Abilene, Texas- The University of New Orleans women's basketball team led at the half and midway through the third quarter but could not hold on for the win as they fell to the Wildcats of Abilene Christian in Abilene Tuesday, 68-55. New Orleans is 6-6 overall and 1-1 in the Southland Conference. Abilene Christian is 8-6overall and 2-0 in the conference.
"I won't hang my head about this one," explained head coach
Keeshawn Davenport. "We did not play our best basketball and we were still up by one at halftime. When we are consistent with the details of winning, we're going to be all right."
The Privateers started slowly as
Randi Brown (Human Performance) missed all six field goal attempts in the first quarter. Abilene Christian's largest lead was 8, however the period ended with the Wildcats holding a one-point, 17-16 advantage as 8 points by senior
Jewel Angelo (Interdisciplinary Studies) kept the Privateers in the game.
The second quarter was a back-and-forth affair featuring a scoring drought by both teams. The largest lead was a four-point, 22-18 ACU advantage. An Angelo 3 pointer drew UNO to within one at 22-21, however New Orleans would go 5:03 without scoring. Fortunately, Abilene Christian's shooting was also frigid going more than 3 minutes and 49 second with without a tally.
Randi Brown finally got shots to fall in the final minute of the half, hitting two jumpers, the final bucket coming with 5 seconds to go giving New Orleans a 29-28 lead at the break. The Southland Conference's leading scorer missed her first ten shots of the night.
Jewel Angelo led UNO in scoring at the half with 11 points.
The third period saw a 13-point turnaround in favor of Abilene Christian. A layup by
Shania Woods (Accounting), a 3 pointer by
Randi Brown and a jumper by
Ariele Davis (Marketing) completed a 7-0 run, giving the Privateers a 36-29 lead at the 7- minute mark. However, the Wildcats stormed back as Dominique Golightly canned a 3 pointer to push ACU ahead by three, 41-38. It was her only basket of the game.
They extended the lead at the close of the period to 9, thanks to a basket by Sydney Shelstead (14 points) and four free throws by Lizzy Dimba (15 points,11 rebounds) and Alexis Mason. Abilene took a nine-point, 48-39 lead into the final quarter.
The Wildcats' largest lead in the fourth was 11, thanks to free throw shooting. Abilene Christian was 12-of-13 from the charity stripe in the period and 23-of-29 for the night. A 3 pointer by
Randi Brown cut the lead to 4 at 57-53 with 1:27 to go but New Orleans would not get any closer.
"The free throws did us in tonight. We couldn't keep them off the line and they hit their free throws," said Davenport.
Randi Brown, this week's Southland Conference Player of the Week, had 16 points on 6-of-26 shooting from the field.
Jewel Angelo had 12 points and 7 rebounds.
Shania Woods had 8 points and led the Privateers in rebounds with 8.
Mariah Wright (Computer Science) had 8 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists.
The Privateers were outrebounded 56-to-39. UNO held Abilene Christian to 31.3 percent from the field, 20-of-64. The Privateers could muster only 8 assists on the evening.
"You've got to give credit to Abilene, they are a good, championship team." Davenport continued, "But we are a great team in the making."
The Privateers continue their road trip with a visit to Beaumont, Texas to face Lamar, Thursday, Jan.5, and then on to San Antonio to face the University of Incarnate Word, Saturday, Jan. 7. Their next home game is Thursday, Jan.12, at 5:30 p. m. when Sam Houston State comes to town. It's the first game of a doubleheader at Lakefront Arena as the New Orleans men take on Sam Houston State at 7:45 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--
