Jan. 17, 2010

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DALLAS - Senior guard Chassity Brown set a school record with nine steals and the Green Wave posted a season-high 17 thefts as a team, but it was a victory that was elusive on the afternoon as the Tulane University women's basketball team dropped a 70-59 decision to Conference USA foe SMU at Moody Coliseum.

Tulane (13-4, 2-2 C-USA) led by as many as 11 in the first half, but the SMU (13-4, 3-1 C-USA) defense held the Green Wave for periods of 6:03 in the first half and 3:50 in the second half. The Mustangs, meanwhile, outscored Tulane 40-26 over the final 20 minutes of play - just the second time all year that the Green Wave failed to outscore its opponent in the second half - to hand the ladies in olive green and sky blue their second league loss of the season.

"They're a good team and against a team like that, you have do everything well," Tulane head women's basketball coach Lisa Stockton said. "We had too many turnovers for the weekend - not just today, for the weekend. We had 23 today. You can't be careless with the ball against good teams.

"We have to do a better job of handling the pressure on the road and playing more consistently. I didn't think we had a lot of energy tonight and don't think we played with the same level of energy that we've been playing with recently."

Brown's steal total surpassed the previous school record of eight originally set by Keisha Johnson vs. Louisville on Jan. 20, 1992 and tied by Mary Ann Marino vs. Harvard on Dec. 6, 1993, Salome Hector against Saint Louis on Jan. 28, 2000, Kelly Nadeau vs. TCU on Feb. 23, 2003 and Ashley Langford against Temple on Dec. 28, 2008.

In addition to her steals total, Brown had 11 points, three rebounds and a pair of assists. Junior forward Tiffany Aidoo was a perfect 6-of-6 from the field - including a 4-for-4 showing from beyond the 3-point arc - to lead the team with 16 points while junior forward Danielle Nunn had 14 points and junior point guard Roshaunda Barnes added 11.

Nunn paced the club with four assists while sophomore center Brett Benzio and freshman guard Olivia Grayson tied for team-high rebounding honors with four each. Grayson added four steals while Barnes, Nunn, Aidoo and freshman Tyria Snow each had one.

The Green Wave scored the first six points of the game and led by as many as 11 in the opening stanza at 25-14 with 7:46 to go before the halftime. The Mustang defense, however, held Tulane without a field goal over the next six minutes to get back into the ballgame.

While the Wave managed just three free throws during the stretch, SMU's Jillian Samuels scored seven of the game's next eight points on a trio of field goals and a shot from the charity stripe. A pair of free throws by Brittany Gilliam and a basket by Christine Elliott cut the Tulane lead to three at 28-25 before sophomore post player Brett Benzio broke the Green Wave drought with a jumper in the lane to make it a five-point affair with 1:43 left on the clock.

Tulane held a 33-27 advantage in the waning seconds of the first half, but Samuels nailed a trey from the left wing to make it a three-point ballgame at the break.

The momentum of SMU's late first-half rally carried over to the final 20 minutes as the Mustangs scored the first four points of the half to take their first lead of the day at 34-33. A Barnes layup and an Aidoo jumper put the Green Wave back on top by three at 37-34 2:19 into the half, but the Mustangs got back-to-back baskets by Gilliam to reclaim a one-point lead.

Following a layup by SMU's Haley Day, Tulane got baskets by Benzio and Brown to take a 41-40 lead before Elliott canned a pair of free throws with 13:48 left in regulation to give the Mustangs a 42-41 lead they would not relinquish.

Elliott's freebies sparked an 11-0 run to give SMU a 10-point lead 4:08 later and the Mustang lead swelled to as many as 13 at 60-47 with 3:07 on the clock. Tulane used a 12-5 rally to cut the deficit to six with 56 seconds before the final buzzer, but SMU hit five-of-six free throws down the stretch to account for the final score.

"You look at those last four minutes and how hard we played, if we had given any of that effort and intensity earlier in the game before we got down, it would have been a different outcome," Stockton said. "I felt this was a team we could press and a team that we could be aggressive against.

"One of our problems in a two-game weekend is a lack of depth sometimes, but we've got to be able to do that (pressure the ball). If we want to win in this league the way it's structured, we've got to be able to do that every night with a certain level of intensity. I think it could have made a difference in the game."

Samuels led all players with 20 points while Elliott finished with 12. Elliott and Haley Day tied for game-high rebounding honors with nine each. Gilliam, meanwhile, led the team with five assists and joined Alisha Filmore and Samantha Mahnesmith with two steals each.

The Green Wave return to action on Saturday, Jan. 23, when they play host to C-USA rival Southern Miss at 2 p.m. in Fogelman Arena. For ticket information to that contest, as well as future Green Wave Athletics events, contact the Tulane Athletics Ticket Office at (504) 861-WAVE.

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