New Orleans, Louisiana- The University of New Orleans women's basketball team travels to Austin, Texas to face one of the game's storied basketball programs when they take on the University of Texas Longhorns, Tuesday, Dec. 20, at the Erwin Center. The Longhorns are ranked 16
th in the latest Associated Press women's college basketball poll.
The last time the Privateers faced a team ranked in the Top 25 was Nov. 29, 2014, when No. 25 Mississippi State visited Lakefront Arena and defeated the home team 85-45.
"Texas is playing really well right now," said New Orleans' head coach
Keeshawn Davenport. "They're athletic and versatile, so we'd better have our transition and half-court defense together."
New Orleans (4-4) reached the 500 mark thanks to a 100-35 win over Trinity Baptist on Dec. 12. 11 players saw at least 13 minutes of action as the Privateers dominated the smaller Eagles from Jacksonville, Florida.
Junior
Randi Brown (Human Performance) led four teammates in double-figures with 26 points in the win. Brown is the leading scorer in the Southland Conference (SLC) at 20.1 points a game. The Houma, Louisiana native is 28 points shy of reaching the 1,000-point mark for her career.
Shania Woods (Accounting) had 16 points and 8 rebounds in the last outing. She averages 9 points and 7 rebounds a contest and is ranked sixth in the SLC in field goal percentage at .525.
Asia Woods (Biological Sciences), a freshman from Cypress, Texas had career highs in points (14), rebounds (11) and steals (3) in the 65-point win over Trinity Baptist.
Junior
Halie Matthews (Biological Sciences), who has missed three games due to injury, had her best outing of the season with 10 points and 4 rebounds.
New Orleans averages 69.2 points per game while allowing the opposition 66.1 points. The Privateers are second in the Southland Conference in field goal percentage at 43.1 and third in 3-point percentage hitting .342.
For
Ariele Davis (Marketing), the best season of her New Orleans career got better on Dec. 16, when she received her degree during commencement exercises at Lakefront Arena. The Alexandria, Louisiana native started 16 games during her first three seasons at UNO. This year she has started all 8 contests and provides needed veteran leadership.
"The team is in good spirits and ready to compete." Davenport added, "They respect Texas but after competing with Alabama and Iowa State they know if they stick with the game plan they can compete with anyone."
The Longhorns (5-4) are fresh off a Saturday win over Texas-San Antonio, 76-43. Three of their four defeats came at the hands of clubs nationally ranked, No. 3 South Carolina, No. 9 Mississippi State and No. 10 Stanford. Texas is led by 5-4 guard Brooke Mc Carty averaging 13.7 points per game and Ariel Atkins with 11 points a contest. Kelsey Lang leads the team in rebounds pulling down 7.9 and she scores at a 7.9 clip. The Game will be televised live on Longhorn Network.
The Privateers next game is Thursday, Dec. 29, at 5:30 p. m versus Crowley's Ridge College at Lakefront Arena, followed by a New Year's Eve match and the start of Southland Conference play against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi at 4 p. m. For tickets to those games and other Privateer Athletics events, contact the UNO Athletics Ticket Office at (504) 280-GAME (4263) or via the Internet by clicking
HERE.
--www.UNOPrivateers.com--
