Women's Basketball Drops Road Contest at Central Arkansas

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CONWAY, Arkansas – Sophomore guard Randi Brown scored a game-high 20 points and the Privateers connected at a .438 clip from the field, but it was not enough as the University of New Orleans women's basketball team dropped a 67-55 Southland Conference decision to Central Arkansas on Saturday afternoon in the Farris Center.
 
After hitting 9-of-23 field goals in the first half (.391), UNO drilled 48.0 percent of its tries (12-of-25) over the final 20 minutes and the field goal percentage for the game is the highest by the team against a conference foe so far this season. The Privateers were called for 25 fouls and the Sugar Bears were able to turn that into 22 made free throws – including seven from the charity stripe in the fourth quarter – to keep UNO at arms' reach down the stretch.
 
In defeat, the Privateers fall to 6-14 overall and 3-8 in Southland action. Central Arkansas, meanwhile, improves to 19-2 on the year and 9-1 in league play.
 
"It was going to be a game of discipline that makes a difference," said Coach Keeshawn Davenport. "When you play a team like UCA, that's what's going to win a game. We let Maggie go off for 15 in the first half, and you can't allow a person to go off because that gives their team momentum."
 
Brown was the lone UNO student-athlete to finish in double figures offensively as junior guard Alexis Martin, freshman center Shania Woods and rookie guard Danielle Wright added eight points each. Sophomore forward Hallie Matthews paced the Privateers with four rebounds and shared team-high block honors with junior forward Raven Coleman with two swats apiece. Senior guard Danielle Davis had three of the team's six assists and the duo of Wright and Martin headlined the defense with two steals each.
 
The two teams traded the first four points but Central Arkansas used a 6-0 run to take an 8-2 lead it would not relinquish. The advantage swelled to as many as eight twice in the period and the Sugar Bears stretched the lead to double figures on a 3-pointer by Maggie Proffitt to make it 26-14 with 5:40 to play before the break.
 
The Privateers got to within nine at 30-21 just under two and a half minutes later only to see Central Arkansas score the final seven points of the half to head into the locker room on top by 16. UNO actually outscored the Sugar Bears in each of the final two quarters – 13-12 in the third and 21-18 in the fourth – but the halftime deficit proved to be too big to overcome.
 
"As I look for positives, we won the second half but from here on out, we can't play 10 or 20 minutes," said Davenport. "We have to play 40 minutes. Today, we had unforced turnovers and they capitalized off of that."
 
Proffitt led a balanced Central Arkansas attack with 18 points while Brianna Mullins and Kendara Watts followed with respective totals of 13 and 11 points. Watts and Raquel Logan shared game-high rebounding honors at six apiece, Mullins led all players with eight assist and the duo of Taylor Baudoin and Sandy Jackson each had two of the Sugar Bears five steals.
 
The Privateers return to action on Thursday, Feb. 11 at home against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.
 
For more information on ticket purchasing for the 2015-16 season, click here or call (504) 280-GAME (4263).
 
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