Tulane women fall to Mississippi State 57-47 in NCAAs
DURHAM, N.C. (AP) — Another Tulane season came to an end at least partially because the Green Wave couldn't keep Breanna Richardson off the boards.
Mississippi State beat Tulane in a second straight postseason tournament Friday, claiming a 57-47 victory in the first round of the Spokane Region.
Richardson had 15 points and 12 rebounds while keying the run that propelled the Bulldogs to yet another win. Richardson had another double-double with 13 points and 10 boards in Mississippi State's win in last year's WNIT.
"We knew Richardson. ... She didn't surprise me today because on that weakside rebound, she is tough to keep off the boards," Tulane coach Lisa Stockton said. "When they were missing those outside shots, she really got those second-chance opportunities."
Freshman Kolby Morgan had 17 points for the 12th-seeded Green Wave (22-11), who ended the season by losing two straight and four of six. They shot 28 percent and went 10 minutes between baskets, missing 11 consecutive shots after taking their only lead of the second half.
"They made us take a lot of bad shots, and that put us in a hole, and we had to fight back out of that," Stockton said.
Morgan William added 14 points for the fifth-seeded Bulldogs (27-6). They shot 48 percent in the second half and advanced to a second-round matchup with host Duke, the fourth seed, on Sunday.
Richardson had 11 points during the 22-2 run that pushed the Bulldogs' lead well into double figures.
The Green Wave pulled to 53-44 after hitting eight free throws before William went 4 for 4 from the line in the final minute to seal it and keep arguably the best season in the history of Mississippi State's program going.
The Bulldogs entered already having set school records for both overall wins and victories in Southeastern Conference play. And when they get into the NCAAs, they usually stick around for a while: They haven't gone one-and-done in the tournament since their first berth in 1999.
Yet they were in danger of coming to a premature end when the Green Wave went up by two about 4½ minutes into the second half.
That's when coach Vic Schaefer challenged the Bulldogs during a timeout.
"Hey, we didn't play very good. Give Tulane credit, they had a lot to do with it," Schaefer said. "It's good to know you can win an NCAA Tournament game knowing you didn't play your best."
Richardson, in particular, got busy in the paint and got the Bulldogs going.
She started the decisive run with back-to-back layups, added another one four possessions later, converted a three-point play and capped the burst with — what else? — a fast-break layup that made it 49-31 with just under 7 minutes left.
That put Mississippi State well on its way to giving Schaefer his first NCAA Tournament victory at the school.
Tulane held the Bulldogs scoreless for the first 5½ minutes of the second half to turn a five-point halftime deficit into a 29-27 lead on Tiffany Dale's layup through contact.
But that was it from the field for the Green Wave until Morgan's layup almost exactly 10 minutes later.
STAT SHEET:
The Green Wave leaned hard on their defense. They held the Bulldogs 20 points below their scoring average of 74.2 points — the third-best mark in the SEC. Top scorer Victoria Vivians, who entered averaging 15.1 points, finished with seven on 2-of-14 shooting. "We stopped Mississippi State from doing a lot of things," Stockton said, "but we just couldn't score."
TIP-INS:
Tulane: The Green Wave, in their first season in the American Athletic Conference, earned their first at-large NCAA Tournament berth since 2003.
Mississippi State: William finished 9 of 11 from the free-throw line.
WNIT.
UP NEXT:
Tulane: Season over.
Mississippi State: Plays Duke on Sunday in the second round of the Spokane Region.
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