Tulane University
15-7 (6-3)
Houston
8-14 (1-8)
Women’s Hoops Grinds Out a 57-49 Victory in Houston
Jan 31, 2017 | Women's Basketball
Green Wave defense limit Houston to just five made field goals in second half
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HOUSTON – The (-/RV) Tulane women's basketball team (15-7, 6-3) grinded out a 57-49 road victory at the University of Houston (8-14, 1-8) on Tuesday night, as Kolby Morgan secured her seventh straight game with 20+ points with 25 tonight on 10-of-19 shooting. Morgan nearly earned her second straight double-double with a team high nine rebounds.
In addition, Harlyn Wyatt tallied her second straight game with double-digit points with 10 points, seven rebounds, on a 5-for-7 effort from the field.
"We just had a much better focus in the second half defensively and much better effort," Tulane head coach Lisa Stockton stated. "We got to take these last two games and understand that we've done a good job of finishing games. We did a great job at Cincinnati being able to come back when we were down, and today I thought we really took over in the second half. We need to use that as confidence going into the next game."
All five of Tulane starters earned a basket in the opening seven minutes of the game to push the Wave ahead 12-8, but the Cougars ended up shooting 56.3 percent in the first quarter, ending on a 13-3 run to grab a 21-15 lead.
The Cougars then grabbed their largest lead of the game, up 26-17, at the 8:36 mark in the second, before Morgan went on a solo 7-0 run to cut it to one possession. Yet, Houston immediately countered with a 7-0 run, taking advantage of a 4:30 Tulane scoring drought. Tulane then got a spark off the bench in Shakira Harding, who tallied five quick points in the final minute that eventually led to a 35-32 half-time deficit.
The Olive and Blue's theme in a second half was a shut-down defense as they held Houston to without a field goal until the 3:30 mark in the third quarter. Meanwhile, Morgan and Wyatt combined for 12 of the team's 15 points to garner a 47-43 lead.
The turning point in the game then came at the 4:16 mark in the fourth. Up just 51-45, Morgan and Schulte connected on back-to-back three's to hand Tulane its lone double-digit lead of the game. Tulane's defense then did its part by limiting Houston to just 2-of-12 from the floor in the fourth and an impressive 5-of-31 in all of the second half.
Up next, the Green Wave will begin February action with having five of its seven remaining games of the regular season at home, starting with Temple on Sunday, Feb. 5, at 1 p.m. CT, airing live on CBS Sports Network.
