Women’s Basketball Begins AAC Tournament Play Against SMU On Saturday

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Fort Worth, Texas – Tulane's women's basketball team (10-19, 3-14 AAC) starts American Athletic Conference (AAC) Tournament play on Saturday evening at 6 p.m. against SMU (14-15, 8-10 AAC) in Fort Worth, Texas at Dickies Arena. The Green Wave enter the tournament as the No. 14 seed and take on the No. 11 seed Mustangs in the first round. All the Tulane games will be shown live on ESPN+ while Paul Boron has the radio call on 88.3 FM or the Varsity Network App.

Last time out, Tulane battled tough but fell to eventual AAC Regular Season Champion Tulsa by a 61-56 score. The program trailed by as much as 16 points in the third quarter before coming back to get to within two points in last five minutes. Irina Parau had a career day with 16 points and 14 rebounds. It was her second double-double of the season and the first time that she has led the team in scoring on the campaign. Kyren Whittington totaled 14 points. It was her 20th game in double figures this season. Hannah Pratt scored 12 points. Kaylah Rainey led the team in assists for the 14th time this season. The loss was the team's eight straight. The losing streak is the longest for program since 1991 when the program dropped 11 straight.

For her outstanding individual efforts against Tulsa, Parau was named to the AAC Weekly Honor Roll on Thursday. It was the sixth time that a Tulane player has been honored by the league office this season as Whittington was named to the AAC's Weekly Honor Roll on Nov. 20 and Dec. 11, Marta Galic took home the league honor on Dec. 26, Pratt was recognized on Jan. 15 and Amira Mabry was honored on Feb. 5.

SMU is coached by Toyelle Wilson. She is in her third year in charge of the program. The Mustangs have lost three of their last four games including a 68-61 overtime defeat to South Florida on Tuesday. Tiara Young leads the team in scoring at 17.2 points per game. Young was a Second Team All-Conference choice this season. Chantae Embry is averaging 12.6 points per game. She also leads the team with 31 made threes. Amirah Abdur-Rahim is putting up 11.2 points per game and also leads the club with her average of 6.4 rebounds per game.

Tulane leads the all-time series with SMU 26-16. The first game of the series was a 72-62 victory for Tulane in 1980. The Green Wave lost the last game 63-53 earlier this season on February 14. The win snapped Tulane's two game winning streak over the Mustang. Whittington led Tulane with 15 points in the contest.

This is the first and will be the last time, with the Mustangs joining the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) next season, that Tulane has faced off with SMU in the AAC Tournament. The program is 2-0 all-time against the No. 11 seed in the tournament with victories over Houston in 2015 and over Cincinnati in 2023.

The Green Wave are 7-9 all-time in AAC Tournament play including a 61-52 victory over Cincinnati last season in the opening round. The team has only lost once in five all-time appearances in the first round of the tournament since joining the conference in 2015. The team has won at least one game in the tournament six times in nine appearances. The program is 2-3 all-time in AAC Tournament games hosted in Fort Worth.

This season, Whittington leads the Green Wave at 16.4 points. She is ranked eighth in the conference in scoring. Whittington is also third in the AAC in steals (61), fourth in field goal percentage (49.8) and eighth in free throw percentage (78.6). The team has four players that are averaging in double figures this season with Galic totaling 12.8 points per game, Mabry tallying 10.7 points a contest and Pratt totaling 10.3 points a game. Parau leads the team in both total rebounds (189) and rebounds per game (6.5). Rainey is the club leader with 104 assists. As a team, Tulane leads the conference is assists per game (15.7) and free throw percentage (77.3). The squad is also third in three-pointers per game (7.2) and fourth in three-point percentage (32.3).

The winner of the Tulane – SMU game in the first round advances to take on No. 6 seed Charlotte in the second round at 8 p.m. on Sunday, March 10, in a game that will also be shown live on ESPN+. The winner of that game takes on No. 3 seed Temple on Monday, March 11, at 8 p.m. in a game that will also be shown live on ESPN+. Three straight wins guarantees Tulane a spot in the semifinals versus the winner of No. 2 seed North Texas on Tuesday, March 12, and a yet to be determined opponent. The AAC Championship Game will be on Wednesday, March 13, at 6 p.m. and shown on ESPNU.

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Women’s Basketball Begins AAC Tournament Play Against SMU On Saturday

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Players Mentioned

Marta Galic

Amira Mabry

Irina Parau

Hannah Pratt

Kaylah Rainey

Kyren Whittington

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