WBB Heads to No. 1 UConn for Saturday Showdown

This afternoon the Tulane Women’s Basketball team take on the UConn Huskies. The game starts at 12PM (CST) and our broadcast will preempt the following daytime programs:

We apologize for the inconvenience, but all book programs missed will be replayed tomorrow at their regular time. Until then, we hope you’ll enjoy cheering on the women’s basketball team. Roll Green Wave!

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NEW ORLEANS – The Tulane women’s basketball team (19-9, 10-6) departs for Storrs, Connecticut, on Friday for their last road contest of the regular season. Awaiting them will be No. 1 UConn (27-0, 16-0), who will be celebrating their Senior Day in front of a sellout crowd of over 10,000 fans. The match-up will tip-off at Noon CT on Saturday, Feb. 27, and air live on both ESPN3 and SNY. Fans can also follow along via radio on WRBH 88.3 FM or via the live stats located at www.TulaneGreenWave.com.  

LAST TIME OUT
Despite an 11-point lead in the first quarter and a 33-27 halftime lead, the Wave couldn’t stave off Temple in the second half on Tuesday night, as the Owls prevailed with the 72-67 victory in Phila­delphia. The big stat differential came at the free-throw line where Temple converted 23-of-29, including 19-for-23 in the second half. Meanwhile, Tulane got to the line just 16 times, knocking down 12.

Kolby Morgan finished with 22 points on seven made field goals to go with her five rebounds and five steals. It marked the sophomore’s sixth straight game of 19 or more points. Senior Chinwe Duru accomplished her best game of the year with 18 points on 7-of-10 shooting.

MORGAN’S HOT STREAK
Sophomore guard Kolby Morgan is currently on the best stretch of her career, producing six straight games of 19 or more points. In the six-game stretch, Morgan is averaging 22.5 points on .393 shooting from the floor and .340 from three-point range (16-47). More impressively is the fact that the sophomore’s rebounding and steals numbers are up as well. Averaging 4.4 boards and 2.3 steals on the year, Morgan is netting 6.3 rebounds and 3.3 steals over the last six games.   

VORPAHL IN THE RECORD BOOKS
Averaging 5.4 assists per game this season, which ranks second in the league and 31st in the nation, junior point guard Leslie Vorpahl is now up to 152 total assists on the year. The 152 places Vorpahl at No. 8 on the program’s all-time top-10 list for most in a season. Up next at No. 7 is Ashley Langford with 160.

1,000 POINTS ON THE HORIZON
Morgan’s recent offensive tear has brought her season points total to 481, which ranks 57th in the country. Combine that with her stellar freshman campaign and Morgan is already sitting at 882 career points. Thus, depending on how long the season lasts, Morgan has a viable chance at becoming the Green Wave’s 27th member to the 1,000-point club this sea­son. Not only that, Morgan would also be the first player in Tulane history to cross over the 1,000-point plateau in her first two years.

SERIES HISTORY VS UCONN
UConn leads the all-time series, 3-0. Tulane’s first year in The American also marked the first time the Wave had ever matched up with the Huskies. UConn claimed the first ever meeting in Storrs, 87-39, before making the trip to New Orleans to earn a 94-47 win vs. the Wave. The two previously squared off on Feb. 3 of this season, where UConn cruised to a 96-38 victory.

PREVIOUSLY AGAINST THE HUSKIES THIS SEASON
UConn forced 18 Tulane first half turnovers jumping out to a 63-20 halftime lead, before cruising to a 96-38 victory in New Orleans back on Feb. 3. Though Tulane took much better care of the ball in the second half, the Huskies till finished with 26 forced turnovers in which they converted into an opponent season high of 41 points.

Both Leslie Vorpahl and Kolby Morgan reached double-digits with 11 and 10 points, respectively. Vorpahl connected on 4-of-9 shots while Morgan shot 4-for-14.

Breanna Stewart led for the Huskies with 20 points, seven assists and four rebounds, while Moriah Jefferson followed next with 16 points, six assists, six steals and five rebounds.

SCOUTING THE OPPONENT
No. 1 UConn enters the match-up with a 27-0 record and 16-0 mark in conference play, already clinching their third consecutive AAC regular-season championship. If victorious on Saturday, the Huskies will have achieved their 65th straight win.

Huskies boast a 267-7 record in Gampel Pavilion since 1993-94, and have won 157 of its last 161 games.

Breanna Stewart leads four Huskies in double-digits with 19.3 ppg. Moriah Jefferson is next with 13.5, followed by Morgan Tuck’s 12.8 and Katie Lou Samuelson’s 10.0.

BLOCK PARTY
Chinwe Duru is averaging 1.2 blocks per game during her senior campaign, which ranks seventh in The American. Duru earned a career high 5 blocks at SMU on Jan. 20, then matched that performance with 5 blocks vs Temple on Jan. 26. Furthermore, Duru is just five blocks away, currently at 34, from tying her career single season high of 39, set in both her sophomore and junior seasons. Lastly, Duru’s 130 career blocks is good for sixth place on Tulane’s all-time career block list. Up next is 2015 alum Tiffany Dale at No. 5 with her 155 career blocks.

20-WIN SEASON ON THE HORIZON
With a 19-9 overall record, Tulane is just one victory away from earning its seventh straight 20-win season. It would also mark the pro­gram’s 15th 20-win season overall. Entering this season, Tulane had compiled nine straight winning seasons and six con­secutive trips to the postseason.   

MAKING THEM COUNT
Courtnie Latham, Chinwe Duru and Kolby Morgan have been exceptional from the free-throw line this season. Latham’s 63-of-74 mark is good for a .851 free-throw percentage which ranks 5th in The American. Latham hit a career best 12-of-12 from the line in the 66-58 win over SLU on Dec. 21, on her way to a career high 23 points. Last year, Latham shot .778 from the charity stripe.

Meanwhile, Duru has simply gone 58-of-68, good for a .853 percentage, which ranks 3rd. Duru has also shot .889 during league play which ranks 2nd.

Finally, Morgan just completed a stint in which she made 26 consecutive free throws. As a result, the sophomore’s free-t
hrow percent­age jumped up to No. 12 in the league at .775, while her .827 percentage in conference play ranks 8th.