Jan. 5, 2004

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas - -

Tulane 57, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 53 - Final Box

Playing in a cold gym, due to the hockey rink under the court, the Tulane women's basketball team cooled off Texas A&M-Corpus Christi's offense for more than six minutes late in the second half to claim a 57-53 win over the Islanders at Memorial Coliseum on Monday.

With the win, Tulane improves to 6-6 on the season, picking up its first road win of the season in the process. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, which lost for the first time at home this season, drops to 9-7 on the season.

After taking a 31-27 lead into the locker room, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi pushed its lead to as many as six in the second half before the Wave rallied behind seven straight points to claim a one-point lead at the 16:04 mark. But the Islanders answered and reclaimed a five-point lead. Tulane stayed close however, and took the lead for good by holding TAMU-CC without a point from the 7:33 mark until a lay-up at the 1:31 mark. However, with Tulane holding a 53-51 lead, D'Aundra Henry forced an Islander turnover and the Green Wave hit four of six free throws inside the final 30 seconds to seal the win.

"It is good to get our first win on the road this season," Tulane head coach Lisa Stockton said. "I thought the defense did a great job clamping down late in the second half. D'Aundra did a nice job forcing a turnover with under a minute left that led to two free throws. And we did a great job hitting our free throws tonight."

Tiffany Wilson, who hit a pair of free throws with 30 seconds left, led Tulane with 12 points, while Delacey Joseph added 11 points for the Green Wave. Tulane freshman Cashmir White grabbed a game-high eight rebounds.

The teams traded points for much of the first half before Texas A&M-Corpus Christi used a 15-4 burst to build a 24-15 lead at the 7:31 mark. Tulane responded with eight straight points to cut the lead to one, but the Islanders to a four-point cushion into the break.

Tulane held TAMU-CC to just 11.1 percent shooting from the behind the three-point line in the second half (1-of-9), after the Islanders had hit 5-of-8 three-pointers in the opening stanza (5-of-8). For the game, Tulane connected on 77.3 percent of its free throws (17-of-22) and held a 44-37 edge in rebounding.

Tulane returns to action on Thursday, as the Green Wave play host to Arkansas State at Fogelman Arena. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. It is the final non-conference game of the year for the Green Wave.