MONROE, La. - The University of New Orleans dropped their Sun Belt
Conference opener, falling to Louisiana-Monroe 64-61 on Wednesday night
at Fant-Ewing Coliseum after coming back from 12 points down.
ULM (6-4, 1-0 SBC) was led by Sumar Leslie, who hit two crucial
free throws with 11.4 seconds to win the game. Leslie finished with 17
points while Kassie Courtney added 11 points and nine rebounds.
Nicole
Holmes was the top scorer for UNO (4-5, 0-1 SBC), scoring 14 points,
including 12 in the second half.
Jada Frazier and
Ty Felder added 12
and 11.
Candice McGee had a team-high eight rebounds to go along
with eight points as the Lady Privateers outrebounded the Warhawks
36-33.
ULM missed their first three shots from the field
enabling UNO to take a 4-0 lead out of the game. The Warhawks rebounded
from the shooting woes to make their next seven shots from the field as
they scored 19 of the next 26 points to take a 19-11 lead.
The
lead would grow to 12 for the host squad as UNO did not make a basket
from the field for four and a half minutes of play before
Nicole Holmes
made a lay-up with 48 seconds remaining in the opening half.
ULM would take a 33-23 lead into the break behind 48.1 percent shooting from the field.
Like
the first half, the Lady Privateers scored the first four points to
start the second half to pull within six. The Warhawks responded to
push the lead back to 10.
After several UNO attempts to close
the gap, Holmes broke through for the Lady Privateers, scoring seven
straight points to cut the ULM lead down to three at 48-45 with 10:04
remaining in the contest.
UNO continued to work into the lead,
getting within two twice before
Jada Frazier put the Lady Privateers in
the drivers' seat with a three-pointer several feet beyond the arc.
Felder followed suit the next time down the floor with a three-pointer
of her own to push the advantage to four.
ULM tied the score up
at 59 on a Leslie basket and Moore followed with a jumper with 90
seconds remaining to give the advantage back to the Warhawks. The lead
was short-lived as a Helm lay-up tied the contest at 61 on the next
possession.
A Sannisha Williams free throw put the Warhawks up
62-61. After turnovers on both sides of the floor, ULM's Leslie went to
the line, making both attempts putting the Warhawks up three. UNO had
two attempts to knot the score with both shots missing as ULM claimed
victory.
The Lady Privateers will bring to a close their two
game SBC road trip with a 2 p.m. contest Saturday afternoon at North
Texas. The contest will be streamed on UNOPrivateers.com.
