Women's Basketball Heads to SMU in Search of Sixth Straight Win

Saturday, January 12

Dallas, Texas

12 p.m.

Tulane University

SMU

Women's Basketball Heads to SMU in Search of Sixth Straight Win

Jan 11, 2019 | Women's Basketball

GAME 16: TULANE GREEN WAVE (12-3, 2-0) at SMU MUSTANGS (6-9, 0-2)
When:	Saturday, January 12 \| 12 p.m. CST
Where:	Dallas \| Moody Coliseum
Watch:	Pony Up TV
Radio:	WRBH 88.3 FM \| Listen Online
Live Scoring:	Sidearm Stats
Notes:	Tulane \| SMU
Social:	@GreenWaveWBB

NEW ORLEANS – On the road again, Tulane women's basketball will seek its third straight win to begin conference play and sixth straight win overall when it heads to Dallas on Saturday to face SMU. The Mustangs and Green Wave will tip at noon at Moody Coliseum.

STARTING FIVE

Tulane has the longest active winning streak among American Athletic Conference teams right now as it enters the weekend with five straight wins. Tulane is on a five-game winning streak for the first time since December 2016.
The Green Wave are receiving three points in this week's USA Today Coaches Poll and have the third-highest RPI in The American.
Tulane used a 15-0 run in the third quarter to defeat Temple in Philadelphia on Tuesday. It was Tulane's first-ever victory over the Owls in Philly.
Krystal Freeman is the two-time reigning American Athletic Conference Player of the Week. She had a tremendous 20-rebound game against ECU on January 5, equaling the third-best rebounding performance in school history.
Kaila Anderson tied her career high with nine assists on January 5 against ECU and then did it again the next game at Temple. She leads the conference with 73 assists.

SERIES HISTORY – SMU

Tulane and SMU have squared off 35 times in their history with the Green Wave holding a 22-13 edge all-time.
Tulane has won the last seven games in the series dating back to 2013. The last SMU victory against the Green Wave was on Jan. 10, 2013.
Last year when the teams met, Tulane pulled out a tight 52-46 victory on Senior Night. Caylah Cruickshank and Kolby Morgan combined for a 13-0 run in the fourth quarter to overcome a 10-point deficit in their last games at Fogelman in Devlin.

SCOUTING THE MUSTANGS

The Mustangs, based in Dallas, hold a 6-9 record so far this season and are 0-2 in American Athletic Conference play. SMU has lost to Cincinnati and Houston to start league action and defeated ULM, Mississippi Valley State, Robert Morris, Northern Arizona, North Texas and CSU Bakersfield in non-league action.
Australia native Alicia Froling is the team's leading scorer and rebounder this year, averaging a double-double every game. She has 12.7 points and 11.1 rebounds per contest while also topping the team with 31 blocks.
Kayla White is the team's only other double-figure scorer, averaging 11.8 points per game.
SMU is one of the worst 3-point shooting teams in the country, ranking 347th in 3-pointers made per game and 348th in 3-point percentage. They were picked to finish sixth in the conference this year.

A QUARTER CENTURY WITH COACH
Now in her 25th year with the Green Wave women's basketball program in 2018-19, it's hard to imagine anyone else at the helm besides Coach Lisa Stockton. Her numbers are staggering: three different conferences, four conference tournament championships, two conference regular-season championships, six All-Americans, 11 NCAA Tournament berths, seven WNIT spots and a boatload of wins. No one in the history of Tulane women's basketball is even close to Stockton's career numbers.

STOCKTON GETS 500
With a victory over Nicholls on December 4, Coach Lisa Stockton recorded her 500th victory at Tulane. In her 25 years with the Green Wave, Stockton is averaging 20 wins per season – and rising. She is currently the nation's 10th-longest tenured coach at a D1 school. She has more than eight times as many wins as the second-place coach in program history (Joline Matsunami, 1985-90, 60 wins).

RECEIVING VOTES
For the fifth time this year, the Green Wave are in the receiving votes category of the USA Today Coaches Poll. In the poll released January 8 following a win over ECU, Tulane is earning a season-best three points in the poll. Tulane last received two points in the poll on Jan. 2, 2017. The Green Wave had earned two points in last week's poll and one point in three previous polls this season.

FIVE IN A ROW
The Green Wave are now on a five-game wining streak overall dating back to the December 22 win over Texas State. Tulane's last five-game winning streak was on Dec. 13-Dec. 31, 2016. The team has not won six consecutive games since Nov. 28-Dec. 30, 2015 (seven games).

