Tulane University
15-6, 6-3
Temple
12-7, 6-2
Turnovers Plague WBB in 72-54 Loss to Temple
Jan 26, 2016 | Women's Basketball
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NEW ORLEANS - An out-of-character night from the (NR/RV) Tulane women's basketball team (15-6, 6-3) led to a 72-54 loss at home at the hands of Temple (12-7, 6-2) on Tuesday. The Owls forced 23 Green Wave turnovers in the game, in which they converted into an opponent season high of 28 points.
"I give Temple a lot of credit," Tulane women's basketball head coach Lisa Stockton stated. "I thought they did a nice job and their intensity was great, as was their job on the boards. We did a poor job of taking care of the ball. We fought back in the game in the second half but turned the ball over again. It's really tough for us, in a game of that magnitude, to not be able to play our normal game."
Midway through the first period, the Green Wave found themselves up 16-14, but Temple begun to capitalize on Tulane's miscues, recording a 16-2 run to garner a 30-18 lead, which turned into a 37-24 advantage at half. The Wave, who averaged 16.2 turnovers per game heading into tonight's match-up, committed 17 total turnovers by the midway point.
At the 4:06 mark in the third quarter, Temple had pushed its lead to 50-31, but Tulane fought back, rallying with a 17-6 run, which started with eight consecutive points from freshman Meredith Schulte.
Thus, by only 50 seconds into the fourth quarter, the Olive and Blue had cut what was once a 20-point deficit to just eight points; however, Temple responded once again by countering with an 11-0 run to push their lead back up to 67-48, before closing it out 72-54.
The Tulane turnovers, in combination with an 18-8 offensive rebounding differential, ultimately led to Temple taking 22 more shots than the Green Wave, as their 74 total attempts (28-74 vs 20-52 from the Wave) marked a new opponent high on the year.
Senior center Chinwe Duru led the Green Wave in both scoring and rebounding with 13 points and eight boards, while her five blocks matched her season high. Both Kolby Morgan and Schulte joined Duru in double figures with 10 points each, as Schulte registered a new career high in said category.
Meanwhile, Alliya Butts paved the way for Temple with her 22 points, two shy of her season best. Butts, Erica Covile, Feyonda Fitzgerald and Tanaya Atkinson all combined for 61 of Temple's 72 total points.
Up next, the Green Wave will have a week off of competition before welcoming in the No. 1 team in the country in UConn on Feb. 3. That match will tip-off at 7 p.m. CT and stream live on ESPN3.
