Green Wave trounce FAMU for 10th win

Green Wave enter conference play at 10-3 this season

CORAL GABLES, Fla. – In front of a hometown crowd, freshman Erin Gutierrez had the best day of her young career.

The South Florida native put up a career-high 19 points on 7 of 11 shooting and added a career-high six assists in a 78-34 Green Wave trouncing of Florida A&M in the Miami Holiday Classic at the Watsco Center on Sunday afternoon.

Gutierrez was far from the only impressive performer, though, in a day where just about everything went right for the Green Wave (10-3) against the Rattlers (2-10).

Freshman Dynah Jones also scored an impressive 16 points, senior Tatyana Lofton was one away from a career best with 15 points and Krystal Freeman reached double figures for the second straight game with 10 points.

As a team, Tulane shot 44 percent from the field and allowed FAMU to shoot just 28 percent. The Rattlers did not score in double figures in a quarter until the fourth quarter when the game was well out of hand. The Green Wave’s defensive effort in allowing just 34 points was their best since the season opener at Maine on Nov. 10, 2017.

For the second consecutive day, Tulane had a dominant first half that saw the Green Wave take a 20-point lead into the third quarter. After letting FAMU get out to an 8-4 lead in the early going, Tulane held the Rattlers without a field goal for the next 10 minutes of game time.

The Green Wave went on an 18-0 run following a Rattler free throw, turning a 9-7 deficit into a 15-9 lead at the end of the first quarter and a 25-9 lead in the second quarter before FAMU scored again.

The Rattlers managed just 2 points in the second quarter, and after those points were scored, the Green Wave scored the next 9 to close out the half with a 34-11 lead.

The third quarter was the most productive for Tulane, who outscored Florida A&M 25-8. Tulane grew its lead in the fourth and wound up with a 44-point margin of victory, by far its largest of the season.

Gutierrez’s career-best 19 points and six assists weren’t the only new marks set by a freshman. Jones tied her career high with six rebounds and tripled her previous career high in steals with six. Gutierrez and Jones frequently partnered up on Sunday with one stealing the ball and finding the other with a deep outlet pass for an easy fast-break layup.

Freshman Mia Heide also had a new career best with eight rebounds and tied her career high with two assists. Harlyn Wyatt led Tulane in rebounding with nine.

Tulane got a lot of work done on the fast break, posting a season-best 20 steals and converting 28 FAMU turnovers into 39 points. Tulane also got 16 second-chance points off 20 offensive rebounds and got a season-best 54 points off the bench. More than half of Tulane’s scoring came in the paint as the team had 46 paint points.

With its weekend in South Florida complete, Tulane will begin conference play in the new year. First on the schedule is ECU at Fogelman in Devlin on January 5 at 2 p.m.