League Play Begins Saturday When ECU Comes to Town

Saturday, January 5

New Orleans

2 p.m.

Tulane University

ECU

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League Play Begins Saturday When ECU Comes to Town

Jan 4, 2019 | Women's Basketball

GAME 14: TULANE GREEN WAVE (10-3) vs. ECU PIRATES (9-4)
When:	Saturday, January 5 \| 2 p.m. CST
Where:	New Orleans \| Avron B. Fogelman Arena in the Devlin Fieldhouse
Watch:	Cox Sports TV
Radio:	WRBH 88.3 FM \| Listen Online
Live Scoring:	StatBroadcast
Notes:	Tulane \| ECU
Social:	@GreenWaveWBB

NEW ORLEANS – Following a tremendous start to the year in non-conference play, the Green Wave women's basketball team begins the league slate on Saturday when ECU comes to New Orleans. The teams will tip off at 2 p.m. at Avron B. Fogelman Arena in the Devlin Fieldhouse.

Saturday's game is our $3 AAC Tipoff and also the team's "We Back Pat" Day. All fans can get $3 tickets by visiting TulaneTix.com, and select concession items will be available for just $3 as well. Fans who donate to the Pat Summitt Foundation at the marketing table will receive a "We Back Pat" shirt.

STARTING FIVE

Tulane enters conference play with a 10-3 overall record this season and a No. 65 spot in the RPI rankings. The Green Wave are receiving two points in this week's USA Today Coaches Poll.
The Green Wave are coming off a weekend sweep in Miami, downing 2018 Sweet Sixteen team Central Michigan on December 29 and beating Florida A&M on December 30. Tulane had runs of at least 18-0 in both games.
Sophomore Krystal Freeman – Tulane's leading scorer and rebounder this year – was named the Miami Holiday Classic MVP and American Athletic Conference Player of the Week. Freshman Erin Gutierrez was named to the conference's Honor Roll this week.
Tulane is 6-1 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.
Freshmen and sophomores have combined for 69 percent of Green Wave scoring, 65 percent of Tulane minutes and 74 percent of Tulane's assists. Tulane's underclassmen have also contributed 57 percent of the team rebounding.

SERIES HISTORY – ECU

Tulane and ECU have squared off 23 times in their history with the Green Wave holding a commanding 17-6 lead.
Tulane has won the last four games in the series dating back to January 2016, and last year the Green Wave pulled out a 64-58 win at Fogelman in Devlin in the teams' only meeting.

SCOUTING THE PIRATES

The Pirates, based out of Greenville, N.C., are a strong 9-4 so far this season with an excellent 7-1 record at home. In true road games, though, the Pirates are 0-3.
ECU has wins over UMES, Monmouth, Grand Canyon, Kennesaw State, Wake Forest,Liberty, USC Upstate, Longwood and South Carolina State in its non-conference schedule.
On offense, Raven Johnson is the team's top talent with 13.8 points per game. Lashonda Monk is also in double figures with 12.1 points per game. Rebounding, Johnson once again leads the way with 6.6 boards per game.
As a team, the Pirates have 157 steals, good for 11th in the nation. They are also fifth in the nation in turnovers forced with 23.9 per game.

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 fourth time this year, the Green Wave are in the receiving votes category of the USA Today Coaches Poll. This week, following wins over FAMU and Central Michigan, Tulane is earning a season-best two points in the poll. Tulane last received two points in the poll on Feb. 20, 2017. The Green Wave had earned one vote in three previous polls this season.

FREEMAN HONOR
For the first time in her career, Tulane sophomore Krystal Freeman was named the American Athletic Conference Player of the Week on Monday. Named the MVP of the Miami Holiday Classic, Freeman had her first career double-double against the Central Michigan on December 29, topping Tulane with 17 points while snagging 10 rebounds. On December 30 against FAMU, Freeman was again in double-digit scoring with 10 points and led Tulane with two blocks while contributing four more rebounds all in only 14 minutes. She had previously earned placement on the league's Honor Roll twice this year. Freeman becomes just the third Tulane player to ever win The American's Player of the Week award.

GUTIERREZ ON THE HONOR ROLL
Erin Gutierrez also earned recognition from the conference on Monday when she earned a spot on the league's Honor Roll for the first time in her career. Playing in front of a hometown crowd, the freshman posted a career-high 19 points and six assists on Sunday against Florida A&M, leading Tulane in both categories all in just 21 minutes. This is Gutierrez's second overall recognition this year. She was named the conference's Freshman of the Week on November 19.

ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
The Miami Holiday Classic saw excellent performances from all over the court, but Krystal Freeman and Kayla Manuirirangi played well enough over the two days to earn spots on the All-Tournament Team. Freeman was named the Classic's MVP after her performance. Manuirirangi was second on the team with 16 points including four made 3-pointers against Central Michigan to boost her tournament profile.

MORE FRESHMAN BESTS
Besides Erin Gutierrez' career-best 19 points and six assists, Sunday's game against Florida A&M saw more freshmen put up big numbers. Dynah Jones tied her career high with six rebounds against the Rattlers and also reached six steals for the first time in her career. Mia Heide, meanwhile, had a banner day on the boards with a career-best eight rebounds and also tied her career high with two assists.

UNDERCLASSMEN OVERPERFORMING
Tulane's roster is seeing a youth movement so far in 2018-19 with underclassmen getting a supermajority of minutes played, points scored and assists. Freshmen and sophomores have combined for 67 percent of Green Wave scoring, 64 percent of Tulane minutes and 75 percent of Tulane's assists. Tulane's underclassmen have also contributed 55 percent of the team rebounding.

ANOTHER 40-POINT WIN
For the second time this season, the Green Wave earned a victory of at least 40 points when it trounced Florida A&M 78-34 on Sunday. Tulane previous beat an opponent by 40 this year when it defeated FAU 88-45 on November 28. Tulane' scoring margin this year is +11.8, fourth-best in The American and 72nd nationally.

BIG RUNS
Tulane posted huge lopsided scoring runs in South Florida in the early-going that effectively put both games away. Trailing Central Michigan 3-2, the Green Wave scored the final 19 points of the first quarter to take a 21-3 lead into the second. The Chippewas would never fully recover. Then, on Sunday 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.

LOFTON BREAKS OUT
Two games after her first start of the year, senior Tatyana Lofton had her breakout game on Sunday against Florida A&M. In only 21 minutes, Lofton set a season best with 15 points on five made field goals, draining a season-high two 3-pointers and also pulling down a season-best five boards. Lofton was just one point shy of her career scoring high of 16.

CAREER NUMBERS WATCH
At the Miami Holiday Classic:

Sierra Cheatham picked up her 100th career rebound.
Krystal Freeman scored her 200th point.
Dynah Jones reached 100 career points.

Coming up soon:

Sierra Cheatham is 4 points shy of 300.
Meredith Schulte will reach 400 career rebounds with six more.
Kaila Anderson's next point will be her 150th.
Erin Gutierrez will eclipse 50 assists with two more.
Kayla Manuirirangi is 18 points away from 400.

NEXT UP
Tulane will begin its road conference schedule on Tuesday when it heads to Philadelphia to take on Temple. The Green Wave and Owls are set for a 6 p.m. central tipoff.