Tulane University
10-3, 1-0
Houston
4-8, 0-1
WBB Opens Conference Play with 70-48 Win over Houston
Dec 30, 2015 | Women's Basketball
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NEW ORLEANS - The winning streak continued for the Tulane women's basketball team (10-3, 1-0) as the Green Wave won their seventh straight game with a dominant 70-48 victory over Houston (4-8, 0-1) on Wednesday night in the American Athletic Conference season opener. Junior guard Leslie Vorpahl posted a career night with 25 points on 10-of-15 shooting, including a career best 5-of-7 performance from three-point range, while Tierra Jones recorded her second straight double-double with 12 points and 13 rebounds.
"I thought we played, especially in the first half, with such a great intensity," Tulane women's basketball head coach Lisa Stockton said. "It was really good to see our starting five set the tone. Defensively, we did some great things, same for rebounding. We were on fire in the first half, shooting 52.0 percent. We took good shots, shared the ball, so a lot of positives."
Tulane came firing out of the gates, shooting 7-of-14 in the first quarter to garner a 17-11 lead. The Green Wave continued to roll in the second period, where they outscored the Cougars 21-5 to build a 38-16 halftime lead. The Wave shot 6-of-11 from the floor in the second period, finishing the first half with a .520 shooting percentage, which included 11 assists.
Vorpahl scored eight of the team's final 10 points of the second quarter, as the junior tallied 13 of her 25 total points in the opening half, while Jones had already registered eight points and nine boards.
Meanwhile, Houston's 16 points at the half marked Tulane's best first half defensive effort on the season, as the Cougars were limited to just 2-of-13 shooting in the second quarter.
"Our defense was stingy but we just didn't miss for a while," Stockton stated on the second quarter. "It was just really hard to match our offense since we were hitting three's, shots inside, and were going to the free throw line."
Tulane built a lead as large as 32 points, up 54-22 in the third quarter, before closing it out 70-48. The Olive and Blue displayed quite the complete team effort, earning a season best 19 total assists, while outrebounding Houston, 42-33. In addition, the Wave, who entered with a .672 free-throw percentage, went 15-for-15 from the line tonight.
Furthermore, Vorpahl and Jones weren't the only players to record stellar nights for the Green Wave as Kolby Morgan returned to double-digit scoring with 12 points and a career high seven assists. Junior Courtnie Latham contributed eight points while reeling in a career best 10 rebounds. Finally, senior Chinwe Duru notched nine points and tied her season high of three blocks.
Up next, the Green Wave will look to keep up their winning ways when they travel to Memphis for a Jan. 3 showdown with the Tigers at 4 p.m. on ESPNU. The Wave will then head east to square off against East Carolina on Jan. 5 at 6 p.m. on the American Digital Network.
