Women’s Basketball Heads to Houston Wednesday

Wednesday, January 6

Houston, Texas

3 PM

Tulane University

Houston

Women’s Basketball Heads to Houston Wednesday

Jan 5, 2021 | Women's Basketball

By: Pierce Feltner

When:	Wednesday, Jan. 6 \| 3 p.m.
Where:	Houston, Texas \| Fertitta Center
Watch:	ESPN+
Radio:	WRBH 88.3 FM \| Listen Online
Notes:	Tulane (PDF) \| Houston (PDF)
Live Stats:	Live Stats
Social:	@GreenWaveWBB

NEW ORLEANS – The Tulane women's basketball team will tip-off a two-game road trip with a matchup at Houston on Wednesday, Jan. 6. The game with the Cougars is set for 3 p.m. in the Fertitta Center on Houston's campus.

STARTING FIVE
1.            Freshman Jerkaila Jordan has made a splash early in her collegiate career. She has been honored by the AAC four times. Back on Dec. 14 she was named Conference Player of the Week. She has led the Green Wave in scoring in five of the team's eight games this season.
2.            Jordan leads the team in scoring with 15.6 points per game.
3.            Jordan currently ranks in the top 10 in the American Athletic Conference in scoring (15.6), field goal percentage (.447), assists (3.3) and steals (1.8). She leads all freshman in The American in scoring and ranks 14th nationally among first-year players.
4.            Senior Arsula Clark earned Preseason Second Team All-AAC honors. She currently ranks second on the team in scoring with a 13.7 points per game average. At ECU, she led the team in scoring with a season-high 28 points.
5.            Senior Krystal Freeman earned Second Team All-American Athletic Conference honors last season. She was named preseason first team in the conference as an unanimous selection heading into the 2020-21 season. She currently ranks third on the team, averaging 13.6 points per game. Freeman leads the team and ranks fourth in the AAC with 9.4 rebounds per game.

SERIES HISTORY – HOUSTON
• The Green Wave and the Cougars have met 45 times in program history with Tulane holding a 28-17 edge.
• The Green Wave fell in the last meeting between the two teams, as they dropped a 66-60 decision back on Feb. 1, 2020.
• Tulane head coach Lisa Stockton holds a 27-16 all-time record against Houston in her career at Tulane.
• The Cougars have taken the last four meetings between the two teams.

SCOUTING THE COUGARS
• Houston enters its matchup with Tulane carrying a 5-2 overall record and a 2-1 conference mark.
• The Cougars return to the hardwood after suffering a 55-46 setback at UCF on Jan. 3.
• Houston ranks second in the AAC in three-point field goal defense (.211), blocked shots (4.3) and steals (10.6). The Cougars also rank third in scoring (70.7), three-point field goal percentage (.333) and assists (14.6).
• Redshirt sophomore guard Britney Onyeje leads the way for Houston with 13.4 points per game. She is second on the team with 10 steals this season.
• Sophomore forward Bria Patterson is the top rebounder for the Cougars grabbing 6.6 boards per game, which ranks eigth in the conference.
• Senior guard Julia Blackshell-Fair is fourth in the AAC with 4.6 assists per game. She also adds 8.4 points per game.
• Redshirt Senior Eryka Sidney was named to the AAC Weekly Honor Roll after she led the Cougars in scoring against both Wichita State and UCF, going 8-of-10 from three-point range over the past two games.
• Houston head coach Ronald Hughey is in his seventh season on the bench for the Cougars and has posted a 76-116 mark since arriving at Houston.

AMONG THE LEAGUE LEADERS
• Tulane ranks among the league's top five in 19 different statistical categories.
• The Green Wave lead the conference in scoring (71.6) and rank third in scoring defense (60.6).

FRESHMAN LEADS THE WAY
• Freshman Jerkaila Jordan currently leads the Green Wave with 15.6 points per game, 125 total points, 26 assists and eight blocked shots.
• Jordan leads The American in points per game and ranks 14th nationally among freshman.

