HOT
SPRINGS, Ark. - The improbable run continues into the semifinals of the
2010 Sun Belt Conference Championships for the No. 12 seed University
of New Orleans women's basketball team, who claimed a 55-48 win over
No. 4 seed Denver on Sunday afternoon at the Hot Springs Convention
Center.
UNO (12-19) will next play at 12 p.m. on Monday against top-seeded and SBC West
Division champion UALR, a 73-60 winner over Arkansas State in Sunday's other
early quarterfinal. The semifinal appearance is the first for the Lady
Privateers since 1998 as the squad won two games in the same postseason for the
first time since the team's 1988 WNIT third place finish.
Senior Candice McGee had her fourth
double-double of the season, scoring 13 points and grabbing 10
rebounds. Brittany Helm added 13 points while Juanita Cochran narrowly
missed her second career double-double by scoring nine points along
with matching McGee with 10 rebounds.
Needing a strong defensive
performance to top DU (18-12), the Lady Privateers held their foes to a
season-low 28 percent shooting clip from the field. The Pioneers
entered the game ranked second nationally behind Connecticut with a 49
percent average from the field on the season.
The national
leader in three-point shooting by making 40.6 percent of their attempts
from long range, the Pioneers were held in check to 2 of 12 shooting by
UNO. Kaetlyn Murdoch led all scorers with 17 points while Brianna
Culberson had a double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds for head
coach Erik Johnson's squad.
In a game that featured 12 ties and
14 lead changes, the most critical lead change came with 3:07 left as a
McGee lay-up broke a 46-46 deadlock. The lay-up by McGee was the first
of six scored by the Westwego, La. native over the final 3:07 as UNO
finished the game on a 9-2 run.
DU could not keep up with the Lady Privateers down the stretch, making just 1 of 5 shots after the initial McGee basket.
UNO led for most of the first half before DU scored the final four points of the half enter the break ahead 22-20.
The
Pioneers shot 21.4 percent from the field during the first 20 minutes
and missed their eight attempts from the field, before Murdoch
connected on DU's first field goal at the 13:25 mark of the first half.
The Pioneers, who trailed 7-0 to start the game, took their first lead
of the contest at 18-17 on a Sarah Feeney three-pointer.
Monday's
contest will be the third this year between UNO and UALR. The Trojans
claimed a 79-62 victory at Lakefront Arena on Jan. 13 and a 73-43 win
in the regular season finale at Jack Stephens Center on Feb. 20.
Fans
will be able to watch the contest locally on Cox Sports Television, in
addition to global coverage through the Sun Belt Network, ESPN Full
Court, ESPN360 and SBC Extra. The game can also be heard in the greater
New Orleans area on WGSO 990 AM.
