup opportunities and we just didn't make the most of them," Tulane head coach Lisa Stockton said.
The first half was a back and forth affair that featured several runs from both teams along with seven lead changes. An early 7-0 run by ECU, coupled by eight Tulane turnovers in the first eight minutes, helped push the Pirates out to a 12-6 lead.
However, the Green Wave improved their ball protection (finished with 11 turnovers at half) and countered with a 13-2 run, spearheaded all from the trio of Adesuwa Ebomwonyi, Jamie Kaplan and Duru.
The half of scoring runs continued with a 10-0 stretch from ECU, which was stopped at 3:09 by a pair of free throws from Tiffany Dale to pull within three at 24-21. Yet, East Carolina took an eventual 29-23 lead into halftime, as the Wave trailed at the midway point for just the sixth time this season.
After Kolby Morgan and Danielle Blagg were both held scoreless in the first half, the Green Wave tandem scored the team's first eight points in the second. Add in a Duru basket and Morgan's seventh point of the half moments later and the Wave were just down one (36-35) at the 14:56 mark.
Next, Tulane and East Carolina traded baskets back and forth with either team able to break apart; that is until the 10:36 mark when Courtnie Latham recorded her best offensive stretch of the season, scoring 11 of the team's next 18 points to give the Wave a 59-52 lead.
Meanwhile, the Pirate offense, which was kept scoreless from 9:26 to 5:04, rallied down seven, with four consecutive three-pointers, reclaiming the lead at 61-59.
Duru then charged ahead for the Wave, connecting on two free throws to tie it at 61, and then a layup seconds later to tie it at 63 with 1:05 left in the game.
Down 65-63 after a layup from Abria Trice, Tulane had two opportunities to tie the game with under 30 seconds remaining, missing the front end of a one-and-one and then a missed layup down low in the paint. The Pirates then connected on two free throws to close it out at 67-63.
Latham's 13 points was one shy of her career high set back on Feb. 8 of last year vs UTSA. The sophomore guard tied her career high of six field goals made (6-8) and tied her season best of three steals.
In addition, Duru continues her high efficiency from the field, going 4-for-8 from the floor with a team high seven rebounds. Duru amassed a total of 25 points in two games versus the Pirates this year.
Today marked the first loss (13-1) for the Green Wave when they shot over 40 percent from the field (44.2 percent compared to ECU's 42.6), and just their second loss this season in a game decided by single digits (6-2).
Up next, the Green Wave complete their one-and-one series with SMU on Tuesday, Feb. 3, in Dallas. Tip-off is slated for 7 p.m. CT on The American Digital Network.
