LAFAYETTE, La. ? Coaches love to say basketball is a 40-minute game. Unfortunately for the University of New Orleans women's team, Saturday's contest at Louisiana-Lafayette was determined in the first 20.
ULL raced out to a 22-point halftime lead and never looked back in taking a 64-55 Sun Belt Conference victory at the Cajundome.
Alicia McDaniel scored a career-high 21 points, and Sonora Edwards added 11 points and 11 rebounds as the Ragin' Cajuns (5-9, 1-2 Sun Belt) snapped a four-game losing streak.
Brittany Helm led UNO (8-6, 2-1) with 14 points, while Candice McGee had 12 points and eight rebounds. UNO was hindered by 19 turnovers and was out-rebounded 41-32 (15-9 on the offensive glass).
The Lady Privateers' fate was determined early. UNO committed 15 turnovers in the first half, which ULL converted into 18 points. The Lady Privateers also struggled from the field, as the visitors did not record a field goal until Le'Della English's 3-point basket with 13:43 left in the half.
UNO, which missed nine of its first 11 shots, had as many turnovers (14) as shots attempted in the game's first 16 minutes.
The Cajuns held as much as a 24-point lead with 1:33 left in the frame.
“We weren't focused and we weren't ready to play,” said UNO head coach Amy Champion. “We've got a practice here in front of us when we get back to New Orleans. We are going to fix it. We have the players to fix it.”
UNO was attempting to start 3-0 in Sun Belt play for the first time since 1997-98.
“When we don't control the boards, we lose,” Champion said. “We had our opportunity to win here today, but we had too many mistakes. We're going to get it fixed, and we'll see a different team when we play Denver.”
The Cajuns won their ninth straight game against UNO.
The Lady Privateers will host Denver at 7 p.m. on Thursday at the Human Performance Center.
