NEW ORLEANS, La. – The New Orleans Privateers basketball teams continue their inaugural season in the Southland Conference this Saturday when fellow league newcomer Incarnate Word rolls into Lakefront Arena for a doubleheader starting at 11:00 a.m.
The Privateers men (4-7, 1-2 Southland) are coming off an 87-81 victory over Abilene Christian at Lakefront Arena on Thursday night. Leading the way for the Privateers were
Tradarrius McPhearson with a career-high 19 points and three assists, alongside
Christavious Gill who hit four three-point shots on his way to a personal best 17 points. The victory for the Privateers was the first conference victory since defeating Louisiana-Monroe in Monroe on Feb. 18 2010 in Sun Belt action. It was also the first conference victory in New Orleans for the Privateers since knocking off UALR 67-66 in overtime on Jan. 14 that same season.
Senior guard
Cory Dixon has had a hot start to life in the Southland, collecting three double-doubles in the opening three conference games. The Argyle Texas native is averaging 19.0 points per game, and a conference leading 14.3 rebounds per game in Southland play. Coming on strong as of late for the Privateers as well has been
Christavious Gill. A spark off the bench in Southland play, Gill has scored in double figures in all three of the Privateers' Southland games, averaging 14 per outing.
As a team, the Privateers rank fifth in the Southland with 79.7 points per contest in conference action. In Southland games this season the Privateers rank first in total rebounding (44.3), third in rebounds allowed (32.7), first in rebounding margin (+11.7), and tied for fourth in offensive rebounding (12.7).
Incarnate Word (12-2, 0-1 Southland) comes to New Orleans following a 76-72 defeat on the road to Southeastern in their first ever Southland Conference game. Only playing a partial Southland schedule this season, Incarnate Word has racked up 12 wins over a schedule consisting of mostly NAIA and Division II schools. When facing Division I schools this year, IWU has lost both their games, falling 84-67 to North Texas, and to Southeastern.
Entering his seventh season as head coach of Incarnate World, Ken Burmeister has compiled a 139-72 record in San Antonio, including two conference championships and two appearances in the Division II NCAA tournament. The Cardinals are led on the floor by a pair of scorers averaging over 15-plus points per game. Senior shooting guard Kyle Hittle leads the way with 18.6 points per game, while junior guard Denzel Livingston is right behind him with 17.6 points per game. The pair of guards also are atop the Cardinals on the glass as well with Livingston grabbing 6.4 boards per contest, and Hittle grabbing six per contest.
The Privateers women (0-14, 0-3 Southland) enter Saturday morning's contest attempting to snap an 18-game losing streak after dropping an 88-44 contest to Abilene Christian to open the Southland home slate. The Privateers were led in the contest by
Octavia Wilson who scored 14 points, including shooting 4-of-7 from beyond the arc.
Danielle Davis continues to lead the Privateers in scoring, averaging 8.8 points a contest. Coming off her 4-of-7 effort against the Wildcats,
Octavia Wilson is the main Privateer threat from long range making 20 three-point shots this season. Coming on strong of late on the boards,
Raven Coleman has collected 26 rebounds in her last four contests including a career-high 13 rebounds at Utah Valley.
Incarnate Word's women (6-7, 0-1 Southland) come to Lakefront Arena following a 67-55 loss at Southeastern in their Southland Conference debut. In the defeat the Cardinals were led by senior center Rose Whitehead who scored 18 points on 7-of-14 field goal attempts.
The Cardinals are led by 1,000-point-club member Ifunanya Mora. With 1,013 points in four seasons in San Antonio, Mora recently became just the eleventh student-athlete to reach 1,000 points in school history. The senior guard/forward is second on the team in points per game (11.3) and leads the team in rebounding with 7.2 per contest. Owning both the school records for free throw attempts (508) and free throws made in a career (352), Mora is averaging 7.2 free throw attempts per contest this season.
As a team from the charity stripe the Cardinals are third in the conference hitting 73.6% of their free throws, and are second overall in both free throw attempts (364) and free throws made (268).
Both games will be available in HD to subscribers on UNO Showcase. The broadcast will start at 10:50 a.m. with
Emmanuel Pepis providing pre-game and then play-by-play of the women's contest. "Voice of the Privateers" Jude Young take overs approximately 15 minutes after the women's game ends, and will provide pre-game, play-by-play and post-game coverage of the men's contest. The men's game can also be heard live on WGSO 990 AM, and WGSO.com.
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