NEW ORLEANS (Interstat) — In a game defined more by defensive grit and offensive struggle than any scoring flourish, the Charlotte 49ers edged the Tulane Green Wave 47-44 in a women’s American Athletic Conference basketball game Wednesday night at Devlin Fieldhouse.

The contest, witnessed by 731 fans, saw both teams labor through frigid shooting performances. Charlotte improved to 10-13 overall, while Tulane fell to 8-13.

The most critical sequence of the game unfolded in the final 10 seconds, a chaotic conclusion fitting for a matchup where points were at a premium. With Charlotte clinging to a 45-44 lead, Tulane’s Jayda Brown committed a turnover under pressure, giving the 49ers possession with 4 seconds remaining. Tulane was forced to foul, sending Charlotte’s Tanajah Hayes to the line for two shots with just 2 seconds on the clock.

Hayes, a 5-foot-6 guard from Charlotte, North Carolina, made the first free throw to extend the lead to 46-44 but missed the second. A scramble for the rebound resulted in another foul on Tulane, sending Hayes back to the line with a fraction of a second left. She made the first of another pair to provide the final margin, as her intentional miss on the second allowed the clock to expire.

The frantic finish capped a game where neither team led by more than seven points. Charlotte built its largest advantage at 25-19 late in the second quarter, but Tulane methodically chipped away, fueled by a 17-point fourth-quarter outburst. The Green Wave took their first lead since the opening minutes at 35-34 with 7:14 remaining in the game on a 3-pointer by Brown. The teams traded the lead five times in the final period, setting the stage for the tense final possessions.

Defense and rebounding were the pillars of Charlotte’s victory. The 49ers forced 20 Tulane turnovers, converting them into 17 points, and dominated the offensive glass with 19 rebounds leading to numerous second-chance opportunities. Charlotte’s 14 steals, led by Hayes’ game-high six, consistently disrupted Tulane’s offensive flow. Despite shooting just 31.3% from the field and a dismal 11.1% from 3-point range, the 49ers’ sheer volume of attempts, 67, and extra possessions proved decisive.

Tulane was only marginally more efficient, shooting 34.6% overall. The Green Wave were led by Dyllan Hanna, a 6-foot-2 forward from St. Augustine, Florida, who scored 14 points, grabbed four rebounds and blocked four shots. Brown, a 6-foot guard from Atlanta, Georgia, also added 14 points.

For Charlotte, guard Princess Anderson, a 5-foot-7 sophomore from Beaumont, Texas, shouldered the scoring load with 17 points. Asianae Nicholson, a 5-foot-10 guard from South Euclid, Ohio, contributed 10 points and a game-high offensive rebounding presence. Hayes, despite her 3-for-14 shooting night, filled the stat sheet with six points, six assists and six steals, orchestrating the offense and defense throughout her 36 minutes.

The game began as a defensive slugfest, with Charlotte leading 11-8 after a first quarter where both teams combined to shoot 8 for 35. The 49ers took a 25-19 lead into halftime, a margin built largely by holding Tulane to eight points in both the first and third quarters.

Interstat’s ELO system had projected Tulane as a significant favorite with a 73.3% probability to win. The victory snapped a two-game losing skid for Charlotte, which hosts Wichita State on Saturday. Tulane, which has lost three of its last four, travels to face South Florida on Saturday.

The matchup was a stark contrast to the teams’ previous meetings with higher-powered opponents, as both squads ground out a victory through physical defense and relentless effort on the boards, ultimately decided by a single made free throw in the final seconds.