Tulane Women topped by 5th Ranked LSU, 101-71

Final Score: LSU 101 - Tulane 71

It's been ten years since the Tulane women have beaten LSU in basketball. Make it eleven. The 5th ranked LSU women's basketball team showed why they were ranked that far up in the polls, by drowning the Green Wave, 101-71. Whether it's a victory of sorts or not, the Green Wave did hold the Tigers to their lowest point total of the season, while scoring more than any team has so far this season on LSU.

A team that has averaged triple digits in every game they've played this year was over halfway there by the time the first two quarters expired. The Tigers shot a blistering 67% in the 1st quarter alone. The Green Wave couldn't find the basket, 3-for-19 from the field in the quarter number one for 16%. The Wave missed all ten of their three point attempts in that first stanza. After ten minutes, the Tigers were solidly in command, 33-10.

"A lot of teams would have folded after being down (like we were)," Tulane coach Ashley Langford said after the game. "For me, every time out, we were talking about trying to win the quarter, trying to chip away. If you just take away the first quarter, it's 68-61."

We asked Langford what she told her team after that disasterous first quarter.

"I told them to chill," Langford told us. "We were allowing the pressure to speed us up. We had forgotten how to run any offense. This is why you need these experiences. You need a sold out crowd, you need to know how to play there, and I think the first quarter we didn't know how to play."

Tulane started finding their range in the 2nd quarter, hitting their first three at the 7:53 mark. The Wave shot 10-of-20 from the field in the 2nd, but even at a 50% clip, Tulane couldn't catch up with the Tigers, who just wouldn't cool down. LSU ended up hitting 65% of their field goals in quarter number two.

End of the First Half: LSU 58 - Tulane 34

The third quarter saw an actual cooling off by the Tigers. LSU shot 7-of-19 from the field, 36.8%. The Green Wave still couldn't make up ground, as Tulane cooled off too, going 7-of-20 for 35%. The Tigers outscored the Wave 20-18 in the 3rd.

In the final quarter of play, saw LSU heat back up, draining 8-of-their 15 shots from the field. Tulane shot the ball 22-times in the final period, but only made 8.

Leading the Wave was guard Mecailin Marshall. The true freshman shot 4-for-8 from three point land and was the only Tulane player in double digits, canning 20 for the night. Langford said it was time.

"I was waiting for it," Langford referring to Marshall's big night. "I knew in the Summer she was going to be really special. She had some injuries early on, but I knew she was going to be a good three-point shooter for us. It would just be a matter of time."

After that tough first quarter, as we mentioned earlier, the Wave ended up holding LSU to its lowest point total of the year and scoring more against them than any other school this year.

"We have a lot of pride," Langford grinned. "We're not going to go down easy. That's just who we are. You saw our identity in the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th quarters. The first was just not us."

Now, 2-2 on the year, the Tulane women go on the road for the first time this season, heading to Bison country to take on North Dakota State on Friday in Fargo. Then a tournament over the Thanksgiving break in the U.S. Virgin Islands.