Tulane University
11-3, 2-1
USF
12-3, 3-0
Cold Shooting Plagues Tulane in 53-40 Loss to USF
Jan 4, 2015 | Women's Basketball
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NEW ORLEANS - A rare cold shooting day plagued the Tulane University women's basketball team (11-3, 2-1) as they suffered their first loss in the American Athletic Conference to the University of South Florida. The Bulls picked up the 53-40 win inside Devlin Fieldhouse on Sunday to move to 12-3 overall and 3-0 in the conference.
Tulane shot a season low 24.6 percent (16-of-65) from the field, including a 2-for-21 day from three-point range, as Leslie Vorpahl and Courtnie Latham hit both the lone treys in the first half. Meanwhile, the Bulls shot 37.3 percent (19-of-51) from the floor.
"Overall, it's really hard to stay in the game when you can't make shots," Tulane head coach Lisa Stockton said. "We battled defensively, out-rebounded them in the first half and we were doing everything we needed to do. We thought that if we came out in the second half and just got our offense going (we could come back), but we just couldn't hit the shots."
It was a back and forth battle in the early goings with both teams' defenses creating problems for the other. With the score tied at six in the opening minutes, South Florida recorded six straight points, only to be countered by a 7-2 run by Tulane to pull within one. However, Chinwe Duru's lay-up at 9:29 to cut the deficit to 14-13 would be the last field goal for the Wave for the next eight and a half minutes, only recording two free throws in that span.
Courtnie Latham's three-pointer with 48 seconds left ended the field goal draught and pulled the Green Wave within six points (24-18) as USF took an eventual 26-18 lead into halftime.
After a quick South Florida basket to start the second half pushed their lead to 10 points, Tulane created an 8-2 run via a combination of great rebounding and an up-tempo attack with layups from Danielle Blagg and Kolby Morgan. Yet, the four point differential (30-26) ended up being the closest the Wave got in the second stanza, as the Bulls responded with an 11-0 run before finishing with the 53-35 victory.
Despite the cold offensive night, Tulane's defense did hold South Florida to its second lowest points total on the season, 19 points below their average, and five percent below their shooting average as well. In addition, the Green Wave defense forced USF to commit 24 turnovers, its second highest on the year.
The Olive and Blue held their own in rebounding, trailing the Bulls by two, 45-43, at the conclusion of the game. Tulane grabbed an impressive 22 total offensive boards, but only succeeded in converting them into nine second chance points.
Four Green Wave players finished with seven boards or more: Tiffany Dale, Kolby Morgan, Adesuwa Ebomwonyi and Chinwe Duru. Morgan also collected seven points, two assists, one block and one steal. Meanwhile, Jamie Kaplan led the team in scoring for the first time with nine points on a 4-for-12 effort.
The Bulls were powered by a 14-point day from Courtney Williams, who shot 6-of-18 from the field and grabbed nine boards. USF also received a 10-point, 14-rebound, double-double from Alisia Jenkins.
"We battled, had 21 offensive rebounds, and held a very good team to shooting 37 percent. Defensively, I don't think we could have asked for any more from our team. Offensively, we were just out of sync and couldn't find anybody to step up," Stockton explained.
After playing five of six games inside the confines of Devlin Fieldhouse, Tulane will now hit the road for two straight games. First up is a trip out to Greenville, N.C., on Jan. 7, for a 6:00 p.m. CT clash with East Carolina (9-5, 0-3).
