Green Wave win fourth straight to improve to 16-5 overall, 5-3 in Conference USA action

GREENVILLE, N.C. – In the cinematic classic "Groundhog Day", weatherman Phil Connors begrudgingly covers the festivities at Gobler's Knob and is forced to relive the experience over and over. When the Tulane University women's basketball team took the court on the date of the movie's namesake, it relived what has become a common occurrence as the Green Wave defeated Conference USA foe East Carolina, 63-49, on Thursday evening at Minges Coliseum.

The win was not only the Green Wave's fourth in a row, but also their fourth-straight victory by 10-or-more points, their seventh in a row against the Pirates and their third consecutive win in Greenville, N.C. In victory, Tulane improved to 16-5 on the year and 5-3 in C-USA play. East Carolina, meanwhile, dropped its 12th consecutive contest to fall to 6-15 overall and 0-8 in league action.

"I didn't think we played very well in the first half, but we just stayed with it and kept plugging along," Tulane head coach Lisa Stockton said. "They probably played six different defenses against us in that first half and we were able to adjust. It was good to see Janique knock those shots down. Ty missed some shots, but did so many things well. And of course, you saw Jamie come in and really score. This was a good win on the road. I think (East Carolina) is a good team, but they just struggled shooting the ball."

Freshman guard Jamie Kaplan came off the bench to score a career-high 20 points after connecting on 6-of-10 field goals – including a 4-of-6 performance from beyond the 3-point arc – and all four of her free-throw opportunities. She was one of three Green Wave players in double figures as junior forward Janique Kautsky tallied a career-best 13 and junior guard Olivia Grayson chipped in with 10. Grayson led the Green Wave with seven rebounds and three steals while adding a trio of assists, and junior guard Tyria Snow posted a team-high five dimes.

As a team, Tulane connected at a .389 clip from the field, including a 9-of-19 performance in the second half (.474). The Green Wave defense held East Carolina to a 28.8 field goal percentage (17-of-59), forced 19 turnovers on the strength of 10 steals, and turned the Pirates' miscues into 21 points.

"Coach always says to bring energy off the bench," Kaplan said of her career night against the Pirates. "That's just what I try to do – offensively, defensively or any way I can help the team. After the first couple of shots had gone in, it just seemed like the rim kept getting bigger and everything I was shooting was going in tonight."

East Carolina scored the game's opening points on a jumper by Chareya Smith 57 seconds into the contest, but Tulane quickly answered with a Grayson 3-pointer on the ensuing possession. Two Smith free throws put the Pirates back on top momentarily and Kautsky responded with a layup with 18:04 to play in the opening stanza to give the Green Wave a lead it would not relinquish.

It remained a close ballgame over the next nine and a half minutes as ECU's Kristine Mial connected from beyond the 3-point arc to cut Tulane's lead to three at 16-13. From there, however, Kaplan drained a trey of her own and sank a pair of free throws two possessions later to kickstart a 17-4 rally to put the Green Wave on top 33-17. The Pirates scored the final five points of the half on a Mial 3-pointer and a Britny Edwards jumper to make it 33-22 at the break.

East Carolina cut the Tulane lead to nine on a Janesha Ebron layup to open the second half. Kautsky drilled her second 3-pointer of the night on the ensuing possession and the lead never dipped below double-digits the rest of the way. Senior center Brett Benzio followed with a layup before the Pirates' Celeste Stewart sank a jumper to make it 38-26 with 17:52 left to play.

A steal a layup by Snow two possessions later sparked a 14-0 Tulane run over the next 6:29 to stake the Green Wave to a commanding 26-point advantage at 52-26 with 11:23 remaining in regulation. East Carolina refused to go away and actually outscored Tulane 23-9 the rest of the way, but the big Green Wave lead proved to be too much to overcome.

"I just told them that they took their foot off the petal," Stockton said of the Pirates' come-back attempt. "Teams are going to play aggressively in that last little bit if you let them back in. It was a 26-point lead and when you let them back in, they're going to press you. If we leave it at 26, they're not going to press and it's going to be a different kind of game. I think a little bit of it is focus and just kind of letting down...We've got to fix it. I don't think it's something to be overly concerned about, but it's something we've got to learn from."

