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KENNESAW, Georgia – The University of New Orleans women's basketball team (1-2) forced 34 turnovers, but were victimized by Florida A&M's free throw line efficiency as the Privateers fell 71-60 on Saturday in their first game at the KSU Thanksgiving Classic.
Trailing 49-42 heading into the fourth, the Privateers quickly spurted ahead, scoring the first eight points of the quarter. Florida A&M hit a 7-0 spurt of their own, which was capped by a triple from Victoria Nguyen to give the Lady Rattlers a 61-57 lead with 3:05 left.
The Privateers went without a basket for the next two minutes and were forced to foul to try to extend the game. Florida A&M was able to gain the distance on their lead to finish out the contest as they went 23-for-28 from the free throw stripe in the second half. The Privateers had just nine free throw attempts in the second half and were 11-for-19 for the game.
The Lady Rattlers turned the tide on the Privateers due in large part to their efficiency from the charity stripe. After just seven free throw attempts in the first half, Florida A&M went 13-for-16 from the free throw line. In the quarter, Florida A&M outscored the Privateers 26-14 to take a seven-point advantage to the final stanza.
Florida A&M got out to a strong start behind two triples buried by Olivia Antilla as the Lady Rattlers built an early 11-2 lead. The Privateers slowly chipped away behind pressure defense and out-scored Florida A&M 14-2 for the rest of the quarter to hold a one-point advantage.
Danielle Davis had six points in that span to lead all Privateers in the opening stanza.
The second quarter opened with more of the same as the Privateers' press forced Florida A&M to commit 19 turnovers in the first half. New Orleans scored the first six points of the quarter to build their lead to as much as seven at 22-15 with 6:41 left in the half. The Lady Rattlers cut the Privateers lead to three with just over four minutes left, but turned the ball over on an errant pass after getting a steal. The Privateers went to the halftime break with a 28-23 lead.
Randi Brown led all Privateers scorers with 16 points while Davis added 15 on 5-of-8 from the field.
Yasmin Taylor added eight of the Privateers' 23 points off the bench.
Halie Matthews led the team in rebounds (nine) and assists (five). For the game, New Orleans was held to just a 29.3 percent clip from the field.
Florida A&M had four players in double figures including Khadejra Young who had a double-double with 18 points and 11 boards. Olivia Antilla also had 18 points along with seven rebounds. Cedricka Sweeting added 14 points and the Lady Rattlers as a team shot 43.5 percent from the field. Nguyen closed out the scorers in double figures with 10 points.
The Privateers will next face Kennesaw State on Sunday at 3:30 p.m.
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