Tulane Hosts Houston Saturday in AAC Matchup

Saturday, February 1

New Orleans

2 p.m.

Tulane University

Houston

Jan 31, 2020 | Women's Basketball

By: Pierce Feltner

When:	Saturday, Feb. 1 \| 2 p.m.
Where:	New Orleans, La. \| Avron B. Fogelman Arena in the Devlin Fieldhouse
Watch:	Tulane All-Access
Radio:	WRBH 88.3 FM \| Listen Online
Notes:	Tulane (PDF)
Live Stats:	Stat Broadcast
Social:	@GreenWaveWBB

NEW ORLEANS – The Tulane University women's basketball team will return to Avron B. Fogelman Arena in the Devlin Fieldhouse house as it hosts Houston on Saturday, Feb. 1. Tip-off is set for 2 p.m.

This game will serve as a celebration for National Women in Sport Day.

STARTING FIVE
1.            Tulane has made three 17-plus-point comeback wins on the road this season. The Green Wave got their third big comeback win with an 18-point come-from-behind win at SMU.
2.            The Green Wave made the biggest comeback in American Athletic Conference play this season when they fought back from down 18 at SMU on Jan. 15. Wichita State has the second-largest at 13 points against Tulsa.
3.            Junior Krystal Freeman scored a career-high 30 points in the 67-66 win at SMU on Jan. 15. This eclipsed her previous career-high of 27 at Houston on Feb. 20, 2019.
4.            Tulane leads the American Athletic Conference and ranks 28th in the NCAA in 3-point field goal defense as it has held opponents to 26.9 percent from behind the arc.
5.            The 6-0 start in American Athletic Conference play marked the best start in league action in program history. The Green Wave's seven straight wins was the longest win streak since Tulane won seven in a row in the 2015-16 season.

SERIES HISTORY – HOUSTON
• Tulane leads the all-time series with Houston 28-16. Houston took the last meeting between the two teams, 83-82, in Houston.
• The Olive and Blue are 12-7 against the Cougars in Avron B. Fogelman Arena in the Devlin Fieldhouse.
• The Green Wave have collected a 27-15 overall record against Houston under head coach Lisa Stockton.

SCOUTING THE COUGARS
• The Cougars come into the game in New Orleans with a 10-11 overall record and a 3-4 conference mark.
• Houston has averaged 63.7 points on 38.9 percent shooting from the field.
• The Cougars have grabbed 37.4 rebounds and dished out 11.9 assists per game.
• Houston has forced opponents into 18.5 turnovers per game.
• Dymond Gladney has led the Cougars with 11.7 points per game.
• Julia Blackshell-Fair chips in 10.8 points, 5.8 rebounds and 3.3 assists a game.
• Dorian Branch has scored 11.4 points and 3.3 assists per game.
• Tatyana Hill has grabbed a team-high 6.2 rebounds and added 11.4 points per game this season.
• Head coach Ronald Hughey has collected a 69-106 record during his time in Houston.

AGAINST THE AMERICAN
• Tulane is 46-46 in American Athletic Conference play.
• Under coach Stockton, Tulane is 235-162 in conference games.

LAST MATCHUP
• The Cougars took the last matchup between the two teams, 83-82, in overtime on Feb. 20, 2019 last season.
• Houston led 59-50 at the end of the third quarter. Tulane surged back to take a 72-70 lead with seven seconds left. Houston tied the game and sent it to overtime.
• The Cougars grabbed an early lead and Tulane was not able to get back in front.
• Octavia Barnes led Houston with 24 points, while Dorian Branch added 20 points.
• Krystal Freeman scored a then career-high 27 points, while Mia Heide added nine points and 10 rebounds.

COMEBACK KIDS
• Tulane trailed by 18 points with 1:24 remaining in the third quarter at Washington. Tulane then went on a 31-11 run to close the game and take a 64-62 win.
• Junior Arsula Clark knocked down the game winner with 0.5 seconds remaining to cap off the comeback. She scored 14 of her game-high 18 points in the second half.
• The Green Wave rallied from down 17 in the third at Southern Miss. on Dec. 4 and pulled out the win.
• Tulane went on a 23-3 run from the six-minute mark in the third to the 8:19 mark in the fourth quarter to take the lead over the Lady Eagles and finish the game with a win.
• Clark scored 17 of her 20 points in the second half to lead the charge.
• The Green Wave fell behind 55-37 with 17 seconds remaining in the third quarter at SMU.
• Tulane reeled off runs of 8-2, 6-0 and 10-1 to tie the game at 64 with a minute left. After two free throws from SMU, junior Krystal Freeman knocked down a three to win the game.
• Freeman scored eight points, sophomore Dynah Jones added seven and Clark logged five during the run.

BEST CONFERENCE START
• Tulane started the American Athletic Conference slate with a 6-0 record. This is the first time in program history the Green Wave started conference play with six straight wins. The sixth win surpassed the 5-0 by the 2002-03 team in Conference USA.

FREEMAN DROPS 30
• Junior Krystal Freeman scored 30 points in the win at SMU. She was the first Tulane player to score 30 points since Kolby Morgan dropped 30 against Houston on Jan. 6, 2018.
• With her first three of the game at SMU, Freeman logged the 700th point of her career. She scored the first 14 points for the Green Wave against the Mustangs.
• She currently ranks eighth in points per game in conference play at 16.0.

