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BOX SCORE (PDF)ABILENE, Texas – Facing Southland Conference-leading Abilene Christian on its own court, the University of New Orleans women's basketball had things right where it needed to be as the Privateers were within striking distance midway through the fourth quarter.
Down just five with 8:24 to play, however, the Privateers went 4:55 without a field goal and the Wildcats responded with a 10-2 run as UNO dropped an 80-70 decision to Abilene Christian on Saturday afternoon in Moody Coliseum. The defeat was the third in a row for the Privateers, who fell to 7-18 overall and 4-12 in conference play. ACU, meanwhile, won its fifth consecutive game to improve to 24-3 on the year and 15-1 in league action.
As a team, New Orleans posted a solid 45.8 field goal percentage (27-of-5) and were 13-of-17 from the free throw line (.765). Abilene Christian, however, connected at a .569 clip for the game (29-of-51), including a sparkling .654 mark in the first half (17-of-26). The Privateers held a 36-23 rebounding advantage and turned 18 offensive boards into 18 second-chance points. UNO also had a commanding 49-15 edge in points off the bench, including a career-high 17 by redshirt-junior guard
Alexis Martin.
Martin led four Privateers in double figures offensively with 15 points, followed by freshman center
Shania Woods with 13 points, senior guard
Danielle Davis with 11 and sophomore guard
Randi Brown with 10. Woods paced the Privateers with six rebounds and shared team-high assists honors with Brown, Davis and sophomore guard
Kayla Mundy at three apiece.
Abilene Christian took control of the game early on as baskets by Alexis Mason, Suzzy Dimba and Syndey Shelstead staked the Wildcats to a 6-0 lead. UNO trailed by as many as 10 in the opening quarter at 25-15 and found itself down by 16 at 36-20 with 6:23 to play before halftime. From there, however, the Privateers caught fire and hit their last seven field goals of the second quarter to go on a 17-6 run and cut the deficit to four. Following a pair of Abilene Christian free throws, New Orleans had a chance to go into the locker room down just four, but a potential Martin layup was waved off and it remained 44-38 at intermission.
The Wildcats went ahead by 11 at 49-38 early in the third quarter led by as many as 14 in the quarter at 61-47. The Privateers ended the period on a 10-4 run and got to within five at 65-60 on a Davis 3-pointer with 8:24 to play. From there, however, UNO went cold Abilene Christian hit shots when it needed to down the stretch to put the game away.
Mason led Abilene Christian with a game-high 21 points, followed by Whitney West and Sydney Shelstead with 15 points apiece, and Dimba with 14. Shelstead paced the Wildcats with six rebounds, West and Mason each handed out five assists, and Dimba headlined the defense with five blocked shots. Dimba also shared team-high steal honors with Mason at four each.
The Privateers return to action on Thursday, March 3, when they play host to Southeastern Louisiana at 5:30 p.m. in Lakefront Arena. From there, UNO will close out the regular season on March 5 at home against Northwestern State. Both of those contests are the front end of Privateer basketball doubleheaders as the men's squad will face the same two opponents approximately 35 minutes after the conclusion of the women's games.
For more information on ticket purchasing for the 2015-16 season, click
here or call (504) 280-GAME (4263).
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