No. 1 UConn too much for Tulane

STORRS, Conn. – No. 1 UConn was too much for the Tulane women’s basketball team on Saturday as the Huskies claimed a 98-45 victory at Gampel Pavilion.

UConn (20-0, 9-0 American Athletic Conference) forced six turnovers in the first five minutes and took a 16-5 lead into the first media timeout against Tulane (11-10, 3-5). The Huskies never looked back from there, expending their lead until the final five minutes.

Tulane was led on offense by Kayla Manuirirangi and her 13 points including three made 3-pointers. Meredith Schulte scored 6 points and Tatyana Lofton had 5.

On the glass, Tene Thompson had the most rebounds with three while Kolby Morgan and Manuirirangi had two steals each.

The contest began with 4 straight points for UConn before Sierra Cheatham knocked down a 3-pointer to make it 4-3. But from there, the Huskies scored 7 straight points. A Schulte jumper broke up the UConn run, but the home team followed Schulte’s jumper with 15 consecutive points over the next four minutes. After the first quarter, UConn led 29-11.

Tulane had its best stretch of the game in the fourth quarter, closing the game on a 13-4 run. The Green Wave started that run with a Meredith Schulte jumper, and four free throws from Maddison Wells and Caylah Cruickshank followed. Ksenija Madzarevic made it an 8-0 run with an inside jumper, and Manuirirangi knocked down her final 3-pointer of the night.

That made it 11 straight points for Tulane in a span of 3:26. Krystal Freeman added a jumper with 44 seconds left to give Tulane a 13-4 edge in the final five minutes of the game.

During the game, Kolby Morgan became Tulane’s all-time leader in games started with 120, passing Ashley Langford. Lofton scored her 50th career point.

The Green Wave will stay on the road for its next game, heading to the Lone Star State to take on Houston. Tulane and Houston will meet at HP&E Arena at 7 p.m. on Wednesday.