CAREER NUMBERS WATCH
Coming up soon:
• Arsula Clark is three rebounds from 500.
• Arsula Clark is 30 points from 1,000.
• Krystal Freeman is 26 points from 800.
• Krystal Freeman is 79 rebounds from 500.

800 GAMES COACHED
• The game with Cincinnati on Jan. 18 marked the 800th game Lisa Stockton has coached at Tulane and the 890th game of her career.

CLARK EARNS HONORS
• Junior Arsula Clark was named College Sports Madness AAC Player of the Week on Jan. 20. She has been named to the American Honor Roll three times (Nov. 11; Nov. 18; Jan. 13) this season.

GETTING IT DONE IN THE CLASSROOM
• Junior Sierra Cheatham gets it done on and off the court. She is currently averaging 5.7 points and 4.3 rebounds on the court. The Houston native registered at 4.0 GPA while majoring in neuroscience in the fall semester.

FREEMAN EARNS AAC HONORS
• Freeman was named to the AAC Honor Roll on Dec. 30 after logging a double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds against Georgia Southern. This marked her fifth double-double in six games.
• She earned the honor a second time this season on Dec. 20 after 30 points at SMU and recording nine rebounds, four assists and three steals against Cincinnati.
• Freeman was named to the AAC Honor Roll on Jan. 27 after logging 19 points, nine rebounds, three assists and three steals in the win over UCF. She had 13 points, nine rebounds and one steal at USF.

MANUIRIRANGI GETS 600
• After scoring a combined 19 points against UCF, senior Kayla Manuirirangi scored the 600th point of her career. She currently has 627 points in her career. Manuirirangi has scored 71.3 percent of her points from behind the arc.
• She knocked down a career-high six 3-pointers in the win over the Knights.

CHEATHAM GETS 500
• With a fourth-quarter 3-pointer against Memphis on Jan. 11, 2020, junior Sierra Cheatham became the third player on this year's team to eclipse 500 points for her career. Cheatham has now scored 533 points at Tulane with 68.1 percent of them coming from the 3-point line.
• She was named to the AAC Honor Roll on Jan. 6 after posting 12 points, seven rebounds, two assists, two steals and two blocks in the win at Wichita State.

IT'S A BLOCK PARTY
• Tulane blocked a season-high 12 shots against Georgia Southern on Dec. 30. This was the most blocked shots by a Green Wave team since the Olive and Blue swatted 12 shots on Dec. 9, 2002 against Drake.
• The Olive and Blue rank second in the AAC in the category with 4.5 blocks per game.
• Sophomore Mia Heide ranks second in the American and 32nd in the NCAA in blocked shots per game at 2.1.

THREE-POINT DEFENSE
• Green Wave opponents are shooting 26.9 percent from behind the arc this season. This figure ranks first in the AAC and 28th in the NCAA.
• The good 3-point defense started the 2019-20 season as Jackson State shot 15.8 percent from behind the arc. This was the lowest 3-point percentage by a Tulane opponent since Memphis shot 11.1 percent on 2/2/2019.
• Tulane held Central Arkansas to 17.6 percent from 3-point range.
• The Wave held Charlotte to 16.7 percent shooting from behind the arc on Nov. 29.
• The Olive and Blue continued the good defense holding Colorado to 16.7 percent shooting from three on Dec. 21.
• The Green Wave added Georgia Southern to the list of under 20 percent shooting when they held the Eagles to 10.0 percent shooting from behind the arc. This was the lowest mark by a Tulane opponent since SMU shot 6.7 (1-15) percent from behind the arc on Jan. 12, 2019.
• The Green Wave have held 10 opponents to 25.0 percent or lower from the three this season.

KEEPING OPPONENTS UNDER 60
• Tulane has held strong on the defensive end, holding eight opponents under sixty points thus far this season. The Green Wave are 9-2 when their opponent scores 60 points or fewer.
• Tulane's opponents are averaging 59.2 points per game this season.
• The Green Wave held Jackson State to 46 points on 22.7 percent shooting.
• Central Arkansas' 38 total points were the fewest points allowed by the Green Wave since FAMU scored 32 in 2018.
• The Green Wave held Georgia Southern to 40 points on Dec. 30 and Wichita State to 56 points on Jan. 5.
• The Olive and Blue held Tulsa to 46 on the road Jan. 29.

SINGLE-DIGIT QUARTERS
• The Olive and Blue have made a point to be strong defensively under coach Stockton. Tulane held LSU to two points in the second quarter on Nov. 17, which marked the 15th time Tulane has held an opponent to five or fewer points in a quarter since the NCAA moved to the four quarters format in the 2015-16 season.
• The Green Wave only allowed Georgia Southern to score in double-digits in the third quarter.
• Tulane has held opponents to single digits in a quarter 12 times this season.

UP NEXT
• The Green Wave will be back in action on Tuesday, Feb. 4, as they travel to play Memphis.

TICKETS
Tickets for the 2019-20 season can be purchased by calling 504-861-WAVE (9283), logging on to TulaneTix.com or visiting the ticket office at the James W. Wilson Jr. Center.

WE ARE NOLA BUILT
Tulane University is located in the city of New Orleans. It is a city built on tradition and resiliency. The lessons Green Wave student-athletes have learned through their connection with this university and city have BUILT doctors, lawyers, business leaders, conference champions, all-conference players, All-Americans, professional athletes and NCAA tournament teams. The city of New Orleans has shaped us into who we are today. We are One City. We are Tulane. We are NOLA BUILT. Check out our story at NolaBuilt.com