ANDERSON PASSING WELL
Sophomore guard Kaila Anderson had a career day against ECU, picking up nine assists to tie her career high. Not only did that number tie her career high, but Anderson's individual assist total matched the entirety of ECU's team. Anderson followed that performance with another nine-assist night at Temple, equaling her career high yet again. Anderson's 73 total assists this year ranks first in The American and 43rd nationally.

BOARDS NOT BORED
Sierra Cheatham had a good scoring day with 10 points Tuesday at Temple, but she was stellar on the glass. Cheatham grabbed three offensive and six defensive rebounds, giving her a new career high with nine rebounds and coming up just one board short of her first career double-double. Cheatham is averaging 3.7 rebounds per game this year.

LOFTON EMERGES
Tatyana Lofton provided the spark Tulane needed in its win on Tuesday at Temple, coming off the bench to score 11 points in 18 minutes. With the Green Wave leading by just 4 points in the middle of the third quarter, Lofton followed a Sierra Cheatham 3-pointer with one of her own, then added 4 points on free throws and a layup as part of a 15-0 Tulane run. The game was Lofton's second this year – all in the last three games – scoring in double figures.

SCHULTE STRONG
Senior Meredith Schulte had one of her best games of the season on Tuesday at Temple. Schulte came off the bench for 19 solid minutes, tying her season high with 7 points and setting a new season best with six rebounds. Schulte had been averaging just 3.2 points and 2.6 rebounds per game this year entering Tuesday.

FAST START
With its victory over Temple, the Green Wave are now 2-0 in conference play for the first time since 2014-15. A win at SMU on Saturday would make Tulane 3-0 in conference play for the first time since 2010-11.

RUNNING AWAY WITH IT
Huge scoring runs have become a trademark of the Tulane women's basketball team in the last month. Trailing Central Michigan 3-2 on December 29, the Green Wave scored the final 19 points of the first quarter to take a 21-3 lead into the second. On December 30 against Florida A&M, Tulane trailed 9-7 in the first quarter. The Green Wave followed that up by going on an 18-0 run to take a 25-9 lead. On January 5 against ECU, Tulane outscored the Pirates 21-4 during a stretch that spanned the end of the second quarter and start of the third. Then, on Wednesday at Temple, Tulane scored 15 consecutive points in the third quarter to put that game away.

FREEMAN WINS ANOTHER ONE
For the second consecutive week, Krystal Freeman was named the American Athletic Conference Player of the Week on Monday. The sophomore led Tulane with 17 points and set a career high with 20 rebounds against ECU on January 5. Freeman's Player of the Week honor is the fourth all-time for a Tulane player in the American Athletic Conference, and Freeman is the only player in team history who has won The American's weekly honor twice.

Freeman is the first Tulane player to win the league Player of the Week award in back-to-back weeks since Tiffany Aidoo claimed Conference USA Player of the Week honors on Jan. 3 and Jan. 10, 2011.

FREEMAN GETS GLASS
Krystal Freeman won The American's Player of the Week award thanks to a mammoth performance rebounding against ECU on January 5. Freeman scored 17 points and grabbed 20 rebounds for her third career double-double, and those 20 rebounds tie for the second-highest total in program history. Twenty rebounds was also the most rebounds at Tulane since Brett Benzio had 20 in 2011. The school record for rebounds in a game is 21. Freeman's rebounds were perfectly balanced Saturday as she had 10 on the offensive glass and 10 on the defensive glass.

UNDERCLASSMEN OVERPERFORMING
Tulane's roster is seeing a youth movement this year 2018-19 with underclassmen getting a supermajority of minutes played, points scored and assists. Freshmen and sophomores have combined for 66 percent of Green Wave scoring, 63 percent of Tulane minutes and 75 percent of Tulane's assists. Tulane's underclassmen have also contributed 55 percent of the team rebounding.

HOME SWEET HOME
Tulane is 7-1 so far at home in 2018-19. The Green Wave have never posted a single-season home record below .500 in Lisa Stockton's 24 full years as the coach.

CAREER NUMBERS WATCH
Against Temple:

Meredith Schulte recorded her 400th rebound.
Krystal Freeman got her 100th career defensive rebound and field goal.

Coming up soon:

Erin Gutierrez will eclipse 50 assists with one more.
Kayla Manuirirangi is 8 points away from 400.
Tatyana Lofton needs 15 more points for 200 at Tulane.
Krystal Freeman is two rebounds away from 150.

NEXT UP
The biggest home game of the season is next for the Green Wave, as they will host No. 3 UConn at Fogelman in Devlin on Wednesday. Tipoff between the Green Wave and Huskies will be at 7 p.m.