Adrianna Smith had 18 second half points on Thursday afternoon, but it wasn’t enough as the Tulane Green Wave held off the Maine Black Bears 64-61 in the championship game of the Tulane Holiday Classic in New Orleans, Louisiana.
Maine shot just 4-14 from the floor in the first quarter, and Tulane who never trailed in the contest, jumped to a 16 point lead (21-5) and would lead by 12 after the opening 10 minutes. The Black Bears would cut into that deficit in the second, getting within seven on a couple of occasions with much better shooting (6-10) and hit all three of their 3-point attempts. The visitors would head to the break still down nine at 36-27. Maine was still hanging around in the third quarter, but a 7-0 run by the Green Wave capped off by a three-pointer by Marta Galic extended the advantage to 53-38 with 2:51 to go in the period. It would be a 10 point Tulane lead headed to the final quarter. Smith continued to try to will her Black Bears squad back into the game. The junior forward scored 10 straight for her team (12 total in the fourth), and with Tulane going cold without a basket from the floor in over five minutes, a three-pointer by Anne Simon sliced it to 58-56 with 3:21 left to play. A three-pointer by Hannah Pratt restored a five point lead for the Green Wave with 2:06 remaining, but layups by Smith and Caroline Bornemann wedged around a jumper by Kyren Whittington kept them within striking distance 63-60. Simon had the best chance to tie it when she got fouled on a three-pointer with five seconds showing on the clock, but she missed the second after making the first and would miss the third intentionally. After Tulane got the rebound and Irina Parau made the second of two foul shots, Simon would travel on the inbounds pass with 3.1 seconds to go and the hosts would then inbound and run out the final seconds to escape with the victory.
Smith finished with a game-high 25 points and four rebounds in the loss for Maine, who falls to 7-6 on the season. Simon had 18 points, nine rebounds, and four steals. Bornemann chipped in eight points, four rebounds, and two assists. After the tough start, the Black Bears ended up shooting 44% from the field. Whittington led Tulane in the win with 19 points. Galic had 18 points and eight rebounds, while Pratt contributed 10 points and seven boards. The Green Wave (7-4), out of the American Athletic Conference, win their 22nd Holiday Classic Tournament. Maine plays their final non-conference game of the season next Saturday, December 30 as they visit Penn out of the Ivy League with a 1 p.m. tip-off time.
Recap/photo by Chris Lessner
