March 20, 2006

Rosemont, Illinois - Tulsa suffered a heartbreaker in the second round of the NCAA Tournament on Monday night after leading for most of the contest, dropping a 71-67 decision to the 13th-ranked DePaul Blue Demons at Allstate Arena in front of a partisan crowd of 3,212 fans.

DePaul outscored the Hurricane 22-7 in the final 9:30 of the game, erasing Tulsa's 11-point lead and claiming the victory.

Tulsa's concludes its season with a 26-6 record.

TU's Jillian Robbins and Megan Moody did everything they could to keep the Hurricane in a position to win. The duo combined for 43 points and converted 18-of-27 field goals for 67-percent. Moody ended the game with a team-high 22 points, while Robbins added 21 points, along with eight rebounds, four assists, four steals and three blocks.

Tulsa took its largest lead of the game, 60-49, on a three-point basket by Moody, but the Blue Demons answered with an 8-0 run on two three-pointers by Caprice Smith and two free throws by Allie Quigley.

The Hurricane built the lead back to seven points after DePaul cut it to three at 60-57. The Demons once again cut the lead to three points at the 4:05 mark. Tulsa still had a six-point lead with 1:59 left in the contest, but DePaul's Khara Smith scored seven of DePaul's final 10 points for the win.

DePaul took the lead for good at 69-67 on a three-point play by Smith with 0:53 remaining. It was the first lead for the Blue Demons since the 7:35 mark of the first half Smith added to that lead with two more free throws to close out the game.

Smith ended the contest with game-highs of 23 points and 14 rebounds.

DePaul began the game with a 2-0 lead, and Tulsa tied it on its first basket of the game and didn't relinquish the lead until the 10:20 mark of the first half at 17-16. The game was tied four times during that time frame, and Tulsa's largest lead was four points.

Tulsa took a 39-34 lead into the half as the Hurricane ended the first half with an 8-3 run with six of those points coming from Kara Pongonis-Paslay, including a six-foot jumper with 0:02 on the clock

DePaul scored seven straight points to start the second half and take a 41-39 lead at the 18:12 mark. Tulsa answered with a 10-point run of its own started by Pongonis-Paslay's layup at the 17:59 mark to tie the score at 41.

Robbins then had a traditional three-point play on a layup and free throw, and then drained a three-pointer at the left elbow to put the Hurricane ahead 47-41. The trey was Robbins' 20th point of the game. After a timeout, Emily Jaskowiak made layup before DePaul's Khara Smith ended the run with a layup of her own. From that point, the Hurricane was out-scored 30-20.

The Hurricane shot 50-percent from the field, while holding DePaul to 38.8 percent from the field. The Demons did make 92-percent of its free throws, 11-of-12, including 5-of-5 in the final 1:45, to help seal the victory.