Women's Hoops to Host UT Arlington Thursday in First Round of WNIT

WNIT FIRST ROUND: TULANE GREEN WAVE (16-14, 7-9 AAC) VS UT ARLINGTON (22-8, 14-4 SUN BELT)
When:	Thursday, March 16 \| 7 p.m. CT
Where:	New Orleans \| Avron B. Fogelman Arena in the Devlin Fieldhouse (4,100)
Watch:	Tulane Sidearm All-Access Stream
Listen:	WRBH 88.3 FM \| Gus Kattengell (PxP)
Live Scoring	Sidearm Stats
Notes:	Tulane \| UTA
Social:	@GreenWaveWBB
Bracket:	Click Here
Promotion:	First 1,000 fans receive free ticket and free popcorn

NEW ORLEANS - The Tulane women's basketball team's (16-14, 7-9 AAC) season continues Thursday night when they host UT-Arlington (22-8, 14-4 Sun Belt) at 7 p.m. in the first round of the WNIT. Tulane Head Men's Basketball Coach, Mike Dunleavy, Sr., would like to cover the ticket cost for the first 1,000 fans. Get there early and your ticket is free courtesy of Coach Dunleavy. Also, the first 1,000 fans will receive a voucher for a free popcorn courtesy of Sodexo.

WNIT HISTORY
Tulane is making its seventh appearance in the WNIT, where they are 7-6 overall. Last season, the Wave tied its longest run in the WNIT by reaching the third round after victories over Alabama and Georgia Tech.

8 STRAIGHT POSTSEASONS
Tulane's WNIT bid marks the eighth straight year for postseason play. The Wave made the NCAA Tournament in 2010, which kick-started the eight year run. The Olive and Blue reached the Big Dance again in 2015, and has made the WNIT every other year.

STRENGTH OF SCHEDULE
Tulane's strength of schedule ranks 40th in the country. The Green Wave challenged 12 total teams that made the postseason, including seven who made the NCAA Tournament. Of those seven, five received votes or were ranked inside the top-25: No. 1 UConn, No. 7 Mississippi State, No. 17 North Carolina State, USF and Temple. LSU and Auburn round out the seven.

All-in-all, six American Athletic Conference teams reached postseason play, with SMU and UCF joining Tulane in the WNIT.

HANDCLAP HOOPLA FINALIST
On March 13, ESPN selected Tulane's Handclap Hoopla video as a top-4 finalist, joining Army, Florida State and South Carolina. The Wave's Mardi Gras inspired Handclap video blended the team's fun personality with the spirit of New Orleans. Fans can vote for the top winner here:
https://twitter.com/ESPN_WomenHoop/status/841329551959568388

All four videos will be shown at this year's Final Four.

ALL-CONFERENCE DUO
The American announced its all-conference awards on March 2, as Kolby Morgan was named to the Second Team, while Leslie Vorpahl was tabbed with Third Team honors for the second straight year. Vorpahl was also bestowed with The American's Sportsmanship Award. In addition, Tulane has now had at least two players named all-conference for eight consecutive years.

Morgan became the sixth Tulane player to earn all-conference team recognition three different times in her career. Next year, Morgan has the potential to become just the second player behind Barbara Farris to garner all-conference recognition all four years.

LATHAM'S LONGEVITY
When Courtnie Latham takes to the court vs UT-Arlington in the first round of the WNIT, it will mark the senior's 130th career game. That number will land Latham in a tie for third all-time in program history for most games played alongside Jamie Kaplan. Furthermore, one win would guarantee Latham a tie for second place at 131 games with Adesuwa Ebomwonyi. The top spot belongs to Olivia Grayson at 134.

SERIES HISTORY - UT ARLINGTON
• Tulane & UTA are tied 1-1 in all-time series.
• The two first met in November of 1990 in New Orleans, where UTA won it 83-77. Their last encounter occurred in December of 2006 at the Tulane Classic, where the Wave won, 68-65.

SCOUTING THE MAVERICKS
• UT Arlington enters the contest with a 22-8 overall record and finished second in the Sun Belt with a 14-4 mark. The Mavericks then lost to eventual champion Troy, 88-59, in the Sun Belt Championship semifinals.
• UTA is making its first trip to the postseason since 2009 and fifth postseason appearance ever in program history.
• UTA's .733 winning percentage is currently the best in program history.
• Cierra Johnson was named the Sun Belt Defensive Player of the Year, garnering 3.1 steals per game to go with her 12.4 points per game.
• Rebekah VanDijk, a 6-5 center, powers the UTA offense, leading the squad with her 15.7 ppg. Christina Devers rounds out the double-digit scoring with 10.7 ppg.
• UTA ranks seventh in the country with their 21.27 turnovers forced per game. The Mavericks also rank 17th nationally with their 11.1 steals per game.

Women's Hoops to Host UT Arlington Thursday in First Round of WNIT

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Players Mentioned

Courtnie Latham

Kolby Morgan

Leslie Vorpahl

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