Women's Basketball Falls to McNeese State in Overtime

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NEW ORLEANS – Randi Brown scored a career-high 39 points, but the New Orleans Privateers women's basketball team (6-12, 3-6 Southland) fell short in overtime, losing 77-74 to the McNeese State Cowgirls (14-7, 6-3) on Saturday at the Lakefront Arena.
 
The Privateers were trailing by one with 22 seconds when Brown made a runner in the lane, but the basket was waved off due to a traveling call. McNeese got the ball back and Jalyn Johnson was fouled with 3.3 seconds remaining. Johnson made both free throws, which gave the Privateers one last shot to tie it but a three-pointer from just inside of half court missed as time expired.
 
McNeese used the boards and second chance points to cut a 10-point deficit at the start of the fourth quarter to two within the first two minutes. The Cowgirls were out-rebounded 28-20 in the first half, but turned the tide, out-rebounding New Orleans 35-23 for the rest of the game.
 
"It was the first possession defensively for us in the third quarter when we gave up four offensive rebounds. When they saw that, they kept on crashing the boards and that was very crucial to the momentum change. We did not rebound in the third quarter and that really hurt us," said Coach Keeshawn Davenport.
 
Down the stretch, the game was tied on three different occasions in the last four minutes. McNeese took advantage of a turnover and Johnson hit a three just under the one-minute mark to put the Cowgirls up 72-69. Brown came right back with a three-point play of her own to tie the game back up at 72-72. The last 54 seconds drained off without a point on either side, which sent the game into overtime.
 
"They started doubling down on Halie on the inside and face guarding Randi. That's a credit to Coach Brooks who is a fine coach and she makes adjustments and it worked," said Davenport about the adjustments the Cowgirls made to hold New Orleans to two points in overtime.
 
The Privateers led by as much as 11 in the third quarter and led for the majority of the game. New Orleans was ahead for 28:55 of the game while McNeese led for just 9:28 of the contest. Brown's 39 set a new career mark and tied the sixth highest scoring output by a Privateer in program history.
 
New Orleans started out quick with a 7-0 lead after the first four minutes. The Cowgirls spurted back with most of their first quarter points coming in the paint. McNeese took a five-point lead at one point of the first, and led 16-15 after one.
 
The Privateers hit a 9-0 run in the middle of the second quarter to take an eight-point lead and Brown beat the buzzer with a three-pointer that rattled in off the back iron to give New Orleans a 35-28 lead at halftime. New Orleans held the Cowgirls to just 31.4 percent from the field in the first half.
 
Shania Woods landed just short of a double-double with 10 points and nine boards. Halie Matthews finished with a team-high 11 boards. Alexis Martin finished with seven points and six rebounds. The Privateers shot 38.2 percent for the afternoon.
 
Johnson finished with a team-best 30 points and made seven three-pointers while also dishing out seven assists (six in the second half). Amber Donnes followed with 13 points and 10 rebounds. Allison Baggett finished with eight points on 3-of-12 shooting and three assists.
 
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