NEW ORLEANS, La. – Privateers men's and women's basketball return to action for the second time during the 2014 Homecoming week as McNeese State rolls into town for a doubleheader matinee on Sunday afternoon starting at 2:00 p.m.
The Privateer men (10-10, 7-5 Southland) are on fire as of late, winning seven of their last ten games, including four of their last five away from the friendly confines of Lakefront Arena. Thursday night on Homecoming, they held off Nicholls State 70-64 in front of a season-high crowd of 1,142. On the evening the Privateers were led by forward
Cory Dixon, who scored a career-high 26 points, while also collecting nine rebounds.
On Jan. 4 McNeese State defeated the Privateers 82-69 in Lake Charles in a sloppy game that featured 21 turnovers for the Privateers. The Privateers were led in the contest by
Cory Dixon who scored 24 points, and collected career-high 17 rebounds. All-time against the Cowboys, the Privateers hold a 7-4 advantage, including 6-0 record in New Orleans, and 3-0 record in Lakefront Arena.
Sunday afternoon's battle in the post will feature three of the top rebounders in the league. Conference leading rebounder
Cory Dixon (8.3) will battle Kevin Hardy of McNeese who ranks sixth in the league (6.6). Including just the league campaign, Dixon ranks second in rebounding at 8.8 boards per contest, and another Cowboy Desharick Guildry ranks first with 9.1 boards per contest. During the first meeting in Lake Charles the Privateer frontcourt kept the pair in check however, as they only combined for 10 total rebounds.
McNeese State (7-17, 5-7 Southland) travels to Lakefront Arena having lost three in a row, and five of their last seven contests. On Thursday night the Cowboys fell in Hammond to Southeastern 62-53. Tied at 25 at the half, McNeese shot just 36% (9-25) in the second half as Southeastern ran away with the game. In the contest three Cowboys scored in double figures, led by Ledrick Eagles with 15 points.
On the season the Cowboys rank 10
th in league in scoring offense at 70.9 points, but possess a strong defense ranking 5
th overall allowing only 72.6 points per game, and ranking second in the league in field goal percentage defense only allowing opponents to hit .436 percent of their shots.
Offensively McNeese is led by the explosive senior guard Ledrick Eckles, who scores 16.1 points per game, while connecting on 35% of his 3-point shots. Eckles also ranks third on the team in rebounds (5.0) and second on the team with 2.6 assists per contest. A pair of strong forwards lead the Cowboy frontcourt. In his career Desharick Guidry has scored 757 points, and grabbed 432 rebounds, while junior Craig McFerrin has also contributed, grabbing 154 rebounds this year.
The Privateers women (0-23, 0-12 Southland) enter the contest still looking for their first win as a member of the Southland conference, and their first win since defeating Utah Valley on senior night last season. Despite their third-best defensive effort of the season, the women fell 63-45 to Nicholls State on Thursday. A strong effort on the boards helped the defensive effort for the women, as for just the fifth time this season they won the battle on the boards (44-37), including double-digit rebounding efforts from
Yasmin Taylor (12) and
Raven Coleman (11).
After scoring 12 points on Thursday, freshman guard
Octavia Wilson continues to lead the Privateers in scoring at 9.1 points per game, and remains the team's main threat from beyond the arc, hitting 34 treys this campaign.
Yasmin Taylor leads the Privateers in rebounding at 6.1 boards per contest, and has had nine-plus rebounding efforts four times this season.
The McNeese Cowgirls (14-9, 7-5 Southland) come to New Orleans following a 75-61 triumph at Southeastern earlier this week. The Cowgirls rallied from eight points down with 10:07 left to play behind strong play from NeTanya Jones, Arianna James and Amber Donnes. Sopohmore guard Allison Baggett led the Cowgirls scoring 24 points on 11-of-23 shooting.
Baggett paces the Cowgirls in points per game, scoring 17.8 per game and ranking third in the league in scoring. Helping Baggett to that total is point guard Jayln Johnson, who dishes out 4.1 assists per contest, and leads the Southland in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.0). Senior forward Cecilia Okoye leads the team in rebounding at 8.8 per game, and ranks fifth in the Southland in that category.
Following their 82-59 victory in Lake Charles on Jan. 4 the Cowgirls lead the all-time series with the Privateers 14-8. In that contest earlier this season
Danielle Davis scored a career best 21 points with eight field goals, including three 3-pointers. Baggett scored 22 points to lead the Cowgirls, while Johnson had 8 points to go with her five assists. In New Orleans the Privateers have won six and lost three against McNeese, with the last victory coming in 2008 (70-65).
Both games will be available live in HD on UNO Showcase for subscribers. Due to
Emmanuel Pepis' travel with the baseball team, there will be no pregame, or play-by-play for the women's contest. "Voice of the Privateers" Jude Young will have the men's game on WGSO 990 AM, WGSO.com and the TuneIn App, with pregame starting 15 minutes following the women's game.
How to Follow:
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Women's Coverage |
Men's Coverage |
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Television |
None |
None |
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Radio |
None |
WGSO 990 AM (pbp: Jude Young) |
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Video |
UNO Showcase (no play-by-play) |
UNO Showcase |
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Audio |
None |
WGSO.com |
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Stats |
Click here |
Click here |
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Twitter |
@UNOPrivateers |
@UNOPrivateers
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