Nov. 25, 2009

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NEW ORLEANS--For 40 minutes, the Tulane University women's basketball team gave No. 7 LSU all it could handle, and then some. In five post-regulation minutes, however, the Tigers finally pulled away from their up-to-the-challenge opponent as the Green Wave dropped a hard-fought 73-65 overtime decision to LSU Saturday night at Fogelman Arena.

With the score knotted at 59-all at the end of the second half, LSU scored the first four points of the extra period by hitting 4-of-6 free throws and outscored Tulane 10-6 the rest of the way to improve to 5-0 on the year and extend its winning streak over state opponents to 30. The Green Wave, meanwhile, fall to 2-2 on the young season.

"I'm really proud of our team," Tulane head women's basketball coach Lisa Stockton said. "I thought they competed. I thought everybody really contributed. I saw a team that very unselfish. Whoever could score or whoever could defend, they were fine with it. If we could build on this, we can be very good. That is what we've got to do."

Freshman guard Olivia Grayson and junior guard Tiffany Aidoo came off the Green Wave bench to score 16 and 12 points, respectively, while sophomore center Brett Benzio led the Tulane effort on the board with eight rebounds and a pair of blocks. Grayson had a game-high five assists while senior guard Chassity Brown led all players with five steals.

The Tulane defense limited the Tigers - who entered the night hitting 45.6 percent of its shots - to a 33.9 mark from the floor (19-of-56), including a 5-for-23 (21.7) showing in the second half. The Green Wave held LSU without a basket over the final 8:52 of regulation and did not allow a Tiger hoop until the 2:52 mark of the overtime period - a span of 11 minutes.

The difference in the game, however, came at the free throw line as LSU converted 31-of-40 shots from the charity stripe on 27 Green Wave fouls. Tulane, meanwhile, hit just 8-of-16 free throw attempts on 17 LSU fouls.

"I thought we did a great job defensively," Stockton said. "We played our personnel. We were on help-side and we pulled down some really big rebounds in the second half when we needed them. LSU has so many weapons and it's really hard to hold them to a low percentage.

"We missed some (free throws) early in the game and did a much better job in the second half. We just didn't get many chances. We need to make them, absolutely, but I really feel that we made so many breaks for ourselves. It was a well-played game."

LSU scored the first five points of the ballgame and led by seven at 13-6 just 6:16 into the contest. Tulane responded with a 12-4 rally to tie the game at 16-all and actually took a 21-20 lead on a Grayson 3-pointer with 9:02 to go in the opening stanza. The Tigers roared back to take a six-point lead twice over the next three minutes but the Green Wave refused to go away.

Tulane took a 33-32 lead with 2:30 while a layup plus an and-one free throw by sophomore Jennifer Nwokedi made it a 36-34 ballgame with 1:47 to go before the break. The Tigers scored the next 10 points - sandwiching four made free throws around a pair of Adrienne Webb 3-pointers to make it a 36-44 ballgame - but an Aidoo trey with four seconds on the clock cut the deficit to five going into the locker room at halftime.

A jumper by junior forward Brittany Lindsey made it a 44-41 game early in the second half before LSU appeared to take control of the game early with a 10-0 run over the next three minutes pushed the advantage to 54-41. Following a Tulane timeout, the Wave got things going offensively and chipped the LSU lead down to a pair at 58-56 with 6:30 left to play. Both teams sank a free throw to keep it a two-point affair, but a pair of Grayson freebees tied the game at 59-all.

Tulane had a chance to win the game in regulation as Benzio stole the ball on the ensuing LSU possession. Grayson's drive to the basket resulted in contact but no call and the Tigers picked up the loose ball with six seconds to play. Latear Eason's shot at the buzzer was off the mark to force overtime.

"To have a shot that could win it and not is disappointing," Stockton said. "I thought we did a good job of managing the clock in the last two minutes. We hit free throws down the stretch, did some really good things and had the ball at the end. We just couldn't put it in."

The overtime period was all LSU as a LaSondra Barrett free throw 10 seconds into the stanza gave the Tigers a 60-59 lead they would not relinquish. Eight of LSU's 14 overtime points came from the charity stripe while Katherine Graham added a pair of jumpers and Barrett had a layup to account for the final score.

Barrett led all players with 22 points, including an 11-of-12 performance from the free throw line, while Allison Hightower and Graham added 18 and 11 points, respectively. Barrett Graham and Turnbow tied Benzio for game-high rebounding honors with eight each. Eason paced LSU with three assists and three steals.

"Let's give Tulane all of the credit," LSU head coach Van Chancellor said. "Tulane fought tonight. They had a great gameplan. They shot the ball well, but also give the Lady Tigers credit for effort when it counted...We had two starters not playing, but we found a way to keep them from scoring at the end of regulation. We then found a way to take it over in overtime. (LaSondra) Barrett was outstanding tonight."

The Green Wave return to action on Tuesday, Dec. 1, when they travel to Mobile, Ala., to take on South Alabama at 7:05 p.m. in the Mitchell Center. The game against the Jaguars is one of three Tulane will play next week as the Wave will play Prairie View A&M and Longwood in the Big Easy Classic over the weekend. The Prairie View A&M game is slated for 7 p.m. in Fogelman Arena while Saturday's contest against Longwood is scheduled to tip off at 3:30 p.m. across town at the UNO Lakefront Arena.

Tickets to this weekend's games, as well as future Green Wave events, may be purchase in person on the first floor of the James W. Wilson, Jr., Center, over the phone at (504) 861-WAVE (9283), or online at www.TulaneGreenWave.com. Tickets can also be purchase on the date of competition at Fogelman Arena.

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