Tulane Green Wave Lose, Miss Chance to Keep East Carolina Winless

The Tulane Green Wave women’s basketball team went to East Carolina and was unable to come away with an undefeated week.

Mar 6, 2023; Fort Worth, TX, USA; Tulane Green Wave guard Kyren Whittington (0) scores a basket against the Cincinnati Bearcats during the first half at Dickies Arena. | Chris Jones-Imagn Images

Presented with a chance to sweep its second full week of league action and capitalize against a winless East Carolina team, the Tulane Green Wave women’s basketball team instead fell hard.

The Green Wave lost, 75-64, to the Pirates in Greenville, N.C., on Saturday, as Tulane squandered a chance to pick up a game in the American Athletic Conference standings.

The Green Wave (10-6, 3-2 in AAC) were the victims of an incredible final quarter by the Pirates (9-7, 1-3).

East Carolina blew out Tulane in the final 10 minutes, outscoring the Green Wave, 27-11.

Tulane started the fourth quarter in the lead, 53-48, before East Carolina went on its incredible run. The Pirates tied the game at 55-55 with 6:08 left on a pull-up jumper by Jayla Hearp. Tulane yanked the lead back on Dyllan Hanna’s driving layup.

ECU then tied the game again with 5:32 left on Devin Hagemann’s layup.

From there, the Pirates outscored the Green Wave 18-7 to run away with the game. That included a 12-0 run sparked by Hagemann.

The game featured wild swings throughout. The Pirates took a 26-18 first-quarter lead and gave up most of it by halftime. The Green Wave outscored the Pirates, 14-9, in the second quarter to cut the lead to 35-32.

In the third quarter, Tulane had its most dominant stretch of the game, as they outscored ECU, 21-13 and then took a 53-48 lead into the final quarter.

The Pirates won the game on volume from the 3-point line, as they made nine 3-pointers on 41% shooting from distance. They shot 39% from the game and 67% from the free-throw line.

Tulane shot 34% from the field, 36% from the 3-point line and 78% from the free-throw line. But the Green Wave only connected on four 3-pointers.

ECU also scored 22 points off of 15 Tulane turnovers.

The Pirates put their focus on Tulane’s Sherese Pittman, Amira Mabry and Kyren Whittington and did enough to slow the trio down. Mabry led with 15 points while Pittman added 12 points. But the pair combined to shoot 8-for-26. Whittington only had seven points. Pittman did finish with a double-double with 11 rebounds, and Mabry added seven boards.

Hagemann led the Pirates with 21 points, including four 3-pointers, while Hearp added 15 points.

The week ahead sees Tulane head to Wichita State for a 6 p.m. central showdown on Wednesday and then return to New Orleans for a matchup with Memphis on Saturday at 2 p.m.