RETURNING THE OFFENSE
• Tulane brings back 89.3 percent of its scoring and 95.2 percent of its rebounding from the 2019-20 season. This is the second-highest percentage of any team in the American behind SMU.
• The four seniors (Krystal Freeman, Arsula Clark, Sierra Cheatham and Kaila Anderson) on the roster for the Olive Blue are tied for second with Memphis and Temple for the second-most in the American Athletic Conference. ECU boasts six for the most in the league.
• The Green Wave graduated two seniors last season, Kayla Manuirirangi and Maddison Wells.
• Tulane opened the season with an 88-point outburst. This was the most points the Green Wave have scored since they beat FAU, 88-45, on Nov. 28, 2018.
• The Olive and Blue topped the 80-point mark for the third time this season with the 80-44 win over Memphis on Jan. 2.
• The 80 points were the most the Green Wave had scored against an American Athletic Conference team in regulation since beating Houston 82-56 on Jan. 14, 2017.
• The 36-point margin of victory was the largest against a conference opponent since the Olive and Blue topped Tulsa by 37 points, 78-41, on Jan. 24, 2009.

FREEMAN JOINS THE 1,000-POINT CLUB
• Senior Krystal Freeman scored the 1,000th point of her career as she connected on a jumper from the wing against UCF in the third quarter of the Green Wave's league opener on the road.
• Freeman became the 29th player in program history to surpass 1,000 points. She currently ranks 25th in scoring in program history with 1,046 points.

LOUISIANA TALENT
• Freshman Jerkaila Jordan comes to Tulane after winning four straight Louisiana High School State Championships at John Curtis. She was named the MVP of each championship game.
• Jordan was named the Gatorade Player of the Year and Miss Basketball in the state of Louisiana in 2020. She was also the No. 45 recruit in the nation coming out of high school.
• She opened her collegiate career with 17 points, nine rebounds, four assists and two steals against Nicholls.
• Jordan earned AAC Freshman of the Week honors for her efforts against Nicholls.
• She followed that performance up with 20 points, five rebounds, three assists and two steals at South Alabama. The freshman guard shot 2-3 from behind the arc and 4-4 from the charity stripe in Mobile, Ala.
• Jordan was named player of the week from the AAC on Dec. 14.
• The standout freshman earned her third AAC Freshman of the Week Award on Jan. 4, after logging 15 points, three rebounds and three steals in the win over Memphis.

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, 2019. The Green Wave also held Temple to four points in the third quarter March 3, 2020.
• The Olive and Blue have held opponents to five or fewer points in a quarter 17 times 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 on Dec. 30, 2019.
• Tulane held opponents to single digits in a quarter 15 times last season.
• The Green Wave picked up right where they left off on the defensive side of the ball and only allowed Nicholls to put up four points in the third quarter in the 2020-21 season opener.
• Tulane held UCF to just eight points in the opening quarter against the Knights.
• The Green Wave held Southeastern to seven points in the fourth quarter earlier this year.
• Tulane kept up the defense holding Memphis to nine points in both the first and second quarters on Jan. 2.

WINS AMONG ACTIVE COACHES
1. Tara VanDerveer, Stanford - 1,103
...
17. Kim Maulkey, Baylor - 612
18. Mike McLaughlin, Penn - 606
19. Lisa Stockton, Tulane - 590

CAREER NUMBERS WATCH
Coming up soon:
• Krystal Freeman is 20 rebounds from 600.
• Sierra Cheatham is 51 points from 700.
• Kaila Anderson is 27 assists from 300.
• Arsula Clark is 35 rebounds from 600.

UP NEXT
The Green Wave will stay on the road as they head North to play Cincinnati on Saturday, Jan. 9. Tip-off is set for 1 p.m. in Fifth-Third Arena on Cincinnati's campus.

FOLLOW ON SOCIAL MEDIA
For behind-the-scenes coverage, follow Tulane women's basketball (@GreenWaveWBB) on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

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