Tulane Comes Back to Beat Temple on Senior Day, 53-50

Monday, March 2

New Orleans

7 p.m.

Tulane University

13-16,8-8AAC

Temple

15-14,7-9AAC

Temple

Tulane

Tulane Comes Back to Beat Temple on Senior Day, 53-50

Mar 2, 2020 | Women's Basketball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

By: Pierce Feltner

NEW ORLEANS — Tulane mounted an 11-point second half comeback to take a 53-50 win over Temple on Senior Day at Avron B. Fogelman Arena in the Devlin Fieldhouse. With the win, the Green Wave claimed the No. 5 seed in the American Athletic Conference Tournament.

Tulane (13-16, 8-8) logged 17 assists on 18 made shots, while Temple (15-14, 7-9) had nine assists on 18 makes. The Green Wave recorded 40 rebounds, four blocks and two steals. The Owls registered 46 boards, five steals and two blocks.

Junior Krystal Freeman led the Olive and Blue with 21 points and 10 rebounds. Freshman Salma Bates added eight points and six assists for the Wave, while junior Arsula Clark logged 13 points and three rebounds.

"We knew defense was going to be really important in this game," Green Wave head coach Lisa Stockton said. "I thought we did a great job. In the second quarter we tied the game. We held them to 15 points in the second half. We only had eight turnovers. The nice thing is we went to our scorers. I thought Krystal Freeman and Arsula Clark did a great job of putting us on the board. We just got great contributions."

Tulane outscored Temple 17-4 in the third to take a 41-39 lead into the fourth quarter. Freeman led the charge for the Wave with seven points, while Clark added five. Bates dished out five assists in the third quarter alone.

In the fourth, Temple tied the game on the first possession. Both teams traded buckets the entire quarter with neither taking more than a two-point lead until the end. After a Tulane stop on the defensive end with 37 seconds remaining, Freeman drove right and made a turn-around jumper over a Temple defender to give Tulane a 53-50 lead with 14 seconds left. The Green Wave were able to get a stop on the ensuing Owls possession to secure the win.

Tulane held Temple to four points in the paint in the second half.

"We haven't lost many senior nights," Stockton said. "It is definitely special. It makes the celebration more fun. It also puts us fifth in the league, which was one of our goals going into the season."

The Owls took a quick lead in the first quarter scoring nine unanswered points, but Freeman ended the run with layup for the Green Wave. Temple led 18-7 after the first quarter.

Freshman Irinia Parau started the second period with a three for Tulane, but Temple kept pace with the Green Wave. Freshman Salma Bates scored six in the second, but Temple took a 35-24 lead into the break.

At the half, Freeman led the Olive and Blue with eight points, while sophomore Erin Gutierrez had a team-high two assists.

Up next, the Green Wave will head to the American Athletic Conference Tournament at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut. Tulane will be the No. 5 seed and play No. 12 Tulsa at 11 a.m. Friday, March 12.

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.

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