Green Wave Women’s Basketball wins Tulane Classic Tournament for 10th straight year

NEW ORLEANS – For the 10th straight year, Tulane defended its home turf.

Kolby Morgan scored 22 points to lead the Green Wave to a 67-56 victory over UTEP in the 22nd Annual Tulane Classic Championship Game at Avron B. Fogelman Arena in the Devlin Fieldhouse on Friday evening.

Tulane (8-5) has now won 19 of the 22 Tulane Classics and 10 straight dating back to 2008. Morgan was named MVP for her 54 combined points and 14 assists over the tournament’s two games. Morgan becomes just the third player in Tulane Classic history to win back-to-back MVP honors (Grace Daley, Janelle Burse).

Also making the All-Tournament Team from Tulane was Kayla Manuirirangi and Meredith Schulte. Manuirirangi had 8 points, five assists and a career-best six rebounds on Friday to go along with her 19 points from Thursday.

Schulte had a tremendous defensive game on Friday and recorded 12 points, six rebounds and three steals while competing against two of UTEP’s post players who are 6-foot-2 and 6-foot-4.

The victory was the third straight for the Green Wave and its first over UTEP (7-4) since 2013.

During the first quarter, Morgan reached 1,900 career points early on as she helped Tulane get out to a 21-13 lead with back-to-back 3-pointers. But the Miners closed the quarter on a 5-0 run and the Green Wave went into the second quarter ahead just 21-18.

But the second quarter is when Tulane took over. Morgan started things off with two free throws and a layup, Manuirirangi drained a 3-pointer, Schulte knocked down a jumper and Wyatt banked in a layup of her own to cap a 11-0 Green Wave run to begin the quarter. That made it a 32-18 lead for Tulane, and UTEP never got closer than 9 points again.

Besides Morgan and Schulte, freshman Sierra Cheatham also reached double-figure scoring with 11 points, tying her career high she set on Thursday. She also had a new career high with five rebounds. Wyatt, Manuirirangi and Sculte all tied for the team lead with six rebounds, and Morgan’s six assists were the best on the roster. Ksenija Madzarevic played a solid 13 minutes and got two blocks, a steal, a rebound and two points.

In the day’s first game, Samford came back from a 16-point deficit to defeat Troy 82-76 in overtime.

The Green Wave now have nine days off before their next game when they head to Tampa, Florida to face No. 22/19 USF. Tipoff is set for 11 a.m. central.