Tulane 58, Samford 56
NEW ORLEANS, La. – The Samford women’s basketball team overcame a 14-point second-half deficit to take a four-point lead, but could not hold it as the Bulldogs dropped a 58-56 decision at Tulane Thursday night on the first day of the Tulane/Double Tree Classic at Devlin Fieldhouse.
Samford trailed by as much as 14 points at 37-23 with 15:21 left in the game. The Bulldogs went on a 9-0 run to close to within five points at 37-32 with 12:42 left after a jumper by Lydia McGee. With Samford trailing, 43-36, the Bulldogs went on a 12-4 run to take a one-point lead at 48-47 with 3:33 left after a pair of free throws by Taylor Reece.
After Tulane came back to take a 50-48 lead, Samford’s Hannah Nichols hit a three-pointer to put Samford back in front at 51-50 with 3:03 remaining. Samford built its lead to four points at 56-52 with 55 seconds left following a three-pointer by Krista Stricklin. With 46 seconds left, Tulane’s Danielle Blagg hit a three-pointer and was fouled on the shot. Blagg missed the free throw attempt, however, and Samford held a 56-55 advantage.
On Tulane’s next possession, Blagg was fouled again, and this time made both attempts, giving Tulane a 57-56 lead with 23 seconds left. Samford had one last shot to win the game, but Destiney Elliott’s jumper just missed with two seconds left. Tulane’s Jamie Kaplan was fouled on the rebound and made one-of-two free-throw attempts to make the final score 58-56.
For Samford in the loss, Nichols and McGee scored 14 points each. Nichols also grabbed nine rebounds, while McGee dished out five assists. Reece scored 12 points, while Elliott added 11 points. Stricklin pulled down a team-high 10 rebounds for Samford.
Tulane was led by Blagg with 16 points. Tiffany Dale and Adesuwa Ebomwonyi added 11 points each for the Green Wave.
Samford started the first half by taking an early 6-0 lead with 16:21 left in the half after a layup by Reece. Tulane answered by scoring the next eight points to take an 8-6 lead with 13:11 left in the half following a basket by Courtnie Latham. After a three-pointer by Nichols gave Samford a 9-8 lead, Tulane went on a 7-2 run to take a 15-11 lead with 8:21 left after a basket by Leslie Vorpahl.
A three-pointer by McGee cut the Tulane lead to one at 15-14 with 7:16 to play in the first half. Tulane then went on an 8-0 run to take a 23-14 lead with 3:02 left in the half after a basket by Tierra Jones. With Tulane leading, 26-16, McGee hit a three-pointer at the buzzer to make the score 26-19 heading into halftime.
As a team, Samford made 41.3 percent of its shots overall, including 47.1 percent from three-point range. Tulane won the rebounding battle, 41-34, including 17 offensive rebounds, compared to six for Samford.
Samford will return to action Friday evening when the Bulldogs wrap up play in the Tulane/Double Tree Classic by taking on UCLA. The game is scheduled for a 5 p.m. start.
William & Mary 71, Wofford 51
SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The Tribe of William & Mary came out the gate firing and never looked back, taking a win from the Wofford College women’s basketball team, 71-51, in the Benjamin Johnson Arena Thursday night.
William & Mary (6-3) stormed past the Terriers in the first half, 40-21. A combination of a stingy pressing defense and the Tribe’s size were too much for Wofford (3-7) to handle. The Tribe held the team to 20.7 percent shooting (6-29 FG), while forcing 10 turnovers in the first period.
On the offensive end, Tribe center Abby Rendle and forward Jazmen Boone led the charge. The two combined for 23 of 40 total points, Rendle netting 12 and Boone 11. Rendle also ended the half a rebound shy of a double-double. The freshman had a career night, earning personal bests in points (16), rebounds (10), and steals (2).
The Tribe had multiple contributors, with seven players scoring at least five points.
For the Terriers, Jordan Frazier led the team in scoring for the seventh time this season, knocking down 15 points on 4-of-17 shooting from the field. Sophomore guard Kentra Washington added nine points on a team-best 60 percent shooting (3-5 FG), while Lauren Kirby and Chanel Stokes had seven apiece. The team was held to 25.5 percent from the field – the lowest all season.
Junior Khadijah Joyner led the Wofford’s rebounding efforts off the bench, grabbing a career-high 11 boards.
The Tribe was relentless attacking the rim, using their size to outscore the Terriers 38-14 in the paint. Transition buckets also played a large role in William & Mary’s victory, as the team scored 25 points off of the 21 Wofford turnovers.
Both teams found themselves in foul trouble earlier than expected. By the 11:38 mark in the second half, both teams were in the bonus. The two teams were relatively close in their efforts from the charity stripe, with the Tribe going 21-of-31 (67.7 percent) and the Terriers going 19-of-31 (61.3 percent). Both sides had players forced to sit before the final 40 minutes was up, with William & Mary’s Kasey Curtis fouling out with 3:53 remaining, while Wofford’s Frazier finished the day with 2:42 left on the clock.
Wofford never led in the contest.
The Terriers made adjustments in the second half, only outscored by one, 31-30, but the dominant Tribe first half was too much to overcome.
The Terriers head on the road tomorrow to continue a stretch of three games in just four days. Wofford looks to get on the right track at the North Florida Holiday Classic in Jacksonville this weekend. The Terriers open their two-game road tilt against North Florida on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. Wofford will play again on Sunday, taking on Florida International at 12:30 p.m. to conclude the holiday tournament.