Tulane falls at East Carolina, 72-64

GREENVILLE, N.C. – The Tulane women’s basketball team suffered its second American Athletic Conference road defeat of the season, 72-64, on Tuesday afternoon at Williams Arena in Minges Coliseum.

Senior Arsula Clark poured in a season-high 28 points on 9-of-15 shooting and went 10-of-13 at the free throw line to complement seven rebounds and six steals. Freshman Jerkaila Jordan also scored in double-figures with 16 points, six rebounds, five assists and two blocks.

Tulane (4-2, 0-1 AAC) forced the Pirates into a flurry of mistakes in the first five minutes of the game by drawing four fouls and forcing as many turnovers while creating a 9-7 lead. The score tied twice, but the Green Wave did not surrender the lead to take a 15-13 advantage at the first buzzer.

East Carolina (4-3, 2-0 AAC) seized momentum early in the second quarter by using full court pressure to generate multiple turnovers and score the first eight points of the period. That started a 15-1 scoring run that built a 28-16 advantage at the 5:26 mark. Tulane fell behind by as many as 13 and trailed, 35-25, at halftime.

Tulane shot 7-of-27 (.259) from the field, 2-of-8 (.250) beyond the arc and went 9-of-20 (.450) at the free throw line in the first half, while ECU shot 15-of-34 (.441) overall, 3-of-14 (.214) from outside and made 2-of-5 (.400) at the foul stripe while owning a 14-6 scoring advantage in the paint.

The Green Wave were active early start second half by jumping out on a 7-2 run capped by a Krystal Freeman 3-pointer to cut the deficit in half, 37-32, and forced ECU to call timeout just two minutes into the period. The Pirates scored the next five points to extend their lead back to double digits at the 5:45 mark. The Wave were unable to draw closer as the margin to overcome shifted between eight and 10 points for the remainder of the quarter as the home team maintained a 50-42 lead heading into the final 10-minute frame.

ECU scored the first six points of the fourth quarter to widen the margin to 14 points just 54 seconds in, but Tulane made its move with a 13-4 run, highlighted by a Jordan three-point play, over the subsequent three and a half minutes to pull within five, 60-55, with 5:42 remaining.

Tulane was unable to draw any closer as the Pirates worked their way into the paint and connected on late free throws to seal the eight-point victory.

ECU was led by Taniyah Thompson’s 27 points and six rebounds, while Dominique Claytor grabbed 15 rebounds to go with six assists.

The Green Wave will enjoy a holiday break before returning home to host Temple on Wednesday, December 30. Tipoff is scheduled for 6 p.m., at Avron B. Fogelman Arena in the Devlin Fieldhouse.