New Orleans, Louisiana- After a grueling, three-game, Texas tour, The University of New Orleans women's basketball team returns to Lakefront Arena for a Southland Conference match against Sam Houston State, Thursday, Jan. 12, at 5:30 p. m.
Despite loses to Abilene Christian and Lamar, New Orleans (7-7, 2-2), closed the road trip on a high note with a 71-67 win over the University of the Incarnate Word in San Antonio, Texas. The Privateers played three games in five days.
"I got to say, my girls never complained about the schedule," said head coach
Keeshawn Davenport. "They did a great job staying focused with scouting reports one day before the game and going out and giving their all. I'm very proud of them."
Randi Brown (Human Performance) continues to pace the Southland Conference in scoring at 21.6 points a game and in points scored with 302. She led New Orleans in scoring in the win over Incarnate Word with 30. Brown leads the SLC in scoring in conference games blistering the nets at 26.5 per contest. She is tops in 3 pointers made with 46. New Orleans is the conference leader in 3 point shooting percentage at .369 (83-of-225).
The junior guard needs six points to move into the tenth spot in scoring at the University of New Orleans, passing Lora Bresson (1988-92) who finished her UNO career with 1,118 points.
Shania Woods (Accounting) turned in her best game of the season with 21 points and 14 rebounds against UIW. The Cypress, Texas sophomore averages 9.3 points and is the seventh leading rebounder in the conference at 7.8 a game.
"We don't want to become a team where if you shut down Randi you shut down the team. We need an inside presence and Shania gave us that. That's important as we continue with this conference schedule," said Davenport.
Junior
Kayla Mundy (Human Performance) performed brilliantly off the bench in the UIW win. 11 points, 4 rebounds, and 3 assists in 27 minutes of play. It was Mundy's third double-digit game of the season including a season-high 17-point outing against Iowa State on Dec. 4.
Against Incarnate Word, senior
Ariele Davis (Marketing) led the team in assists with 4.
Shania Woods and
Halie Matthews (Biological Sciences) are the club's primary shot blockers standing at eighth and ninth in Southland standings at 1.1 and 1.0 respectively.
New Orleans is the conference leader in 3 point shooting percentage at .369 (83-of-225).
The Privateers are sixth in the Southland in scoring margin (+4.6) averaging 69.1 points and yielding 64.6 points a contest.
It's been a tough season for Sam Houston State (0-13, 0-3) as the Bearkats are in search of their first win of the season. Last season they entered the Southland Tournament as a number eight seed but reached the final where they fell to Central Arkansas. They returned only one starter from last year, Jasmine Mc Cants who averages 8 points and 5 rebounds a game. Jennifer Oramas leads Sam Houston State in scoring at 8.5 points a game.
As a team SHSU averages only 49.3 a game, lowest in the league, while ranking 11
th in team defense at 72.7. The Privateers can't afford to take the Bearkats lightly.
"I think we've grown. I think we are mature enough to not look at records of the opponent." Davenport added, "I've been there (winless) before and I have lots of respect for what Coach Nichols has done. I told her they will get a win before the season is over, I just hope it's not here at Lakefront Arena."
The Bearkats and Privateers have squared off five times on the basketball court with Sam Houston State holding a 4-1 advantage. The lone UNO win came in the first meeting between the schools, a 71-64 victory in 2009 at Lakefront Arena.
Thursday's match is the opener of a twin-bill preceding at 7:45 p. m. encounter between the New Orleans and Sam Houston State men's teams.
The Privateers next game will be Thursday, Jan. 19, when they'll hit the road again to face Houston Baptist. They'll return home two days later, Saturday, Jan. 21, when Central Arkansas comes to Lakefront Arena. Tipoff is set for 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--
