Tulane holds on late to win at Wichita State, 57-55

NEW ORLEANS – The Tulane University women’s basketball team defeated Wichita State, 57-55, on the road, Wednesday afternoon.

Tulane (11-5, 7-4) made a point to get to the free throw line shooting 19-27 (.704) on the day, while Wichita State (4-7, 1-5) was 4-6 (.667) from the charity stripe. The Green Wave logged 35 rebounds, nine assists and six steals on the game. The Olive and Blue held the Shockers to 15.0 (3-20) percent shooting from three and 35.3 (24-68) percent from the field.

“They have their preseason all-conference player back and they’ve got some really good players back on the court,” Tulane head coach Lisa Stockton said. “We knew it was going to be a really physical game, so it is definitely a game we are really glad to have.”

Freshman JerKaila Jordan led the Green Wave with 18 points. She added three rebounds and two assists. Senior Krystal Freeman and junior Mia Heide both led the Olive and Blue with seven rebounds. Heide chipped in 10 points and tied her career-high with five blocks, while Freeman logged seven.

The Shockers maintained a one-point lead for the first eight minutes of the fourth quarter until Jordan knocked down two free throws to give the Green Wave a 52-51 advantage with 1:26 to play. The Shockers responded with a layup then Jordan hit an and-one layup to give Tulane a 55-53 lead with 55.4 seconds to play. Wichita State hit a layup on the ensuing possession to tie the game at 55.

On Tulane’s next possession, senior Arsula Clark grabbed an offensive rebound and hit two free throws to put the Green Wave up 57-55 with 24.4 seconds to play. Heide blocked a Wichita State attempt at the rim to force Shockers to take the ball out-of-bounds with nine seconds to play. The Green Wave were able to stop the Shockers on the next possession and solidify the win.

Clark registered 11 points, six rebounds and two assists on the day for the Green Wave. She shot 7-9 from the free throw line.

Both teams traded baskets to open the game then the Shockers went on a 7-0 run to take a 14-8 lead with 1:51 left in the first quarter. The Green Wave cut Wichita State’s lead to 16-12 headed into the second period. The Green Wave opened the second quarter with a 5-0 run to take a 17-16 lead. The teams traded blows the rest of the way with the Olive and Blue taking a 27-26 lead into halftime.

Clark led the Green Wave in the first half with eight points, while Jordan chipped in six. Freeman logged a team-high six rebounds in the first half. As a team, Tulane went 10-13 from the free throw line in the first half.

The Shockers outrebounded the Green Wave 49-35. Seraphine Bastin led Wichita State with 14 points, while Trajata Colbert added 11 points and 16 rebounds.

Up next, the Green Wave will return to Avron B. Fogelman Arena in the Devlin Fieldhouse to play Cincinnati on Sunday, Feb. 7. The game will be the second half of a double-header with the Green Wave’s and Bearcats’ men’s programs. The men’s game will tip-off at 11 a.m. The women’s game will begin 45 minutes after the men’s game concludes.