New Orleans, La. / Fogelman Arena?The Robert Morris University women's basketball upset Tulane University, 82-71, in the opening round of the Tulane DoubleTree Classic Thursday afternoon. The Colonials, now 4-6, got a game-high 27 points from junior guard Sade Logan (Knoxville, Tenn. / Chattanooga State) who hit 6-10 three-pointers and went 10-15 from the field.
Senior forward Chinata Nesbit (Washington, D.C. / Chipola JC) added 23 points, going 13-15 of from the charity stripe, and added 11 rebounds. Senior guard Psyche Butler (Fort Worth, Texas / New Mexico JC) had a season-high 18 points and grabbed nine rebounds as well as tacking on three steals and three assists.
“This was a major win for us because Tulane is a team that received top-25 votes,” said RMU head coach Sal Buscaglia. “We've played all the road games against upper level opponents, hopefully this is a sign that it is going to pay off. It was a total team effort today. Not only was Sade Logan amazing, but Chinata Nesbit and Psyche Butler were awesome as well.”
Robert Morris jumped on top early, taking a 10-3 lead just 3:58 into the game as Butler scored the first six points of the game. After the Green Wave cut the lead to 12-8, the Colonials went on a 10-1 run with four different players scoring to give them a 22-9 lead with just over eight minutes left in the half.
Tulane responded with five straight points cutting the lead to eight points. After a Butler jumper gave Robert Morris a 27-17 lead with 4:52 left in the half, the Green Wave went on a 10-3 run to tie the game at 30-30. Logan sandwiched a three-pointer and a baseline jumper around a Green Wave layup to put the Colonials up, 35-32, at the break.
The Green Wave scored the first four points of the second half, taking a 36-35 lead and held a 37-36 advantage 2:50 into the second half. A Logan three-pointer was followed by a Nesbit layup that put Robert Morris back up four points. Tulane battled back, tying the game twice before Butler made a layup and junior guard Kendra Williams (Bronx, N.Y. / Mount Saint Ursula) hit a three-pointer on back-to-back trips.
Tulane's Alendra Brown hit a pair of free throws cutting the score to 54-52 with 7:41 left in the game. The Colonials responded by getting three points on each of their next five trips to the offensive end. Logan hit consecutive trifectas, then Nesbit and Logan finished old-fashioned three-point plays before Logan hit another three-pointer. That run all but ended the game, giving Robert Morris a 69-59 lead with 3:22 left.
Nikki Luckhurst led four Green Wave players in double-digits with 15 points, including three three-pointers. Alendra Brown had 13 points, Tiffany Aidoo added 12 and Chassity brown finished with 10 points.
A foul-riddled game had 47 personal fouls and 55 free-throws. RMU went 17-24 (70.8%) from the line while Tulane hit 21-31 (67.7%). The Colonials shot 46.7 percent from the field while holding the Green Wave to 35.5 percent shooting.
The Colonials will take on the winner of Thursday night's second game between Virginia Tech and Texas-San Antonio. Tip-off is set for 9:00 p.m. Eastern.
