TULSA, Okla. – The New Orleans Privateers women's basketball team (1-6) played much of the second half even with the Tulsa Golden Hurricane (5-5), but could not dig out of a 14-point halftime deficit in a 78-55 loss on Thursday at the Reynolds Center.
The Golden Hurricane raced out to an early 6-0 lead in the first 1:49 of the game forcing a Privateers timeout. New Orleans got the first bucket of the game out of the stoppage on a
Jewel Angelo layup, but Tulsa then scored the next five points to open up with an 11-2 advantage.
In the first eight minutes, Tulsa started hot from the field, hitting eight of their first 12 shots. The Privateers went on a drought of over six minutes without a point from the 14:52 mark and Tulsa went on a 12-0 run to extend their first half lead to 25-8 before a
Randi Brown layup ended the spurt.
The Privateers tried to claw back into it, using pressure defense for a seven-point spurt that cut the Tulsa lead to 27-17 with under six minutes remaining. New Orleans briefly cut the deficit down to single digits on a Brown three-pointer, but went cold in the final minutes of the half and went to the locker room trailing 35-21.
Starting the second half, New Orleans was able to get some early offense, but could not cut into the halftime deficit as the two teams traded baskets for the first three minutes. The Privateers used a mini run to cut the deficit down to 13 with just over ten minutes left, but could not pose a bigger threat to the Tulsa advantage.
Brown led the Privateers with a career-high 16 points on 7-of-13 shooting.
Octavia Wilson added 10 points and
Yasmin Taylor put up eight points, seven rebounds, and two steals.
Halie Matthews led the team in rebounds with eight. New Orleans shot 39 percent from the field on the night.
Tulsa had three players in double figures, led by Ashley Clark who had 13 points along with nine rebounds, four assists, and four steals. Kadan Brady added 12 points, and Mariah Turner landed just shy of a double-double with 10 points and nine rebounds. Tulsa had a 43-36 edge on the boards.
The Privateers will next travel to Alabama to close the three-game road trip on Sunday. Tip is scheduled for 2 p.m.
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