Lafayette, Louisiana- The University of New Orleans won just about every statistical category expect the score in the first round of the Women's National Invitation Tournament, however a second quarter drought by the Privateers was the difference as the University of Louisiana-Lafayette (1-0) defeated New Orleans 66-57 in the season-opener for both teams at the Cajundome in Lafayette.
 
UNO (0-1) bested ULL in points in the paint (32-22), points off turnovers (21-17), bench points (28-16) and fastbreak points (6-2) however the Cajuns outshot the Privateers from the field hitting 46 percent of their shots, including a red-hot 43 percent from beyond the three-point arch, canning 7-of-16 in the game.
 
FIRST QUARTER
 
The first period was a back-and-forth affair with the Privateers grabbing their largest lead at 3 points, 9-6, on an Asia Woods layup with 2:47 to go.  Skylar Goodwin, who had 13 points on the night, nailed a three-pointer at the buzzer to give the Cajuns a 14-13 lead at the end of the period.
 
SECOND QUARTER
 
Louisiana opened the second period with a 10-0 run, stretching the lead to 24-13 thanks to hot outside shooting.  The Cajuns outscored the Privateers 24-7 in the quarter and took a 38-20 advantage into the break.  New Orleans could manage only 7 points in the second quarter.  ULL had its largest lead of the night at 18 during the second quarter.
 
THIRD QUARTER
 
New Orleans fought back in the third quarter, winning the stanza 17-13 thanks to 7 points by junior Shania Woods and 5 by sophomore Jada Swafford who finished with 9 points on the evening.  UNO still trailed by double figures 51-37.
 
FOURTH QUARTER
 
Good Privateer defense did the trick in the final quarter as New Orleans got the lead down to 10, holding Louisiana scoreless for 3:16 seconds as 2 Jada Swafford freebies made it 57-47 Louisiana.  UNO won the quarter 20-15 thanks to the play of Kayla Mundy who had 6 points, 2 rebounds, 1 assist and 1 steal.
 
BY THE NUMBERS
 
Senior post player Shania Woods led New Orleans with 13 points.  Preseason All Southland Conference performer Randi Brown had 10 points but had an off night hitting only 3-of-15 from the field.  Kayla Mundy was efficient with 8 points, a team-leading 4 assists, 5 rebounds and 3 steals.
 
COACH'S CORNER
 
"We are a defensive team and in the first quarter we got defensive stops and when you can do that you are always in the game," said head coach Keeshawn Davenport.  "In the second quarter we got offense-insensitive and when things didn't work we stopped focusing on what kind of team we are.  Our defense creates our offense and that's when we won the third and fourth quarter."
 
"This team has what it takes and we have time to correct those mistakes."
 
UP NEXT
 
New Orleans will move into the consolation bracket of the Preseason Women's National Invitation against an opponent to be announced.
 
 
 
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