Tulsa’s Liesl Spoerl Has First Career Double-Double in 70-65 Loss to Tulane

Wednesday, January 25

New Orleans, La.

7:00 pm

Tulsa

6-14, 2-5

Tulane

13-7, 4-3

Tulsa

Tulane

Tulsa’s Liesl Spoerl Has First Career Double-Double in 70-65 Loss to Tulane

1/25/2017 9:17:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

By: Stephanie Hall

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Liesl Spoerl recorded her first career double-double with 14 points and 19 rebounds in a 70-65 loss to Tulane on Wednesday night at Devlin Fieldhouse in New Orleans, La. The Golden Hurricane fell to 6-14 on the season and 2-5 in American Athletic Conference play, while the Green Wave moved to 13-7 overall and 4-3 in the league.

Spoerl tallied team-bests of 14 points and a career-high 19 rebounds, while Shug Dickson added 11 points and six rebounds. Erika Wakefield also registered double-digit points with 10 and had a team-best four assists.

Spoerl's 19 rebounds were the most since Denise Lewis had 20 boards against Texas A&M-International during the 2010-11 season.

"Liesl did a great job on the boards," Head Coach Matilda Mossman said. "I am pleased with how hard she played. She kept us in the game as she got rebounds and kept her man from getting rebounds."

Tulsa shot 36-percent from the field, including 27-percent from behind the arc and went 9-for-9 from the charity stripe, while Tulane shot 40-percent from the field, 27-percent from three-point range and 67-percent (19-of-28) from the free throw line.

"It boils down to the free throw line," Mossman said. "We had nine points at the free throw line and they get 19, but we lose by five points and they have 10 more points at the line. We have to attack and draw fouls so we have to do a better job of getting to the free throw line."

The Golden Hurricane had a 42-41 lead in rebounds, while the Green Wave had a 13-11 lead in assists, a 4-2 advantage in blocks and a 10-6 lead in steals.

Tulane jumped out to an 8-0 lead with 7:14 on the clock in the first quarter and climbed to a 17-11 advantage at the end of the frame.

The Green Wave then went on to take a 10-point lead, 23-13, at the 6:29 mark of the second quarter, but the Golden Hurricane battled back to tie the contest at 29-all with 48.6-seconds to play in the period. A free throw by Kolby Morgan to end the frame gave Tulane a 30-29 advantage at the break.

Tulsa shot just 23-percent from the field in the first quarter, while Tulane shot 42-percent, and then nearly reversed those numbers with the Hurricane shooting 41-percent from the field and the Green Wave shooting 23-percent in the second frame.

Tulsa took their first lead of the game as Shug Dickson scored a basket at the 9:42 mark, but the Tulane took back the advantage with a free throw by Harlyn Wyatt and a jumper by Morgan to make it 33-31 at the 7:51 mark. There were three tied scores and two lead changes in the third frame, but the Green Wave had a 49-44 advantage with 10-minutes to play.

The Green Wave began the fourth quarter with an 11-0 run that spanned the first 2:41 off the clock to claim a 60-44 lead at the 7:19 mark. Tulsa went on a 9-2 run to pull within single digits, 62-53 with under four minutes remaining, but couldn't overcome the deficit to fall by five, 70-65.

Leslie Vorpahl had a team-leading 21 points, while Morgan added 20 points and a team-best eight rebounds. Wyatt and Tene Thompson both added seven boards.

Tulsa will return to action on Saturday, January 28 against SMU. Game time is set for 7:00 pm at the Donald W. Reynolds Center.