Tulane University
12-3, 3-1AAC
East Carolina
9-6, 0-4AAC
Green Wave Sink Pirates, 76-63.
Jan 7, 2015 | Women's Basketball
GREENVILLE, N.C. - In a very physical contest inside Minges Coliseum, the Tulane women's basketball team (12-3, 3-1) utilized its best shooting performance of the season to earn a 76-63 victory over East Carolina (9-6, 0-4). The Green Wave shot 56.5 percent from the field (26-of-46) as Kolby Morgan, Danielle Blagg, Jamie Kaplan and Chinwe Duru combined for 54 points.
Danielle Blagg powered the Green Wave offense in the first half, scoring nine of her 12 total points. Blagg connected on 2-of-3 from beyond the arc, thus reaching the 200+ career three-pointers mark (201).
Kolby Morgan then picked up where Blagg began, scoring 13 of her team high 15 points in the second half. The freshman shot 5-of-10 from the floor to go along with her team high four steals.
In addition, Jamie Kaplan and Chinwe Duru almost secured double-doubles on Wednesday. Kaplan earned season highs in points (14) and assists (9), as the senior now needs just three assists to surpass Olivia Grayson for second all-time and reach 500 in her career. Chinwe Duru also recorded a season high with 13 points to go with her nine rebounds and three blocks.
"We maintained composure and I thought offensively, we were on fire. Our players made great adjustments. Just a great effort, I thought we played really tough tonight," Tulane head coach Lisa Stockton stated.
The first half was a back and forth affair that featured seven lead changes and four ties. At the 14:26 mark, East Carolina had built a 16-10 lead, primarily thanks to an already 10-point effort from I'Tiana Taylor, who finished with a career high 23 points.
Yet, after starting the game 4-for-6 from the field, the Green Wave defensive pressure forced the Pirates to go seven for their next 33 to finish the half with a 28.2 field goal percentage.
With the score tied at 28 at the final media timeout (3:56) of the first half, Tulane cranked out a 10-3 run to head into the locker room with a 38-31 lead. Chinwe Duru and Danielle Blagg combined to score the team's final eight points. In addition, the Green Wave finished with a first half season high .600 field goal percentage, connecting on 15-of-25 shots.
Tulane then carried their momentum into the second stanza, starting the half with a 14-4 run (24-7 run overall). Kolby Morgan scored the team's first six points, all within the first minute. In fact, by the first media timeout, Morgan had nine points in the half and helped build the Green Wave lead to 52-35.
The Olive and Blue got to the bonus with 9:34 left in the game, up 59-45 at the time. After a 41.7 percent first half performance from the line, the Green Wave's 77.8 percent shooting from the charity stripe in the second half helped carry them to victory. Kaplan hit 5-of-6 from the line in the half as Morgan went 4-for-4.
With the win, Tulane moves to 5-0 on the road and 8-0 when they score 70+ points. The Green Wave will look to keep their road record unblemished when they fly to Orlando next to take on the UCF Knights (6-8, 2-1) on Jan. 13.
