TCU
Tulane
24th-Ranked TCU Falls in Overtime to Tulane 63-59
2/10/2002 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Feb. 10, 2002
FORT WORTH, Texas - The Tulane Green Wave upended the TCU Lady Frogs 63-59 in a tense overtime contest on Sunday afternoon at Daniel-Meyer Coliseum. The loss kept the Frogs from establishing a new single-season home victory record and also snapped TCU's winning streak at four games.
TCU (18-5, 8-2 C-USA) struggled to get on the scoreboard in the first half. The Frogs were scoreless until the 13:48 mark of the stanza, and trailed 9-2 after 8 1/2 minutes were in the books. However, the Frogs were able to creep back into the contest thanks to a gritty defensive effort and led 22-21 at intermission.
The second half saw seven ties, eight lead changes and no lead greater than six points. Down by two in the late stages, TCU's Tiffany Evans' 17-foot jumper from near the top of the key knotted the score at 50-50 with :51 seconds remaining in regulation. The Frogs then forced a Tulane turnover and had a chance to win the game with :03 left, but a shot by Sandora Irvin from the left block came up short.
In overtime, Tulane controlled play, leading for all but :45 seconds. A three-pointer by Sarah Goree at the 3:13 mark put the Green Wave up 55-52 and gave the team the lead for good. The defeat was TCU's first when leading at halftime (16-1). It also was the first time that TCU lost a game when holding a team under the 70-point mark (18-1).
Tulane (17-9, 5-6 C-USA) dominated the backboards, outrebounding the Lady Frogs 49-32. TCU entered the game with a rebounding margin of +7.1 per contest. TCU shot just 32.2 percent from the field (19-for-59), while Tulane hit on 21-of-56 attempts (37.5 percent).
"Tulane made some plays today," head coach Jeff Mittie said. "They really wanted it and got after us both defensively and on the glass. If you look at the stat sheet, it's hard to believe that we had a chance to win the game. We had a pretty good look on our last shot in regulation, but it just didn't go in."
Kati Safaritova scored all of her team-high 12 points after halftime. Evans had 10 points and nine rebounds, as she narrowly missed her first double-double of the season. Ebony Shaw added 10 points for the Frogs.
TCU, now 13-2 at home, takes to the road for a pair of conference games this weekend. The Lady Frogs play Memphis on Fri., Feb. 15 at 7:00 p.m. and Saint Louis on Sun., Feb. 17 at 2:00 p.m.
