Women's Basketball to Host UCF on Senior Night Wednesday

Wednesday, February 22

Avron B. Fogelman Arena in the Devlin Fieldhouse

7 p.m. CT

Tulane University

UCF

Tickets

Women's Basketball to Host UCF on Senior Night Wednesday

Feb 21, 2017 | Women's Basketball

GAME 28: (RV/RV) TULANE GREEN WAVE (16-11, 7-7) VS UCF KNIGHTS (17-9, 7-6)
When:	Wednesday, Feb. 22 \| 7 p.m. CT
Where:	New Orleans \| Avron B. Fogelman Arena in the Devlin Fieldhouse (4,100)
Senior Night:	Shakira Harding, Courtnie Latham and Leslie Vorpahl to be honored
Watch:	American Digital Network
Commentators:	Tim Grubbs (PxP) & Barbara Farris (Analyst)
Listen:	WRBH 88.3 FM \| Gus Kattengell (PxP) \| Listen Online
Live Scoring:	Sidearm Stats
Notes:	Tulane \| UCF
Social:	@GreenWaveWBB

NEW ORLEANS - The (RV/RV) Tulane women's basketball squad returns to Avron B. Fogelman Arena in the Devlin Fieldhouse for one last time during the regular season on Wednesday night when they host UCF at 7 p.m. CT, streaming live on The American Digital Network. The last home game means it's Senior Night, as Tulane will honor its three seniors in Shakira Harding, Courtnie Latham and Leslie Vorpahl before the game.

THANK YOU SENIORS
Thank you to a senior class responsible for what will be four straight post-seasons. Tulane's seniors have been a part of the program's NCAA Tournament berth in 2015 (first at-large bid since 2003), tying the program's best run in the WNIT in 2016 (third round), three straight 20+ win seasons, and 81 overall wins. Tulane seniors also went 46-16 at home, thus winning 74.2 percent of their games inside Fogelman in Devlin. They've also been one of the most prolific three-point shooting classes in program history. The 2014-15, 2015-16, and now 2016-17 squads all rank inside the top-seven in program history in made three-pointers in a single season.

SERIES HISTORY - UCF
• Tulane leads the all-time series, 12-6. The Wave have won six straight against the Knights and thus have not lost since joining The American.
• Last year, the Wave won 75-54 at home, before earning a 65-53 victory in Orlando. Kolby Morgan registered 19 points in each of the wins.
• The Wave are 6-1 at home vs UCF -- the lone loss occurred at the first ever meeting between the two, where the Knights won 75-70 in overtime back on Jan. 21, 1985.

SCOUTING THE KNIGHTS
• UCF enters with a 17-9 record overall and a 7-6 mark in conference play, thus sitting a half game head of the Wave in the standings.
• The Knights reel in 17.0 offensive rebounds per game which ranks 12th in the country. Their +9.9 rebounding margin ranks 6th.
• Defensively, UCF is among the best, as their 56.0 allowed ppg ranks 23rd in the country. They average 11.4 steals per game, which ranks 15th, and force 20 turnovers a game, which ranks 29th.
• Reigning AAC Player of the Week Aliyah Gregory leads the team with 17.2 ppg on 45.2 percent shooting. Zykira Lewis' 3.15 steals per game ranks 11th in the nation, while averaging 15.6 ppg. Tolulope Omokore averages 4.0 offensive rebounds per game which ranks 30th.

FEATS ACHIEVED VS NO. 1 UCONN
When No. 1 UConn escaped New Orleans with a 63-60 win, Tulane had much to be proud of. With the three-point loss, the Wave were the second closest team during the Huskies' 101-game win streak and just the third team to keep the margin in single digits, following in the footsteps of Florida State and Maryland of this year. In addition, the Green Wave became the closest any American Athletic Conference team has gotten to halting the streak, besting USF's 16-point loss on Jan. 10, 2016.

The Green Wave held UConn scoreless for a seven-minute stretch in the second quarter, ultimately holding the Huskies to a season low in first half points (28), in total points (63) and shooting percentage (.380). Tulane became just the 22nd instance during UConn's last 432 halves, in which UConn has been outscored. Wave outscored the Huskies 42-32 in the second half.

Lastly, all 11 rostered players saw action against UConn, as the Wave bench outscored the Huskies bench, 25-0.

AP POLL - GOOD TO SEE YOU AGAIN
After Tulane's impressive showing against No. 1 UConn and the streak, it seems the Associated Press took notice, as the Wave received two votes in the Feb. 20 weekly poll. It marked the first time since the 2011-12 season that Tulane was in the AP poll.

TENE THOMPSON BREAKS OUT
Tene Thompson played a major role in Tulane battling toe-to-toe with No. 1 UConn on Feb. 18. The sophomore either tied or set new career highs in points (14), field goals (7-for-11 shooting) and minutes played (32).

A SPARK FROM BEYOND THE ARC
On Feb. 12 at USF, Vorpahl connected on a season high five three-pointers, one shy of her career high, finishing with 19 points. The senior has since caught fire from beyond the arc, converting 12-of-19 (.632) over the last three games. She has since raised her three-point shooting percentage from .333 to .379, which ranks sixth in the league. More impressively, Vorpahl is knocking down 43.5 percent from deep in conference play, which tops The American.