Tulane secures sweep of weekend series with Temple, 71-69

NEW ORLEANS – The Tulane University women’s basketball team swept the weekend series against Temple with a 71-69 win over the Owls Sunday at Avron B. Fogelman Arena in the Devlin Fieldhouse.

“I thought we really shared the ball well today,” Tulane head coach Lisa Stockton said. “You’ve got Arsula Clark there with seven assists. I thought she did a super job of finding people. We went 9-19 from the 3-point line. It is hard to beat a team like that. We also went 20-25 from the free throw line. They were being really aggressive defensively. When we were able to get on the free throw line, we capitalized.”

Tulane (10-5, 6-4) shot 9-19 (.474) from the 3-point line and 21-51 (.412) from the field, while Temple (5-7, 5-4) was 4-14 (.286) from three and 25-52 (.481) from the field. The Green Wave lived at the free throw line shooting 20-25 (.800). The 20 made free throws were a season-high for the Olive and Blue. Tulane shared the ball well logging 17 assists on 21 made shots. The Green Wave also registered 29 rebounds and 19 points off 16 Temple turnovers.

Freshman JerKaila Jordan led the way for Tulane with 18 points, 15 of which came in the second half, and four steals. Senior Krystal Freeman added 16 points, eight rebounds and two assists on the day. Senior Arsula Clark narrowly missed tying her career-high with a team-high seven assists. She also chipped in nine points and two steals.

After trading baskets in the third quarter, Tulane hit back-to-back threes from Jordan and Freeman to tie the game at 36 with 6:56 left in the period. The game was tied at 38 then junior Dynah Jones knocked down two free throws and Jordan drove to the bucket for two. On the ensuing Temple possession, Clark forced a turnover at half court and finished an and-one to put Tulane up 45-38 with 3:10 left in the period.

Temple cut the Green Wave’s lead to 48-45 with 2:15 left in the third. Tulane then closed the period by outscoring the Owls 8-4 behind seven points from Jordan. The Olive and Blue held a 56-49 lead headed into the fourth.

The Owls opened the fourth quarter with a layup then Tulane responded with a 7-2 run to extend the lead to 63-53 with 4:42 left in the game. Senior Sierra Cheatham sparked the run with her third three of the game. Both teams traded buckets until Temple reeled off a 5-0 run to cut the Green Wave’s lead to 68-64 with 58 seconds to play.

Jordan hit a free throw for Tulane, but the Owls responded with a layup from Mia Davis to cut the score to 69-66 with 39 seconds left. Jordan put the Olive and Blue’s lead back up to five with two free throws on the ensuing possession. Temple hit a free throw and a layup near the end of the game to set the final score at 71-69.

Cheatham ended the game with nine total points shooting 3-3 from three. Junior Mia Heide grabbed a team-high nine rebounds and added six points and two steals.

Temple jumped out to an early lead in the first quarter and held a 22-12 advantage after one. Both teams went back-and-forth throughout the second quarter with neither team going on more than a 4-0 run, until the Green Wave closed the half with five straight. Cheatham sparked the run with her second three of the quarter. Temple led 30-28 at the break.

Tulane held a slight edge in rebounds over Temple in the first 20 minutes at 16-15, but the Owls outshot the Green Wave .524-.296. Freeman led the way for Tulane in the first half with seven points and five rebounds. Heide and Cheatham added six points apiece for the Olive and Blue in the first half. The Green Wave recorded assists on all eight made shots in the opening half.

Mia Davis led Temple with 22 points, while Alexa Willliamson added 15 points and seven rebounds.

Up next, the Green Wave will hit the road to take on Wichita State. The game is part of a double-header with the Tulane and Wichita State men’s teams. The women will tip-off at 3 p.m. followed by the men at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 3.

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