With more than eight minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, Tulane redshirt-senior guard Arsula Clark converted on a turnaround mid-range jump shot, capping off a 10-2 run that gave the Green Wave a 62-48 lead and sealed the Owls’ fate.
The Owls (12-13, 7-7 The American Athletic Conference) fell to Green Wave (20-7, 11-4 The AAC) 71-56 on Saturday afternoon at McGonigle Hall.
The defeat marks the Owls’ third consecutive loss after falling in conference games against the University of Central Florida (20-3, 12-1 The American on Feb. 19 and the University of Houston (14-13, 7-8 The American) on Feb. 23.
After a back-and-forth first quarter, the Green Wave went on a 17-8 run to close out the second quarter, which redshirt-sophomore forward Irina Parau capped off with a 3-point jump shot making the halftime score 34-27.
“I thought we hung in there well for the first couple of quarters,” said head coach Tonya Cardoza. “We made a lot of shots early on, but in the fourth quarter we just could not get any stops and we missed a lot of wide open shots.”
The Owls opened up the third quarter on a 7-0 run, tying the game at 34 when freshman guard Tiarra East converted a mid-range jump shot. The Green Wave responded with a 12-4 run of their own, and entered the fourth quarter with a 52-46 lead.
In the final quarter, the Owls were outscored 19-10, and failed to score in the final six minutes of the game.
The Owls shot a lackluster two for 21 on 3-point shots, and did not give themselves the opportunity to get back into the game late due to poor shot selection.
“If we would have been able to make some shots down the stretch then maybe we could have worked a little harder on the defensive end,” Cardoza said. “It’s sort of demoralizing when you keep missing shots and then the defensive intensity definitely let up.”
Graduate student forward Mia Davis led the Owls on offense, finishing with 25 points and 11 rebounds while shooting nine for 16 from the field.
“A few weeks ago it seemed like we were fighting for getting the second seed in the tournament,” Cardoza said. “After these last few losses now we just have to fight to get a bye, and we really need to figure out a way to move on from these last few losses.”
The Owls will look to end their losing streak when they travel to Dallas, Texas, to take on Southern Methodist University (12-12, 6-6 The American) on Feb. 28 at 8 p.m.
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