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CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – The New Orleans Privateers women's basketball team (5-11, 2-5 Southland) threatened a comeback from a double digit deficit early in the fourth quarter and got a season-high performance from
Danielle Davis before ultimately falling 73-59 to the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Islanders (5-13, 2-5) on Saturday at the American Bank Center.
New Orleans came out to start the second half and steadily chipped away at what was an 11-point deficit at the half. The Privateers managed to trim the Islanders advantage down to six after the first four minutes of the third.
The Islanders responded with a 7-0 spurt before the media timeout in the third to grow their lead back to 46-33. The run started with a three-pointer by Brittany Mbamalu and also saw the Islanders score back-to-back transition baskets with one coming off of a steal and the other coming off of a missed shot on the Privateers end of the floor.
New Orleans faced a 49-39 deficit entering the fourth quarter, but forced two quick turnovers that led to layups on the other end of the floor. After a minute of the final stanza, the Privateers were back within six and the Islanders called timeout.
The Islanders went on a run keyed by the three ball after the stoppage. The run was 11 straight points including triples on three straight possessions to push the Islanders lead to 17 with 5:43 left. The Islanders were able to see out the rest of a contest where they were 8-of-15 from long range.
"It's the timing when it all happened. When you fight that hard to get back in the game and we allow their best three-point shooter on the team to get wide open threes, that's when it goes from a six-point game to a 20-point game extremely quickly," said Coach Keeshawn Davenport. "We didn't capitalize on our offensive rebounds, but also we didn't value the ball. 23 turnovers won't win many ball games." Alexis Martin got the scoring started with a floater from the baseline, but both teams struggled to get going offensively early. At the media timeout in the first quarter, the game was tied at 4-4. The Privateers forced three Islanders turnovers in that span.
The Privateers outworked the Islanders on the boards early, holding an 11-6 edge on the glass after the first quarter. The teams traded points until Texas A&M-Corpus Christi hit a 5-0 spurt to extend their lead to 14-8. New Orleans came back with buckets on the last two possessions of the quarter: a jumper from
Bria Platenburg and a three from
Danielle Davis to cut the Islanders lead to three after one quarter.
New Orleans was outpaced 19-11 in the second quarter as the Islanders shot just under 46 percent and made good use of the free throw line, going 10-of-12 in the first 20 minutes. New Orleans trailed by as many as 13, but a
Halie Matthews bucket cut the deficit by two. The Privateers got a steal on the inbound pass, but the following shot could not fall as the clock ran out, sending Texas A&M-Corpus Christi to the locker room with a 35-24 lead.
"Early on I feel like we weren't being aggressive enough," said Davenport. "They played zone the whole game and once we started attacking the middle we were able to experience some success. Danielle did do a good job hitting some shots down the stretch. We just didn't capitalize on the offensive rebounds and extra possessions." Davis went 7-of-9 from the field for the game as part of her 16-point effort.
Randi Brown added a team high 17 points and four assists.
Shania Woods led the effort on the glass with 10 boards. The Privateers had a 37-31 rebounding edge for the afternoon and forced 21 Islanders turnovers.
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi was led by Mbamalu's 18 points and Shola Adebayo's 15 for the game. Kre'ana Henry added nine points and Camesha Davis had four blocks, all coming in the first four minutes of the contest. Adebayo and Uri Jolivette each pulled down a team best six boards.
The Privateers will next face Nicholls on Wednesday, Jan. 27. Tip is scheduled for 7 p.m. back at the Lakefront Arena.
For more information on ticket purchasing for the 2015-16 season, click
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