ORLANDO – The Tulane women’s basketball team suffered a 66-62 American Athletic Conference road setback at UCF on Tuesday evening at Addition Financial Arena.
Freshman Jerkaila Jordan scored all of her team-high 12 points in the second half to go with five rebounds and three assists. Krystal Freeman eclipsed 1,000 career points and also reached double figures, falling just shy of a double-double with 11 points and nine rebounds to go with a game-high five assists.
The Green Wave finished the night shooting 22-of-55 (.400) overall and 6-of-20 (.300) beyond the 3-point arc but were 12-of-23 (.522) at the free throw line.
“We had a shot to take the lead with eight seconds to go,” head coach Lisa Stockton said. “As much as we did to hurt ourselves I thought we put ourselves in position to win, but the shot didn’t go. We can do some things better, and they’re all things we can control. Free throws are something we’ve got to do a better job with.”
Tulane (3-2, 0-1 AAC) got off to a hot start in the first quarter thanks to back-to-back 3-pointers by Sierra Cheatham which came as part of nine straight points by the Green Wave to take a 9-1 lead with just over three minutes remaining in the period. DynahJones tacked on a basket and a trey of her own before closing out the 10-minute frame with a 14-8 advantage.
The Wave built their margin to as wide as 11 with the score 19-8 with 8:05 to go in the first half, but UCF (3-1, 1-0 AAC) scored eight straight points over the next two-plus minutes as part of a 15-4 scoring run to tie the game at 23 with 3:38 remaining in the second quarter.
Tulane got the lead back, 25-23, with a pair of free throws by Freeman with 3:19 remaining which also marked her 999th and 1000th career points.
The Knights took a one-point lead on a 3-pointer with 52 seconds left, but Mia Heide scored a layup with three seconds remaining to put the Green Wave back in front, 30-29, at halftime.
Tulane extended its lead to five, 35-30, early in the third quarter on a three-point play by Arsula Clark, but UCF flipped a switch with a 17-4 run down to the 2:16 mark to build its largest lead of the game, 47-39.
The Knights increased the margin to as many as nine, 53-44, early in the fourth quarter, but a pair of Tulane 3s by Kaila Anderson and Jordan sandwiched one UCF basket to pull the Wave within five with 6:09 remaining.
Trailing by seven, 62-55, with 3:11 to go, Tulane made its move with five straight points capped by a Freeman layup at the 1:09 mark. The Green Wave would draw no closer, as UCF went 4-of-4 at the free throw stripe in the final 13 seconds to seal the four-point win.
Masseny Kaba led four Knights scorers in double figures with 15 points, as UCF outscored Tulane, 19-10, on fast breaks.
The Green Wave return home Saturday, December 19 and welcome Wichita State to Avron B. Fogelman Arena in the Devlin Fieldhouse. Tipoff is set for 5 p.m.
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{Courtesy: Press Release from Tulane Athletics}
