Tulane Women Look to Stop Six-Game Skid at Memphis
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The Tulane women’s basketball team remains on the road for a tilt at Memphis tomorrow night in Elma Roane Fieldhouse. Tip-off against the Tigers is set for 7:00 p.m. with the game streaming on ESPN+, and it can be heard on WRBH 88.3 FM and through the Varsity Network App. This will be the first of back-to-back match-ups between the programs.
Make-Up Game
Today's contest is the rescheduled make-up game of the January 27 bout that was postponed due to inclement weather. Tulane and Memphis were already scheduled to face off in New Orleans on Thursday, February 19, so the teams are now playing one another twice in the span of three days. This is the first time that the Green Wave has played consecutive games against the same opponent since the 2020-21 season when Tulane faced Temple on back-to-back days, January 30 and 31. The Wave won both contests.
This is the 60th all-time meeting between Tulane and Memphis with the Tigers leading the all-time series 33-26. Memphis has won each of the last four contests, including the lone meeting last season, 68-65, in New Orleans. Tulane’s last win over the Tigers came on February 10, 2022, by a margin of 76-74 in Memphis.
Scouting the Tigers
Memphis is 8-16 overall on the season with a 2-9 American record. The Tigers have lost four games in a row, including their last contest against Charlotte, 61-58. They boast a scoring offense of 65.3 and a scoring defense of 68.9. Memphis shoots 38.4 percent overall and 24.9 percent from three. The Tigers average 39.0 rebounds, 12.1 assists, and 11.1 steals. Daejah Richmond is the leading scorer for the team with 12.6 points per game. She also tops the team in assists (3.5) and steals (2.6). The top rebounder is Tamya Smith with her clip of 5.4.
Greenies on a Six-Game Slide
The Green Wave is 8-16 with a 3-9 conference clip. Tulane fell last time out at North Texas, 56-47. With a scoring offense of 66.3, Tulane shoots 39.9 percent overall and 28.3 percent from three. The Wave is fifth in the conference with 39.7 rebounds per game. With 14.6 assists per game, Tulane ranks third in the league. Tulane is also third in the American for blocking with an average of 3.9. Kanija Daniel is the leading scorer for the team with 11.5 points per contest. Mecailin Marshall and Amira Mabry round out a trio in double figures with each posting a clip of 10.1. Dyllan Hanna leads on the glass with 7.1 boards per game, 10th in the conference. Kendall Sneed’s 4.1 assist average is seventh in the league. Tulane is the only team in the conference with two players in the top five for blocking. Hanna is second with 1.5 per game, and Daniel is fourth with 1.0 per game.
More Honors for Frosh Marshall
Marshall garnered her third American Freshman of the Week recognition this season earlier today. She received the honor after a historic performance against East Carolina last Tuesday, in which she accrued a career-best 34 points. This tally is the most by a Wave freshman and bench player since at least 1999. The point total is also the highest by a freshman in the American this season and the sixth highest by any freshman in the nation.
Wave Returns Hope Thursday
Tulane returns home for the first time in over a week Thursday to host the second leg of the home-and-home with Memphis. The rematch is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. at Avron B. Fogelman Arena in the Devlin Fieldhouse and will stream on ESPN+. The contest can be heard on WRBH 88.3 FM or through the Varsity Network App.
Portions Courtesy Tulane Athletics
Doug has covered a gamut of sporting events in his fifty-plus years in the field. He started doing sideline reporting for Louisiana Tech football games for the student radio station. Doug was Sports Director for KNOE-AM/FM in Monroe in the mid-80s, winning numerous awards from the Louisiana Sports Writers Association for Best Sportscast and Best Play-by-Play. High school play-by-play for teams in Monroe, Natchitoches, New Orleans, and Thibodaux, LA dot his resume. He did college play-by-play for Northwestern State University in Natchitoches for nine years. Then, moving to the Crescent City, Doug did television PBP of Tulane games and even filled in for legendary Tulane broadcaster, Ken Berthelot in the only game Kenny ever missed while doing the Green Wave games. His father was an alumnus of Tulane in the 1940s, so Doug has attended Tulane football games in old Tulane Stadium, the Superdome, and Yulman. He was one of the 86,000 plus on December 1, 1973, sitting in the North End Zone to seeTulane shutout the LSU Tigers, 14-0. He was there when the Posse ruled Fogelman and in Turchin when the Wave made it to the World Series. He currently is the public address voice of the Tulane baseball team.