Tulane Women Losing Skid Hits Three, Falling to Charlotte, 47-44
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On a night when Hall of Fame coach Lisa Stockton was being honored, the Tulane women could do little right, as the Green Wave fell to Charlotte in a low scoring affair, 47-44.
We asked Tulane coach Ashley Langford what she told her players in the post-game locker room. She did not mince words.
"You don't want to hear what I said," Langford told us angrily. "(I did tell them,) this is the angriest I have been and the most disappointed I've been in my five years of head coaching, and that I have nothing to say, because nothing I'm going to say is going to be nice."
First Quarter: Charlotte 11 - Tulane 8
The cold beginnings continue to haunt the Green Wave. Shooting only 19% from the field in the first 10-minutes, Tulane still only found themselves down by three, as the 49ers could only manage 29% of their field goals. TU missed on all six of their three points attempts. Charlotte hit only one of their eight from beyond the arc. Rebounds were pretty much even, with the Wave having a slight advantage, 14-11. Tulane, which averages almost 18-turnovers a game, was one-third of the way there after only 10-minutes of play.
Tulane forward, Dyllan Hanna, lead all scorers with six. She was rolling twos in the first: 2-for-2 at the line, 2-for-2 from the field and a pair of rebounds to boot.
First Half: Charlotte 25 - Tulane 19
The turnover game continued to hurt the Tulane. Thirteen giveaways piled up in the first half alone, two separate times on back-to-back possessions, leading to 10-points-off-turnovers for the 49ers.
Though the Wave shot better in the 2nd quarter, it wasn’t enough, as Charlotte also did. Tulane shot 28% on its 29-shots. The 49er hit 32% of their 34-field goals. The 3-point arc seemed like the Green Wave enemy, as TU only hit one of the nine put up.
Only four Greenies were able to put points on the board, led by Hanna’s 8. Kanija Daniel put up 5, but was only 1-of-4 from beyond the 3-point line. Jayda Brown came off the bench for 4-points. Jordyn Weaver had a couple. Senior forward Amira Mabry was held scoreless, going 0-for-4 from the field, including missing both her three-point attempts.
Tulane continued to hold a slim advantage on the boards at the half, pulling down 23 to Charlotte’s 21.
Third Quarter: Charlotte 33 - Tulane 27
Both the 49ers and Green Wave were having a hard time finding the bucket in the 3rd period. Charlotte was a drowsy 31%, while Tulane stood pat at 28% from the field. The 3-point arc issues continued for the Wave. The only tres by TU up to this point was the one hit in the second quarter by Daniel. Otherwise, Tulane missed the other 13 they put up.
The Wave went over 3-minutes in the 3rd without scoring. However, the Tulane D was showing some superb off-side help, keeping the 49ers off guard and forcing Charlotte into four turnovers in the 3rd period alone.
Final: Charlotte 47 - Tulane 44
Tulane outscored Charlotte in the final period, 17-14, but that could not make up for the difference in the little things The Green Wave forced the 49ers into 14-turnovers, but gave the ball away 21 times. TU was able to claim 39 total rebounds by the end of the game, but Charlotte took the board numbers with 43, twenty-two of them on the offensive end.
"They're sixth in the country in offensive rebounding, and that's what they do very well," Langford commented. "We didn't check, which is what we're supposed to do."
Only two Greenies hit the double-digit mark: Hanna with 14 and Daniel matching that by the end of the game.
Senior Amira Mabry, who needed only five points to hit a career 1,000 in her TU career was held scoreless on the night. We asked coach if she was okay physically.
"Everybody was 100%, physically," Langford said straight forward. "Everyone was healthy. There was no excuse. We didn't show up tonight. We didn't deserve to win."
With the loss, the Wave falls to 8-13 on the year, 3-6 in the American Conference. The 49ers improve to 10-13 for the season, 4-6 in league play.
Tulane is on the road Saturday night to challenge South Florida in Tampa, 6:00 p.m., CST.
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.