Tulane Women Welcome No. 5 LSU to Uptown
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The Tulane University women’s basketball team concludes its four-game homestand to begin the season by hosting a Pelican State showdown Monday night at Avron B. Fogelman Arena in the Devlin Fieldhouse. The Green Wave entertains 5th ranked LSU with the contest receiving national attention, airing on ESPNU at 6:00 p.m. The game will also be available on WRBH 88.3 FM with Paul Boron on the call.
This will be the 45th all-time meeting between Tulane and LSU and the 21st edition of the rivalry hosted by the Wave. The series dates back to 1976 with the Tigers leading 35-9. LSU has won each of the last four meetings, including an 85-74 contest in Baton Rouge last season. Tulane’s last win in the series came on November 15, 2018, by a 56-54 margin at LSU. The last Wave victory in New Orleans was a 67-63 game on November 23, 2015.
The Green Wave is looking to make history as the program’s highest ranked victory is against No. 11, coincidentally against LSU on December 31, 1999 (76-72). Tulane is 0-30 all-time against top-10 foes and 0-17 against top-five opponents. In another potential stroke of fate, Tulane’s last victory over a ranked team was also over the Tigers, a 65-62 overtime triumph over No. 20 LSU on November 19, 2011.
Fogelman Arena will be full as the contest has already been announced as a sellout. The venue touts a capacity of 3,600 with the last crowd over capacity coming over a decade ago on January 2, 2008, with an attendance of 3,690 against Nicholls. The Wave last eclipsed an attendance of 3,000 on November 13, 2009, against ULM with a figure of 3,463.
The Tigers are 4-0 with 100-plus points posted in each contest thus far. LSU is led by Kim Mulkey in her fifth season at the helm. She is 126-20 with the Tigers and led the program to a national title in 2023. LSU averages 114.5 points per game and holds opponents to just 52.5. MiLaysia Fulwiley posts a scoring mark of 17.0 to pace the team with Kate Koval leading on the boards at 9.0 per game.
Tulane is 2-1 and fresh off a 77-54 victory over North Florida on Wednesday. It was Education Day for the Wave, who was paced by Kanija Daniel’s 20 points. Amira Mabry tops the team with 13.7 points per game as one of three averaging double figures. The other two are CC Mays (12.5) and Daniel (11.3). Mabry is also the top rebounder on the club with 7.7 boards per contest. Kendall Sneed feeds the offense with 4.0 helpers per game, and Daniel boasts 3.7 steals per game. She owns 11 total to tie for the conference lead and rank 40th in the country.
The Wave has limited whistles this season, being called for just 16.3 fouls per game, the lowest mark in the American. No Tulane players have fouled out of a game yet this season, making the Wave one of just three squads in the conference with zero disqualifications (UTSA and East Carolina). Only twice has a Wave player reached even four fouls this season.
Defense has been the key for Tulane’s 2-1 start to the campaign. With 4.3 blocks per game, Tulane ranks third in the conference. Jayda Brown leads the efforts with 1.33 denials a game, fifth most in the league. The stifling Green Wave defense forces 18.00 turnovers per game, seventh best in the league. Many of them are steals, as Tulane averages 11.0 steals per game to rank sixth in the conference.
After beginning the season with four in a row at home, Tulane hits the road for the first time with three-straight games outside of New Orleans. Next up is a trip to Fargo, North Dakota, at the end of the week for a contest against North Dakota State. Tip-off against the Bison is set for 7:00 p.m. The Wave then spends Thanksgiving in Paradise by playing a pair in the Paradise Jam in the U.S. Virgin Islands. Those games take place on Thursday, November 27, and Friday, November 28.
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.