COLUMBIA, Mo. – The University of New Orleans (1-6) held a strong edge on the offensive glass but could not convert on second chance opportunities early in an 81-45 loss to No. 19/16 University of Missouri (7-1) Saturday at Mizzou Arena.
The Privateers opened the scoring on a basket by
Shania Woods but Missouri answered on the next possession with a three from Lauren Aldridge. That sparked a 13-0 run by the Tigers. After a quarter, Missouri held a 24-6 lead.
Mariah Wright knocked down a pair of triples at the outset of the second quarter and had four in the contest. The Tigers held a 43-19 lead into the halftime break. Missouri shot 51.6% from the field in the first half and 52.7% for the afternoon. It was their fourth time eclipsing the 50% mark in a game this season.
The Privateers dominated the glass with a 25-7 advantage in offensive rebounds and a 45-36 total edge for the game.
Whitley Larry led the way in rebounds for New Orleans with seven.
Randi Brown and
Kayla Mundy added five each.
"It's a plus," said head coach
Keeshawn Davenport about the rebounding advantage. "That's a heck of a bright spot. Missouri is a very good team and they have extremely good talent. I think we have to do something about capitalizing on the extra possessions we have. And we have to get off to better starts."
The loss was the second against a ranked opponent for the Privateers. And it was the second of a three-game stretch in six days.
Wright led the team in scoring with 12 points, all on three-pointers. Brown added nine points and
Shania Woods finished with eight.
Alyssa Quixley had seven points to lead all scorers off the bench. Brown also had a team-high four assists.
"I think Mariah did a great job of knocking down open shots when she had them," said Davenport. "That's something that everybody has to continue to do is shoot the ball with confidence."
Missouri was paced by Sophie Cunningham's 18 points on 6-of-7 from the field. Jordan Chavis had 11 of Missouri's 40 points off the bench. Cierra Porter had nine points and Jordan Frericks added seven along with nine rebounds.
New Orleans hits the road for a much shorter trip on Tuesday when they take on crosstown foe, Tulane. Tip is scheduled for 7 p.m.
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