Tulane University
16-14
UCF
20-10
Women’s Hoops Unable to Hold on to Lead, Fall 61-57 to UCF
Mar 4, 2017 | Women's Basketball
Kolby Morgan scored a game high 25 points
PRINTABLE BOX | PHOTO GALLERY
UNCASVILLE, Conn. – The Tulane women's basketball team (16-14) led for nearly 30 minutes against UCF (20-10) in the American Athletic Conference quarterfinal round on Saturday afternoon but the Knights pushed ahead in the closing minutes of the game to advance with the 61-57 victory. Kolby Morgan was the lone Green Wave player in double-digits with 25 points on 8-of-10 shooting. It marked her 17th game this season with 20+ points.
"It's so disappointing because we've had so many close ones over the last five games and weren't able to finish them off," Tulane head coach Lisa Stockton stated. "I thought UCF did a great job, especially in that fourth quarter. Our turnovers was the big stat for us. We just gave them too many opportunities."
Down 7-5 at the 5:20 mark in the first quarter, Tulane rallied with an 8-0 run in a short two minute stretch before ending the period with a 13-10 lead. In the second, Morgan picked up two quick fouls before heading to the bench for the last 8:24 of the half.
The remainder of the quarter was a defensive back-and-forth battle as the two sides went into the locker-rooms at half deadlocked at 20-all. UCF took advantage of 14 first half Tulane turnovers in which they converted into 16 of their 20 points.
Back on the court, Morgan ignited the offense in the third, scoring eight of the team's 14 points, as Tene Thompson and Courtnie Latham combined for the other six. Meanwhile, the Wave defense held UCF to without a field goal from 7:24 to 2:39, but the Knights ended the period on a 5-0 run to cut Tulane's lead to 34-33.
Later in the fourth, Lewis struck with what were two deadly three-pointers, with the second giving UCF a 53-52 lead with 1:47 left to play; it marked the Knights first lead since 4:58 in the first. Four more UCF free-throws later and the Knights had built a 57-52 lead with 31.7 seconds remaining.
Out of a Green Wave timeout, Morgan answered the call with a quick three, cutting it to 57-55, before two Lewis free-throws extended the UCF lead back to four. Schulte then made it a one-possession game once more with a lay-up with 20 seconds left to spare.
The Wave then sent Lewis back to the free-throw line where she went just 1-for-2. Next, Morgan's three-point attempt to tie with five seconds on the clock fell short, as the Knights advanced with the 61-57 win, handing the Wave their first ever loss in the quarterfinal round of the American Athletic Conference Championships.
