Tulane falls to Ole Miss in second round of WNIT, 72-61

COLLIERVILLE, Tenn. – The Tulane University women’s basketball team fell to Ole Miss, 72-61, in the second round of the WNIT tonight. The loss concluded the 2020-21 season for Tulane.

Tulane finished the season with an 18-9 overall record. The Green Wave logged 36 rebounds and 13 steals on the night. The Olive and Blue shot 81.3 (13-16) from the free throw line. Ole Miss had 43 rebounds and shot 42.6 (23-54) percent from the field and 83.3 (25-30) percent from the free throw line. Tulane forced 22 Ole Miss turnovers on the night.

“I thought we really played a gutsy game,” Tulane head coach Lisa Stockton said. “It was a really physical game, and we matched their physicality. We did a tremendous job of competing. I thought it was one of the most physical games we played all year. It got away from us in the fourth quarter and we had our opportunities, but I cannot say enough about this team. They battled all year. We played every game. The way they handled COVID and the sacrifices they made; I cannot say enough about how proud I am.”

Freshman JerKaila Jordan led the way for the Green Wave with 21 points and five steals. Senior Arsula Clark added 18 points, three steals and three rebounds. Senior Krystal Freeman grabbed a team-high nine rebounds, while junior Mia Heide snagged eight boards.

The Green Wave maintained a four-point lead for eight minutes of the third quarter. Ole Miss then reeled off six straight to take a 51-49 lead with a minute left in the third. Clark put an end to the run with a free throw, but the Rebels took a 52-50 lead into the fourth.

After an opening bucket from Ole Miss, Tulane went on a 6-0 run to take a 56-54 lead with 7:37 left in the game. Clark, Jordan and junior Dynah Jones led the run for the Green Wave. Ole Miss took the lead back at 58-56 with 5:28 left in the game. Tulane then tied the game with two free throws from Jordan.

After a layup and a free throw, the Rebels took a 61-58 lead with 4:27 to play. Ole Miss then went on an 11-3 run to close the game and take the 72-61 win.

“She [JerKaila Jordan] competed,” Stockton said. “I thought she had a lot of pressure on her tonight. She got held and pushed and shoved and she is really sore right now. She is a competitor. I thought her and Su Clark really, really competed.”

Jordan closed the season with 450 points, the most scored in a season by a Tulane freshman. Her 16.7 points per game were also the highest by a freshman in program history. The New Orleans native was the first player ever named American Athletic Conference Freshman of the Year by the American Athletic Conference.

Both sides traded blows to open the game with neither side taking control. The Green Wave closed the period on a 6-2 run to take a 20-15 lead after the first period.

The Green Wave and the Rebels traded turns scoring in the second quarter until Ole Miss went on a 6-0 run to tie the game at 26 with 5:19 left in the first half. Jordan put an end to the run with a 3-point jumper from the top of the key as the shot clock expired. The teams went back-and-forth the rest of the half and Tulane took a 36-34 lead into the break.

Clark and Jordan led the Green Wave with 12 points apiece in the first half. Jordan also added four steals in the opening half. Freeman and Heide led the way on the boards with five each. Both teams grabbed 19 rebounds and made 13 shots from the floor in the first 20 minutes. Tulane forced 12 turnovers and scored 14 points off the change of possession in the first two quarters of the game.

“One of the messages to the team was I had a great time coaching them,” Stockton said. “I showed up and moved the chess pieces around, but they played. They played and they did such a great job. They showed up every game and I am really proud of that. I have such optimism about our future and what this group of people can do. There are some things that we need to work on and we know what those are. We are so much closer than we’ve been in many years. I think we are close to being great and I think this will be a little motivator for how we will come back next year.”