Tulane University
22-10
USF
26-6
Tulane Comeback Falls Short vs USF, 78-69
Mar 8, 2015 | Women's Basketball
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UNCASVILLE, Conn. - In the most thrilling game of the American Athletic Conference tournament, the sixth-seeded Tulane women's basketball team (22-10) and two-seed University of South Florida (26-6) battled back-and-forth for a complete 40 minutes in Sunday's semifinal. However, when the dust settled, it was the Bulls who emerged with a 78-69 victory to advance to the championship game vs No. 1 UConn.
"Really proud of this team and their effort," Tulane head coach Lisa Stockton said. "They executed the game plan to a T. We put in a different defense, we knew where we wanted to go on offense, and I thought the team did a great job making adjustments. We really battled and fought."
Thanks to a 4-for-8 start from the field, Tulane jumped out to a 9-6 lead at the first media timeout, but then hit a minor cold spell, converting just one of their next nine shots. As a result, USF built a 19-11 lead.
After a Leslie Vorpahl three-pointer, senior guard Danielle Blagg caught fire, scoring 10 of Tulane's final 15 points of the half on a 4-for-6 stretch from the floor.
In addition, the Green Wave's defense kept USF's leading scorer in check for the majority of the half. Williams, who averages 20.4 points per game, didn't get on the stat sheet until the 3:48 mark, in which she then scored eight quick points to give the Bulls a 34-29 halftime lead.
At the midway point in the second half, the Bulls converted back-to-back treys to get their largest lead of the game, up 55-44. Yet, the Wave dug deep and rallied, getting buckets from Blagg, Courtnie Latham, Chinwe Duru and Kolby Morgan in a 17-6 scoring stretch that knotted the game up at 61 apiece with 5:07 remaining.
A minute and a half later, tied at 63, USF's Williams connected on a shot clock buzzer beating three that kicked off a 10-0 Bulls run and established a lead the Wave couldn't come back from.
Blagg led the Wave in scoring with 19 points tonight, one shy of her season high. The senior guard shot 7-of-18 from the field with three treys. Latham also went out on a high note with a career high 15 points. The sophomore guard registered double digit points in all three games of the tournament.
Finally, Duru and Kaplan rounded out the Green Wave in double figures with 10 points each. Duru was efficient from the field with a 5-for-8 night while Kaplan recorded a team high eight assists.
Up next, Tulane will await their postseason fate, with the NCAA Tournament selection show set for Monday, March 16, at 6 p.m. CT, on ESPN.
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