Tulane Green Wave
Conference USA (22-10, 9-7)
Tulane played a tough non-conference schedule and survived with losses against just Purdue and Mississippi State. Despite some inconsistent play in conference, long time head coach Lisa Stockton has her team playing stellar defense. With that defense leading the way, Tulane will be in just about every game they play, but the offense ended the year on a low note and they need to turn that around in March.
Big Wins: 11/19 LSU (64-62), 11/25 vs Idaho State (45-37), 12/29 Hampton (66-53)
Bad Losses: 1/12 at Rice (49-67), 2/23 Tulsa (59-72), 2/26 at SMU (49-54)
Coach: Lisa Stockton (18 seasons at Tulane)
Why They Can Surprise:
The defense starts with 6-3 senior center Brett Benzio. She is a superb shot blocker and few teams have had success attacking the basket when Benzio is standing in the paint. Benzio is more than just a defender however. She is also a great rebounder and a pretty good interior scorer. Guard Olivia Grayson spearheads the offensive and defensive effort from the perimeter. Grayson is the team’s best scorer and leads the Green Wave in steals. Point guard Tyria Snow may not be a big scorer, but she can find the scorers and is a feisty perimeter defender as well.
Why They Can Disappoint:
Janique Kautsky is a 5-10 wing who holds the team together. She has good size for a wing, but the frontcourt is full of inexperience and lacks dominating size to compete with some teams. Of course Benzio is a great player to build around, but the other forwards who see action are 5-11 freshman Danielle Blagg, 5-10 freshman Adesuwa Ebomwonyi and 6-1 freshman Tiffany Dale. Those are a lot of freshmen. Blagg does not help out much under the basket as she has turned into the team’s best outside shooting threat. Stretching out the defense is very, very valuable, but at times Benzio needs a rest and this team needs size. Ebomwonyi has worked her way into the starting lineup and is a beast on the glass. She is not much of a scorer at this point in her career, but at least she can help out on the glass. Dale is not a bad rebounder either and has the size to play the five spot, but her lack of experience against premiere centers and forwards is obvious at times.
Probable Starters:
Tyria Snow, Junior, Guard, 6.8 ppg, 3.3 apg, 2.1 spg
Olivia Grayson, Junior, Guard, 14.1 ppg, 3.5 apg, 5.8 rpg, 2.3 spg
Janique Kautsky, Junior, Guard, 3.4 ppg, 3.1 rpg
Adesuwa Ebomwonyi, Freshman, Forward, 6.0 ppg, 5.7 rpg
Brett Benzio, Senior, Center, 9.5 ppg, 9.2 rpg, 2.1 bpg
Key Roleplayers:
Danielle Blagg, Freshman, Forward, 8.2 ppg, 3.4 rpg
Tiffany Dale, Freshman, Forward, 4.8 ppg, 4.1 rpg
Jamie Kaplan, Freshman, Guard, 6.2 ppg, 2.2 apg
By the Numbers:
Scoring Offense: 61.8 (173rd in nation, 3rd in conference)
Scoring Defense: 53.8 (26, 3)
Field-Goal Percentage: 39.9 (125, 4)
Field-Goal Defense: 34.8 (21, 2)
Three-Point Field Goals Per Game: 4.4 (190, 5)
Three-Point Field-Goal Percentage: 28.1 (221, 6)
Free-Throw Percentage: 67.3 (213, 3)
Rebound Margin: 4.4 (58, 3)
Assists Per Game: 14.7 (48, 3)
Turnovers Per Game: 18.2 (222, 7)
Recent Postseason Appearances:
Tulane 2011 NIT Round of 64 win over Southern
Tulane 2011 NIT Round of 32 loss to Oral Roberts
Tulane 2010 NCAA Round of 64 loss to Georgia
Tulane 2007 NIT First Round win over Jackson State
Tulane 2007 NIT Second Round loss to Mississippi State
Tulane 2003 NCAA Round of 64 loss to Minnesota
Tulane 2002 NCAA Round of 64 win over Colorado State
Tulane 2002 NCAA Round of 32 loss to Stanford
*all team stats through 3/1
