FORT WORTH, Texas – No. 4 Tulane extended its regular-season success against No. 5 Temple into the postseason, scoring an 83-73 win in the quarterfinal round of the 2021 Air Force Reserve American Athletic Conference Women’s Basketball Championship on Tuesday afternoon at Dickies Arena. The Green Wave became the first team to advance to the tournament semifinals with the victory.
 

Krystal Freeman led four Tulane scorers in double figures with 18 points in the win, while Arsula Clark scored 14 points and added four assists and two steals. Sierra Cheatham registered 13 points, five boards and three steals. Jasha Clinton scored a game-high 22 points and dished out eight assists with five steals to pace Temple, while Mia Davis scored 20 for the Owls.
 
Temple (11-11) got off to a hot start with a made jumper from Davis and a Clinton 3-pointer to take an early 5-2 lead, but Dynah Jones went coast-to-coast for a layup to trim the deficit to 5-4 three minutes in. Tulane (17-7) took its first advantage at 6-5 on a hard drive to the bucket by Clark before Temple’s Alexa Williamson answered back with a traditional 3-point play for the 8-6 Owl lead. The Green Wave defense locked down and forced Temple into a 1-for-7 stretch from the floor to push Tulane ahead 11-8. Five quick points from Anijah Grant near the end of the opening quarter sparked the Tulane attack (17-12), but a steal and lay-in on the other end for Temple’s Williamson cut the deficit to 17-14. Buckets from Freeman and Cheatham propped Tulane in front 21-14 after one period.
 
Tulane’s lead increased to 10 (24-14) on a Jones made 3-pointer to open the second quarter, and a Temple surge capped by a Davis jumper brought Temple within three at 26-23. An 8-2 run by the Green Wave that was bookended by a Freeman jump shot powered Tulane to a 34-25 edge at the media timeout. Freeman hit consecutive shots, including the second from distance, to extend the Tulane lead to 11 at 39-28. The Green Wave closed the half with makes on six of its final seven shots for a 47-36 advantage after 20 minutes.
 
Clinton hit a pair of 3-pointers to begin the third quarter that trimmed the Temple margin to seven at 49-42. Tulane kept the pedal down, and a Cheatham layup just over three minutes in moved the Green Wave back in front by 10 points (55-45). JerKaila Jordan hit the fourth shot in five attempts for Tulane to extend the Green Wave’s advantage to 11 once more at 57-46. Temple’s attempts to close within single digits never got closer than seven, as a 13-0 Tulane run yielded a 72-52 lead into the final minute of the quarter.
 
Both teams jockeyed for an edge to open the fourth quarter, trading baskets before a Davis layup brought Temple within 14 at 75-61. Tulane expertly broke the subsequent Owl press and Kaila Anderson found a cutting Cheatham wide open under the bucket for two points (77-61). Temple chipped away to close to 79-66 on a Williamson bank off the glass and in but Tulane would not be denied with a Mia Heide tip in on the other end (81-66).
 
All of the latest tournament information can be found at Championship Central throughout the week by visiting TheAmerican.org/wbb.
 
2021 Air Force Reserve American Athletic Conference Women's Basketball Championship
March 8-11, 2021
Dickies Arena 
Fort Worth, Texas
 
First Round - Monday, March 8
No. 9 Wichita State 76, No. 8 Tulsa 64
No. 7 Cincinnati 78, No. 10 Memphis 67

Quarterfinals - Tuesday, March 9
No. 4 Tulane 83, No. 5 Temple 73
No. 9 Wichita State vs. No. 1 USF - 3 p.m. ET/2 p.m. CT (ESPN+)
No. 7 Cincinnati vs. No. 2 UCF - 7 p.m. ET/6 p.m. CT (ESPN+)
No. 6 East Carolina vs. No. 3 Houston - 10 p.m. ET/ 9 p.m. CT (ESPN+)

Semifinals - Wednesday, March 10
No. 4 Tulane vs. Game 4 winner – 5:30 p.m. ET/ 4:30 p.m. CT (ESPN+)
Game 5 winner vs. Game 6 winner - 8:30 p.m. ET/7:30 p.m. CT (ESPN+)

Final - Thursday, March 11
Semifinal winners – 10 p.m. ET/9 p.m. CT (ESPNU)