NEW ORLEANS – Finals Frenzy takes over Lakefront Arena Thursday at 7 p.m. with the University of New Orleans (1-4) hosting Jacksonville State University (4-2).
The Privateers were on the road last week taking on No. 24 University of Miami Tuesday and the University of South Alabama Friday. The Gamecocks are coming off a 73-53 loss to the Big East's Seton Hall University.
Randi Brown continues to pace New Orleans and the Southland Conference in scoring at 24.0 points per game, good for fourth in the country. She also ranks seventh in the conference with 2.2 steals per game.
Junior post player Shania Woods pulls down 8.2 rebounds a game, good enough for third in the Southland Conference to go with 8.0 points per contest.
As a team, UNO leads the conference in free throw percentage, knocking down 74.1 percent from the charity stripe. The Privateers are third in the Southland in 3-point field goal defense at .245.
Jacksonville State, of the Ohio Valley Conference, is led by senior guard Gretchen Morrison's 13.7 points. And Raven Pearson 9 points and 9 rebounds a contest.
"I've known coach Rick Pietri for a long time back to when he was coaching South Alabama and I was playing at UNO," said head coach Keeshawn Davenport. "We'll really have to guard the three-point line. They are really jelling together and I'm looking forward to having a competitive game against them."
Last year (November 22, 2016) the Privateers traveled to Alabama and defeated the Gamecocks 81-79. Brown drained the game-winning jumper with eight seconds left in regulation to finish with 28 points.
WHAT TO WATCH FOR
- New Orleans will face off against Jacksonville State for the fourth time since the two sides' first meeting in November 2013.
- Randi Brown scored 20+ points for the third time this season, posting 27 in the Privateers' last outing at South Alabama.
- Nicole Hutchins played 17 minutes in Mobile and grabbed a team-high 8 rebounds.
- New Orleans will stay local for most of their remaining non-conference schedule. Of its six remaining non-conference games, five will be in Louisiana.
- The Privateers have outscored opponents 178-172 in the second half of games this season.
- Through five games, New Orleans is second in the Southland in free throw percentage (74.1), trailing only Central Arkansas.
- Dating back to the 2015-16 season, the Privateers are 18-11 at the Lakefront Arena. That includes a 10-4 mark last season.
UP NEXT
A road trip to take on the SEC's University of Missouri on SEC Network+ awaits the Privateers December 2.
SOCIAL MEDIA
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