Nov. 7, 2005

LUBBOCK, Texas - The Tulane women's basketball team opens the exhibition portion of its 2005-06 schedule on Tuesday, taking on the Houston Jaguars at 8 p.m. at United Spirit Arena in Lubbock, Texas. Tulane's game is the nightcap of an exhibition doubleheader, which features Texas Tech against Everyone's Internet in game one.

Twelfth-year head coach Lisa Stockton fields her youngest team at Tulane for the 2005-06 campaign, with just one junior, five sophomores and four freshmen on the roster. But while her team is young, Stockton looks for her team to bring a highly competitive product to the floor.

"We are ready to get out on the court," Stockton said. "Our posts look great, we are much better in the post than we were last year. We are very young at the guard spot, but we are shooting the ball very well. There will probably be a lot exposed in this game since we have not played against anyone else."

Leading the Tulane charge is junior guard Jami Montagnino, who tossed in 7.5 points per game and was the only player to start in all 27 games for the Green Wave last season. She is joined by returning sophomores Alendra Brown, Khadrereil Ferguson, Nikki Luckhurst, Dominique Philpots and Jennifer Sands, who made the shift from guard to forward during the off-season. With just six returnees on the active roster, Stockton and her staff will rely on the services of freshman newcomers Kendra Barnes, Ashley Langford, Sasha Staidum and Megan Valicevic.

Tulane and the Jaguars met 366 days ago in the exhibition opener at Fogelman Arena on the Tulane campus, and the Green Wave walked away with a 70-53 victory. Then-rookie Philpots impressed the Tulane faithful with 15 points and seven rebounds, leading the team in both categories in her Green Wave debut. Montagnino added 10 for the Green Wave while swiping a game-high seven steals against the Jags.

This year's Jaguar roster features several players familiar to the Wave, former Tulane standout Delacy Joseph and former Houston players Jo Ann Overstreet and KeKe Harris.

Stationed at Texas Tech for the fall semester, Tulane will travel to West Texas A&M on Nov. 14 for its final exhibition game before hosting Howard in the regular season opener on Nov. 19 at Lubbock Christian University.