What: New Orleans Lady Privateers (2-8) at Montana Lady Griz (8-2)
When: Wed. Dec. 28 @ 8:35 p.m. (cst)
Where: Missoula, Mont. Dahlberg Arena (7,500)
Tournament Web Site: http://www.montanagrizzlies.com/content/basketball_women/2005holiday.htm (Live stats and audio streaming of the game can be found on the site)
Game Preview
The University of New Orleans plays host Montana in the opening round of the Lady Griz Holdiay Classic. The Lady Privateers are playing for the first time in a week when they dropped an 84-46 decision at Arkansas on Dec. 21. Jada Frazier had 12 points in the contest, while Talishia Young contributed 10 points, eight rebounds and four blocks. Montana enters the tournament with an 8-2 record and has won their last five games. This will be the first ever meeting between the two teams. The winner of today's game will face the winner of the North Dakota State-UNC Asheville in the championship game tomorrow, while the loser will face the loser of that contest in the consolation game.
Tournament Schedule
Wednesday, December 28
6:05 p.m. North Dakota State vs. UNC Asheville
8:35 p.m. New Orleans at Montana
Thursday, December 29
6:05 p.m. Consolation Game
8:35 p.m. Championship Game
(Times are central standard)
2005-06 Team Leaders
UNO
Points Ashley Sentimore (12.3)
Rebounds Talishia Young (7.3)
Assists Le'Della English (3.7)
Steals Le'Della English (1.5)
Blocks Talishia Young (2.4)
Minutes Le'Della English (30.5)
Montana
Points Katie Edwards (14.7)
Rebounds Judy McLeod (6.3)
Assists Sonya Rogers (2.7)
Steals Mandy Morales & Tamara Guardipaa (1.1)
Blocks Tamara Guardipaa (1.5)
Minutes Katie Edwards (34.2)
UNO Probable Starters
Name Cl Hgt PPG RPG APG
Talishia Young Fr. 6-3 7.5 7.3 1.2
Ashley Alexander Fr. 5-10 2.0 1.3 0.3
Le'Della English So. 5-9 8.0 3.0 3.7
Smooch Rogers Fr. 5-9 3.1 1.8 0.6
Ashley Sentimore So. 6-3 12.3 6.6 0.4
Scouting Montana
Montana is coming off back-to-back NCAA tournament appearances after going 22-8 and winning their 19th conference championship in the last 25 seasons. The Lady Griz are led by head coach Robin Selvig who is in his 28th season at the helm. Selvig has compiled a 631-183 (.775) record during that span. He has the seventh highest winning percentage among active Division I coaches. This will be the 26th edition of the Lady Griz Holdiay Classic and Montana has accumulated a 47-3 record during those contests, including 22 tournament titles. Katie Edwards leads the Lady Griz in scoring with a 14.7 points per game average, while teammate Mandy Morales is averaging 14.6 a contest.
Scouting North Dakota State
North Dakota State enters the tournament with a 5-5 record after defeating Alabama 68-56 on Dec. 20. The Bison also have victories this season against Georgetown, Middle Tennessee and Creighton. Senior Point Guard Katie Lorenz leads the Bison in both scoring (14.2 ppg) and assists (4.3 ppg). Amy Ruley led North Dakota State, a Division I Independent, to an impressive 26-1 record last season. Ruley is in her 27th season and has lead the Bison to a 636-164 record. She was a 2004 inductee to the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame. UNO has never faced North Dakota State.
Scouting UNC Asheville
UNC-Asheville enters the tournament with a 7-2 record after picking up a pair of wins last week against Sewanee and North Carolina A&T. Their lone losses this season was a 40-point defeat to nationally ranked North Carolina and to UT-Chattanooga. Senior Guard Ashton Barton leads the Bulldogs in scoring with a 13.8 points per game average. The Lady Privateers and Bulldogs have never met.
Last Time Out
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (Dec. 21, 2005) - The University of New Orleans women's basketball team dropped an 84-46 decision to Arkansas at Bud Walton Arena.
Jada Frazier led UNO (2-8) in scoring with 12 points, while Talishia Young posted 10 points, eight rebounds and four blocked shots. Adrienne Bush scored a game high 18 points for Arkansas.
Arkansas (7-4) used 20 UNO turnovers to dominate the first half. The Lady Razorbacks scored 27 of the first 31 points of the opening frame to take a commanding 27-4 lead with 6:14 remaining. The Lady Privateers scored six points in a row in a 1:28 span to cut the lead to 17, but the Lady Razorbacks ended the half on a 9-2 run to make it a 36-12 contest heading into the locker room.
Arkansas had an 8-0, 17-0, and 9-0 run in the first half. The Lady Razorbacks shot 40.0 percent from the field compared to the Lady Privateers 23.1. UNO edged the Lady Backs 23-20 in rebounding.
Arkansas maintained a steady lead the second half as UNO did not get within 22 points the entire half. The Lady Backs outscored the Lady Privateers 48-34 in the final frame as they cruised to the 38 point victory.
New Orleans Sun Belt Conference Rankings
TEAM
2. Blocked Shots . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4.90
5. Defensive Rebounds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .26.70
5. Rebounding Offense . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .38.4
7. Field Goal Percentage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .394
8. Defense Field Goal Percentage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..413
8. Rebounding Margin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .-0.5
9. Rebounding Defense . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .38.9
9. Assists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11.70
9. Offensive Rebounds. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11.70
10. 3-Point Field Goals Made . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3.30
10. 3-Point Field Goal Percentage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .264
10. Steals. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6.80
10. Scoring Defense . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73.7
11. Scoring Offense . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..54.8
11. 3-Point Field Goal Percentage Defense . . . . . . . . . . .367
11. Assist/Turnover Ratio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .0.48
11. Scoring Margin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .-18.9
11. Free Throw Percentage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .592
11. Turnover Margin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .-9.80
Entering Dec. 28
INDIVIDUAL
Scoring Average
12. Ashley Sentimore . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12.3
Rebounding
10. Talishia Young . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7.3
14. Ashley Sentimore . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6.4
Field Goal Percentage
5. Ashley Sentimore . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..525
Assists
7. Le'Della English . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . .3.70
3-Point FG Pct.
7. Jada Frazier . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . 381
3-Point FG Made
5. Jada Frazier . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1.60
Blocked Shots
3. Talishia Young . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2.40
8. Andrea Williams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.10
Assist/Turnover Ratio
13. Le'Della English . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .0.86
Offensive Rebounds
6. Talishia Young . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . 3.10
13. Ashley Sentimore . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2.50
Defensive Rebounds
15. Talishia Young . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.20
Up Next
UNO will play in Missoula again Thursday night. The Lady Privateers will play in the championship game with a win against the Lady Griz Wednesday night. They would face the winner of the North Dakota State/UNC-Asheville game at 7:35 p.m. UNO would face the loser of that contest at 5 p.m. in the consolation round with a loss. After the tournament, UNO will begin conference play on Jan. 5 against North Texas. The game will be the first of the season in New Orleans.
