March 20, 2003

From the Associated Press

GAME: No. 11 Tulane (19-9) vs. No. 6 Minnesota (23-5).
REGIONAL: West, first round.
TIME: Saturday, 9:16 p.m. CST.
SITE: Maples Pavilion; Stanford, Calif.

Minnesota did not last very long in the Big Ten tournament. The Golden Gophers will try not to make the same mistake in the NCAA tournament when they face Tulane in the first round.

Minnesota had its seven-game winning streak snapped on March 7, as it was ousted in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten tournament with an 80-77 loss to Iowa.

Typically a sound defensive squad, the Gophers allowed the Hawkeyes to shoot 58.3 percent from the field.

"We've taken a lot of pride in our defense for about a month and it bit us tonight," Minnesota coach Pam Borton said after the game.

Despite the Gophers' stumble in the conference tournament, they still enter the national tournament as a dangerous squad. Led by three all-Big Ten performers, Minnesota tied for second place in the conference with a 12-4 record.

Junior guard Lindsay Whalen, who was second in the conference with 21.3 points per game, was a unanimous selection to the all-conference first team. Sophomore center Janel McCarville was a second-team choice, and senior guard Corrin Van Wald made the third team.

Like Minnesota, Tulane fell in the first game of its conference tournament.

The Green Wave lost to Texas Christian in the quarterfinals of the Conference USA tournament. Still, their 19 wins were enough to earn an at-large bid, extending their streak of consecutive NCAA appearances to nine.

"We are absolutely overjoyed right now to be in the NCAA tournament," Tulane coach Lisa Stockton said. "For the second straight year we were one of the last teams listed, so it was kind of nerve-racking, but we were glad to see our name flash up."

As they attempt to advance, the Green Wave will continue to rely on the inside presence of senior center Teana McKiver and junior forward Gwen Slaughter. Both were named second team All-Conference USA.

McKiver averages a team-leading 13.0 points and 7.2 rebounds, while Slaughter scores 10.0 points per game while averaging a team-leading 9.4 rebounds.

The winner of this game will play either Stanford or Western Michigan in the second round on Monday.

PROBABLE STARTERS: Tulane - F Tiffany Wilson, F Slaughter, C McKiver, G Kelly Nadeau, G Delacey Joseph. Minnesota - F Kadidja Andersson, C McCarville, G Shannon Schonrock, G Whalen, G Van Wald.

TEAM LEADERS: Tulane - McKiver, 13.0 ppg; Slaughter, 9.4 rpg; Nadeau, 3.3 apg. Minnesota - Whalen, 21.3 ppg and 6.2 apg; McCarville, 8.9 rpg.

HOW THEY GOT HERE: Tulane - At-large bid, Conference USA. Minnesota - At-large bid, Big Ten.

ALL-TIME TOURNAMENT RECORD: Tulane - 3-8, 8 years. Minnesota - 2-2, 2 years.