New Orleans- The University of New Orleans women's basketball team will attempt to start another winning streak Saturday afternoon when Houston Baptist University (4-7, 0-1 Southland) comes to Lakefront Arena for a 2 p. m. contest.
New Orleans (4-8, 0-1 Southland) lost its conference opener to Abilene Christian 80-70 while Houston Baptist was beaten by Lamar, 79-51.
"Houston Baptist's record is not an indication of who they are," said head coach
Keeshawn Davenport. "They have a solid guard game and their big players are starting to come around for them. I know they had 40 turnovers Thursday against Lamar, but Lamar presses a lot. They're a solid team and like us, they are looking for that first conference win."
In the loss to Abilene Christian, the leading scorer in the Southland Conference,
Randi Brown, had 27 points going a perfect 11-of-11 at the free throw line. The senior averages 22.4 points a game and she leads the SLC by nearly 4 points over the next highest scorer.
The Houma, Louisiana native could reach a milestone against Houston Baptist. She needs 21 points to become the second-leading scorer in Privateer basketball history, surpassing Carvie Upshaw (1985-89) for the number two spot on the list. Upshaw scored 1,759 points while Brown stands at 1,739. Former UNO All-American Sandra Hodge (1980-84) is the program's leading scorer with 2,860.
Randi Brown has scored at least 25 points in her team's last four games.
Junior center
Shania Woods is playing the best basketball of her career. With 14 points against ACU, Woods has reached double figures in scoring five consecutive games. She has recorded 3 double-doubles this season and ranks seventh among conference rebounders with 7.1 a game.
"I think it's a great motivation to play with her little sister (
Asia Woods). They have great chemistry and with Halie (Matthews) out with an injury, Shania knows she has to carry the load and she has excepted that and has been doing well," said Davenport.
Thanks to hitting 20-of-22 free throws at Abilene (90.9), New Orleans is number one in the Southland in team free throw percentage at .753.
HBU is led by Amanda Johnson, the conference's third-leading scorer averaging 15.9 a game who shared high-point honors against Lamar with teammate Veronica Kirienko with 12 points. Kirienko is third in the Southland in field goal percentage at .539.
As a team the Houston Baptist tops in the conference in blocked shots, led by the Southland leader in that category, Natalia Gwarda with 2 blocks a contest.
The last time UNO faced Houston Baptist was January 19 of last year. The result was a ten-point, 73-63 win for the Privateers at Sharp Gym in Houston.
The Privateers will return to the court on Wednesday, January 3, when they travel to Beaumont, Texas to face Lamar University at 7 p. m.
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