NEW ORLEANS (WGNO) — Behind the near-school record shooting from Hannah Pratt, Tulane’s women’s basketball team (8-7, 1-3 AAC) rolled over visiting East Carolina (9-6, 2-2 AAC) on Saturday, Jan. 13, at Devlin Fieldhouse.
Pratt made eight three pointers in scoring a career-high 26 points. She also had seven rebounds and a pair of blocks. Pratt’s eight threes made were one off the school record of nine set by Tiffany Aidoo on Jan. 9, 2011 against UAB.
Also scoring in double figures for the Green Wave was Amira Mabry with 14 points. She also had a career-high 11 rebounds in the game for her first career double-double. Marta Galic tallied 14 points and three rebounds. Joy Madison-Key recorded eight points and a career-high seven assists plus a steal. Jaylee Womack chipped in with seven points. McKenzi Carter tallied five points, two rebounds, an assist and two blocks. Irina Parau had a strong all-around game with seven assists, six rebounds and a pair of steals to go along with two points. Chiara Grattini had six assists plus three rebounds and three points. Kaylah Rainey returned after missing the previous two games with an injury to score two points and have an assist. Lilly Ba contributed a rebound.
“I couldn’t be happier with the way we performed today,” head coach Lisa Stockton stated. “I think there were a lot of great things today. We played tough, took care of the ball and had different players stepping up. I think that this is what this team has to do. We thought that ECU would give us three-point opportunities and we did a great job of finding the open shooter. Amira (Mabry) did a great job dominating the boards and gave us so many extra opportunities. I can’t leave out the way that Joy (Madison-Key) played for us. Her seven assists and only two turnovers as a freshman against this team is very impressive. We knew that ECU was going to be tough and to beat them we were going to have to make shots and that is what we did.”
East Carolina was led by 12 points from Danae McNeal.
Tulane led this one throughout in a truly dominate effort for the program. The program’s largest lead was 34 points early in the fourth quarter, 74-40, on a Pratt layup. Tulane shot 50 percent from the field (30-for-59), 54.2 percent from three-point range (13-for-24) and 88.9 from the free throw line (8-for-9). The Green Wave had 44 rebounds, 23 assists, seven steals and six blocks. Tulane’s defense was able to force 22 ECU turnovers and outscored the Pirates 32-20 in the paint, 19-10 in second chance points, 8-5 on the fast break and held a 22-21 advantage off the bench.
“We really did a great job of playing hard and sharing the ball,” Hannah Pratt explained. “It was nice to have a week of practice where we were able to focus on us instead of playing a mid-week game.”
ECU was limited to 27.9 percent shooting from the field (19-for-68) and 11.8 percent from three-point range (2-for-17). The Pirates had 35 rebounds, eight assists, 12 steals and four blocks.
“I tell myself all the time don’t let anyone outwork you,” Amira Mabry said. “I want to do what I can to help my team. I know that I can rebound and play harder and that is what I was emphasizing today.”
Tulane led 20-8 after the first quarter and extended the advantage to 41-23 at the break. The Green Wave kept their foot on the gas in outscoring ECU 27-16 in the third quarter and finished this one off with a 26-point victory, 81-55.
Next, Tulane gets on the road and travels to Charlotte to take on the 49ers (11-5, 4-0 AAC) on Wednesday, Jan. 17, at 5:30 p.m.
Notables:
Hannah Pratt’s eight threes, besides ranking tied for second in school history, also were tied for the eighth most-ever in American Athletic Conference…Pratt’s eight made threes were the most for program since Danielle Bragg also made eight against Marshall during the 2013 campaign…Pratt’s 26 points, besides being a career-high for her, is tied for the most point scored by a Tulane player this season along with Kyren Whittington’s 26 against Virginia Tech (11/25/23)…Amira Mabry’s 11 rebounds are tied for the most by a Tulane player this season along with Irina Parau (2x)…Mabry’s double-double was the second for Tulane this season as Parau also had a double-double against Nicholls (11/8)…ECU’s 55 points scored was the sixth time this season that Tulane has surrender 60 or less points in a game…Tulane’s 13 made threes as a team are tied for the fourth-most in school history and the third time that program has made 12 or more threes in a game this season…Tulane’s 44 rebounds were a season-high for the program…The 22 turnovers forced were a season-best for the Tulane defense…The home team in the series between Tulane and ECU have won the last 10 games with Tulane now winning seven straight contests over the Pirates at Devlin Fieldhouse…The 26-point victory was the program’s largest margin of victory in league play since Jan. 20, 2021 against Temple when the program won 80-44…The 25+ win against ECU was Tulane’s third such victory on the season.
{Courtesy: Tulane Athletics}
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