NEW ORLEANS, La. – The New Orleans Privateers women's basketball team (1-4) shook off a sluggish start and dominated the Crowley's Ridge Lady Pioneers (1-8) by the score of 87-54 on Saturday at Lakefront Arena. It's the first win for the program since Feb. 14, 2013, breaking a 37-game dry spell.
Crowley's Ridge opened the scoring with a three-pointer and New Orleans did not get on the board until 2:33 into the contest on a
Randi Brown jumper. The Privateers were only up by one after the first nine minutes of the game, but New Orleans hit the first big run, a 9-0 spurt to extend the lead to 22-12.
The Lady Pioneers were able to cut the deficit down to six shortly after, but New Orleans steadily pulled away. The Privateers forced 18 turnovers in the first half and scored the last 11 points to head to the locker room with a 48-25 lead. New Orleans also had 17 second chance points and a 34-14 edge in points in the paint in the opening half.
New Orleans continued to pour it on behind relentless pressure and an offense that ran quickly and featured several strong performances. The Privateers dominated in the paint and were able to get a lot of easy looks off of turnovers predicated by a full court press.
Raven Coleman went for 22 points and 12 rebounds on 11-of-14 shooting from the field.
Yasmin Taylor contributed in many different facets with 17 points, 16 rebounds, eight steals, and six assists.
Octavia Wilson added 13 points for a Privateers squad that shot 42.9 percent from the field. New Orleans also held a 52-38 advantage on the glass.
Crowley's Ridge got a double-double from Hannah Kirk who put up 21 points and pulled in 11 rebounds. Hannah Willard added 13 points, but several Lady Pioneers battled early foul trouble including Jordan Shelton who scored six early points, but also picked up three fouls in the first half and did not score after hitting two triples in the opening 20 minutes.
New Orleans next hits the road to take on 20
th-ranked Oklahoma State on Dec. 15. Tip is for 7 p.m.