Mial led East Carolina with 15 points, two blocks and a game-high five steals while sharing team-best rebounding honors with Edwards at nine apiece. Smith was next for the Pirates with 10 points, Stewart dished out a team-leading six assists.

The Green Wave return to action on Sunday, Feb. 5, when they play host to league rival SMU at 2 p.m. in Fogelman Arena. For tickets to that game and future Green Wave home events, contact the Tulane Athletics Ticket Office either in person, over the phone at 504-861-WAVE (9283) or via the Internet at www.TulaneGreenWave.com. The Ticket Office located on the first floor of the James W. Wilson, Jr. Center on Ben Weiner Drive, is open weekdays from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.

QUOTES FOLLOWING TULANE'S 63-49 CONFERENCE USA WIN AT EAST CAROLINA

Head Coach Lisa Stockton

Overall thoughts on the game

"I didn't think we played very well in the first half, but we just stayed with it and kept plugging along. They probably played six different defenses against us in that first half and we were able to adjust. It was good to see Janique knock those shots down. Ty missed some shot, but did so many things well. And of course, you saw Jamie come in and really score. This was a good win on the road. I think (East Carolina) is a good team, but they just struggled shooting the ball."

On getting a win on the road and winning by double digits for the fourth-straight game

"That was good. We still had some shots open, especially at the end. Our defense let up a little bit. I told them that I really wouldn't mind winning by 25 and that it was okay for them to do that. We were able to play a lot of players and they all really contributed for us. That's part of the season – to develop everyone to know what we can count on them for. Katye Magee came in and gave us some good minutes. I thought Tiffany Dale did some good things tonight, and of course there was Jamie. It's a win on the road, and I think (East Carolina) is going to beat some teams. They're athletic and they can rebound. They're going to compete with some teams."

On Tulane letting East Carolina back in the game late

"I just told them that they took their foot off the petal. Teams are going to play aggressively in that last little bit if you let them back in. It was a 26-point lead and when you let them back in, they're going to press you. If we leave it at 26, they're not going to press and it's going to be a different kind of game. I think a little bit of it is focus and just kind of letting it go down. I don't really believe it's our subs. I really believe it was our starters are the ones that kind of down a little bit. We've got to fix it. I don't think it's something to be overly concerned about, but it's something we've got to learn from."

On junior forward Janique Kautsky posting a career-high scoring figure for the second straight game

"Janique is shooting the ball well and she's hitting the open shots. They were all over Turtle tonight. They were face-guarding Danielle Blagg and they were face-guarding Turtle. Then Janique hits two shots out there and it got them out of that defense. That just gives us another weapon. As someone that plays the four and the three like she does, she's pretty versatile so she can step out and do those things."

On Tulane putting itself in position for a first-round bye in the upcoming C-USA Championship

"We dug ourselves into a hole. If we want a chance at that, we really have to win a lot of games on the road and win against some good opponents. Our next opponent, SMU, has always been a tough matchup for us and they're very good. We're going to have to take care of business with that. Hopefully we'll keep getting better and we can do that."

On Tulane's postseason chances

"We're midway right now. How we handle these next eight games will determine our destiny. Our RPI is really good and if we can keep it up there, we'll be playing in the postseason somewhere – hopefully in the NCAAs. I think it's really a big credit to our team to have done what we've done with such a young group."

Freshman Guard Jamie Kaplan

On her performance against East Carolina

"Coach always says to bring energy off the bench. That's just what I try to do – offensively, defensively or any way I can help the team. After the first couple of shots had gone in, it just seemed like the rim kept getting bigger and everything I was shooting was going in tonight."

On the team winning four in a row

"We're playing really well. Our defense has really been strong lately. Offensively, we're taking better shots and we're being more patient. I think that's why we're getting a better shot percentage every game we play."

Junior Forward Janique Kautsky

On her performance against East Carolina

"It feels good. I came off last game with a couple of 3s and my confidence is back up. The team played really well. We let our foot off the petal once again but we came away with the win. We shot well tonight."

On what the Pirates were doing defensively early in the game

"They started with a box-and-one on Turtle and we had to adjust to that out because our offense was run for Turtle in the first place. Once we figured that out, we got some nice shots on the baseline and found the open man."

On the team's success of late

"We've been practicing hard and we know the things that we have to work on. We've been doing that with the turnovers and the rebounds. We keep improving every game."