UNO-AUM Box Score
NEW ORLEANS – The University of New Orleans stumbled late in dropping a 65-59 contest to Auburn-Montgomery at Lakefront Arena on Thursday night.
AUM (10-10) trailed UNO (0-21) by two points with 5:45 remaining in the game before scoring 13 of the final 18 points contest to leave the Crescent City with a win.
LaKenya Drayton grabbed nine rebounds in the second half on way to a double-double with 20 points and 11 rebounds. Keisha Moore added 15 points for an AUM squad that defeated the Lady Privateers 63-51 in late December on a neutral floor.
UNO received a career-high matching 20 points from
Keri Thomas. Two others were in double-figures with
Mirjam Sipos tallying 16 points while
Mechel'le Thomas dished out a career-high eight assists to go with a 14-point performance.
The Lady Privateers jumped out to an early 6-2 lead in the contest before AUM stormed back for a 10-6 advantage to grab their only lead of the opening half.
Keri Thomas scored eight straight points to kick off a 12-0 run that put UNO ahead 18-10.
The Lady Privateers' advantage came as they held the Warhawks off the scoreboard for nearly six minutes and a sluggish 4 of 18 start from the field for the game.
AUM got within two points at 18-16 before UNO finished the opening half by scoring 17 of the final 26 points. The Lady Privateer lead grew to a first half high of 11 points at 35-24 when
Keri Thomas connected on a fast break lay-up after picking off the Warhawks.
The UNO advantage at the break stood at 10 points at 35-25 with the hosts shot at a 51.9 percent clip from the field over the first 20 minutes, while only tallying four turnovers. The 35 points were the most this season for the Lady Privateers in an opening half.
The halftime advantage quickly slipped as AUM scored seven straight to open the second half and 12 of the first 14 to tie the contest at 37 all.
Responding to the knotted score, the Lady Privateers put together their best stretch of the second half, posting an 8-1 run that was capped by a
Carla Russell three-pointer to give UNO a 45-38 with 13:45 to go.
The Lady Privateers remained ahead as the Warhawks cut into the deficit, eventually snagging their first lead of the second half at 56-54 on a Drayton jumper.
AUM would not lose sight of their advantage through the final buzzer, holding UNO to a 30.3 percent effort from the field over the game's final 20 minutes in comparison to 53.3 percent for the Warhawks.
The Lady Privateers will now enjoy their longest layoff of the season as they take nearly two weeks off before resuming play at Lakefront Arena on Feb. 8 against Loyola (N.O.) at 4:30 p.m.
