WBB Set for Fat Tuesday Showdown at No. 22 USF

This evening the Tulane Women’s Basketball team will play against USF Bulls at Tampa. The game starts at 6PM (CST) and our broadcast will preempt the following daytime programs:

We apologize for the inconvenience, but all book programs missed will be replayed tomorrow at their regular time. Until then, we hope you’ll enjoy cheering on the women’s basketball team. Roll Green Wave!

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NEW ORLEANS – The Tulane women’s basketball team (16-7, 7-4) will be spending their Fat Tuesday in Tampa, Florida, where they’ll look to avenge a four-point loss at home on Jan. 13 to No. 22 South Florida (16-6, 9-3). The Green Wave tip-off against the Bulls at 6 p.m. CT, as the match-up will stream live on The American Digital Network.

LAST TIME OUT
The Green Wave built a lead as large as 17 points to start the third quarter at Houston, but the Cougars rallied to cut the deficit to 55-52 with 44 seconds remaining. That’s when Kolby Morgan connected on a clutch three-pointer that ultimately led to the Wave’s 59-56 victory.

Morgan finished with 20 points on 7-of-15 shooting, marking her sixth 20+ scoring perfor­mance on the year. Taylor Emery and Tierra Jones also provided double-digit point efforts with 11 and 10 points, respectively.

SERIES HISTORY VS USF
Tulane leads the all-time series vs USF, 19-13, but the Bulls have bested the Wave as of late, winning seven of the last nine contests. Tulane last defeated South Florida back on Dec. 17, 2009 in Tampa. The two sides squared off three times last year, including the semifinals of the conference tournament, where USF defeated Tulane, 78-69, in a game that was tied with five minutes remaining.

On Jan. 13, USF emerged with a 71-67 vic­tory in New Orleans in the final seconds of the game.

PREVIOUSLY AGAINST THE BULLS
Tulane led USF for 16 minutes in the first half but went into halftime tied at 32-all. In the third period, USF built a 43-34 lead, in which the Wave responded with a 13-2 run to recapture the lead at 50-47.

Next, it became a one player show for the Bulls, as senior guard Courtney Williams scored 13 straight points to begin the fourth quarter, ultimately leading to a 66-58 lead with a minute remaining. That’s when Tulane’s clutch free-throw shooting (6-for-6 down the stretch), combined with its defense (two turnovers) cut the deficit to one possession at 67-64.

Vorpahl then connected on her career best sixth three-pointer of the game with 16 sec­onds left on the clock to tie the game at 67-67. Yet, USF responded with a quick drive down the court to deliver the go-ahead basket, which eventually led to the final 71-67 score.

Vorpahl scored 26 points on 10-of-18 shooting. Morgan finished with 12 points and a 6-for-6 night from the free throw line. Tierra Jones led the Wave in rebounding with seven boards to go along with her nine points. Meanwhile, Courtney Williams led USF with 31 points, in which 16 came in the fourth quarter.

SCOUTING USF
South Florida finds itself coming off of a loss after falling 68-66 at Temple this past Saturday, as the Owls’ Erica Covile answered the call with just one second on the clock. USF’s other two conference losses came at the hands of UConn, 75-59, and Memphis, 88-87, in OT.

Senior Alisia Jenkins returned from injury at Temple, recording 12 points, seven rebounds and two steals in 26 minutes. Jenkins averages a double-double at 10.3 points and 11.2 rebounds.

Senior Courtney Williams continues to shine, averaging 21.9 ppg, while leading the team in steals (30) and ranking second in assists (62) and rebounds (9.5 average). Williams shoots 42.3 percent from the floor and 42.0 percent from three-point range.

ROAD WARRIOR
In seven true road games this season, Kolby Morgan has performed admirably, averaging 17.6 ppg, a slight bump up from her 15.9 ppg season average. Morgan is shooting 44.7 per­cent from the floor on the road, along with 43.2 percent from three-point range.

As a team, the Green Wave average 64.3 ppg with a +4.9 scoring margin on the road, where they are also forcing 17.7 turnovers and keep­ing opponents to a .241 three-point field goal percentage.

A NEW LOOK
On Feb. 6 at Houston, Coach Stockton de­buted a new starting five for the first time this season, inserting freshman Harlyn Wyatt into the lineup. Wyatt responded by nearly record­ing a double-double with eight points and seven rebounds in a career best 27 minutes of play. Wyatt also accomplished a career high three blocks in the contest.

TREY-MENDOUS
Leslie Vorpahl and Kolby Morgan have been prolific from three-point range this season, lifting the Green Wave to a .353 shooting per­centage from beyond the arc, which ranks third in The American and 37th in the nation. Last season, the Wave shot .310 as a team.

Vorpahl has connected on 8-of-her-last-15 from three-point range, driving her average up to 42.5 percent, which now ranks 2nd in the league and 19th in the country. The junior has recorded at least one three-pointer in every game as her 2.1 made three-pointer average ranks 4th in the conference. Vorpahl connect­ed on a career best 6-of-10 from three-point range vs USF on Jan. 13.

 Meanwhile, Morgan has increased her three-point field goal percentage from .301 a year ago to .342 this season, which ranks 8th in the league. Morgan’s 1.7 three pointers per game ranks 8th in The American. Morgan recently connected on a clutch three at Houston on Feb. 6 with 22 seconds remaining that pushed the Wave’s lead to two possessions and sealed the 59-56 road victory.

CLOSING IT OUT
After completing their 59-56 road win at Houston on Feb. 6, Tulane improved to 5-1 in games decided by five points or less and 6-2 in games decided by single digits.

In addition, Tulane has also done well this year in protecting their lead in the sec­ond half of the contest. For example, the Wave are 13-0 when leading at half and 14-1 when leading heading into the fourth quarter – The lone loss came at the hands of South Florida.