Women's Basketball Gets 29 From Randi Brown In Loss To Islanders

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NEW ORLEANS – Randi Brown scored 29 points and hauled in six boards, but the University of New Orleans (6-15, 3-9 Southland) could not get a stop when they needed it and the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Islanders (8-15, 5-7) pulled away late to a 75-64 victory on Thursday at the Lakefront Arena.
 
The Privateers cut the deficit from eight down to three on several occasions with the last coming at the 1:05 mark of the game when Brown hit two free throws. The Islanders responded when Maddisen Turner hit a bucket in the paint on the ensuing possession with 47 seconds left. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi used free throws to pull away late to the 11-point victory.
 
"I'm just thoroughly disappointed in our rebounding effort and the effort to get stops on the defensive end," said Coach Keeshawn Davenport. "When we started this week in practice, one of our practices was entirely defense because from here on out if we don't turn up our defense this is going to be the result."
 
The Privateers trailed the entire second half, and battled an eight-point deficit out of the break. New Orleans got stops on the first four Islanders possessions of the second half, but could only score four points in that span of three minutes. After Brown, the next leader in scoring was Danielle Wright who put up seven points.
 
"We've got to have somebody consistently backing Randi up," said Davenport. "I'm disappointed in our posts. They did not post up like they wanted the ball. We've got to do a better job of just wanting it more than the other team."
 
New Orleans started out hot and raced to a 10-2 lead in the early stages. The Privateers maintained their lead throughout the opening stanza and were ahead by two after the first 10 minutes. The Privateers shot the ball well in the entire first half, connecting on 52 percent of their shots.
 
However, the Islanders hit a 27-point blitz in the second quarter which was led by the bench. A quick five points in the first minute of the second gave the Islanders the lead. Though the game remained in single digits, the Islanders had a response for every Privateer basket. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi hit six threes in the first half and got 41 points from their bench on the evening.
 
With the loss, the Privateers fell to two back of the Islanders who held the eighth and final spot in the conference tournament entering the night. New Orleans will now hit the road for the next four games to close out February.
 
"It's not over," said Davenport. "There's no way in the world we're throwing in the towel but we have to change some things quick. We can't do the same thing and expect different results. At this point in the season, we have to do it on the defensive end."
 
The Privateers were outworked on the glass 39-27 in the loss and conceded 32 points in the paint. New Orleans was also at a 14-5 disadvantage in second chance points. Alexis Martin and Danielle Davis each had three assists. Both teams shot under 60 percent from the free throw line on the evening, but the Islanders scored 11 more points than the Privateers at the charity stripe.
 
Jennifer Ramirez scored 16 points off the pine to lead the Islanders and also added three assists. Turner scored 15 points and had four steals. Gee Lawler and Shay Weaver posted eight points as the Islanders won despite their leading rebounder in Camesha Davis and leading scorer in Brittany Mbamalu both fouling out of the game with just four points between them.
 
The Privateers will next face Southeastern on Thursday, Feb. 18 in Hammond. Tip is scheduled for 7 p.m.
 
For more information on ticket purchasing for the 2015-16 season, click here or call (504) 280-GAME (4263).
 
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