San Antonio, Texas- Thanks to a 13-0 run in the second quarter, the University of New Orleans Privateers (11-10, 7-3 SLC) picked up win number five-in-a-row with a 72-45 victory over UIW (3-17, 2-7 SLC) Saturday at the McDermott Center in San Antonio, Texas.
The 5-game streak is the longest since New Orleans joined the Southland Conference in 2013 and it's the program's first five-game win streak since the start of the 2002-03 season.
Balanced scoring and tough defense were the hallmarks of the win. Three Privateers in double-figures---
Randi Brown (19),
Shania Woods (13), and
Kayla Mundy (12).
Asia Woods had 8 points and a team-high 8 rebounds,
Mariah Wright had 7 points and a team-high 5 assists while senior
Halie Matthews had 6 off the bench.
The Privateers scored 42 points in the paint. The Cardinals shot a frigid 16-of-52 from the field for only 30.8%.
"Keeping them to 9 points in the third quarter was important to help us create a little separation and distance between us and them," said head coach
Keeshawn Davenport. "We did another great job of taking that defense and creating offense. 42 points in the paint was a combination of posting up and getting in the paint on drives and in transition."
FIRST QUARTER
New Orleans never trailed in the period and their largest lead was seven, 11-4. The Privateers forced 7 turnovers and scored 8 points off those turnovers. The Woods Sisters supplied most of the scoring as Shania scored 5 and Asia tallied 4. It was15-12 Privateers at the close of the first period.
SECOND QUARTER
It was 23-17 UNO when the Privateers went on an impressive 13-0 run. It started with a
Shania Woods jumper, followed by a
Randi Brown layup to make it 27-17. A
Shania Woods jumper, a
Kayla Mundy layup and a 3-pointer by freshman
Dionjhae Thomas made it a 17- point advantage and two free throws by
Kayla Mundy made it 36-17, Privateers. The run, which took only 1 minute 32 seconds, was halted by a Ouincy Baker bucket for the Cardinals. The half ended New Orleans 38 UIW 24. Every Privateer who saw action scored in the first half led by
Shania Woods with 9 and
Asia Woods with 8 points and 7 rebounds. New Orleans scored 26 points in the paint during the first half.
THIRD QUARTER
New Orleans won the third period doubling up the Cardinals 18-9 as the stanza ended 56-33 Privateers.
Mariah Wright got things started with the first 3 points of the second half for UNO. Balanced scoring did the trick again for the Privateers…
Randi Brown had 5,
Halie Matthews had 4 in the period.
FOURTH QUARTER
The 23-point gap at the end of the third quarter grew in the fourth. A basket by Sydnee Wynn of the Cardinals closed the gap to 21 points at 60-39 and that's as close as UIW would get.
Randi Brown had 8 of her game-high 19 points in the final period as New Orleans won going away 72-45.
COACH ON THE STREAK
"We've just got to stay focused and take it one game at a time. They are aware of where they are right now but we are not willing to be complacent. We're trying to get to a point where we're not worrying about other's games, we need to take care of ours. We are eying that championship or a number two seed where we can get those byes in the tournament. We are just happy to be above .500 overall and 7-3 in conference."
BY THE NUMBERS
The Privateers continue to shine at the free throw line. They hit 10-of-11 against UIW for 90.9%. They went into the game leading the Southland Conference in team free throw shooting at .765.
New Orleans shot 30-of-66 from the field for 45.5% on the day.
Senior
Kayla Mundy reached double figures for the 9
th time in the last 10 games.
Randi Brown has reached double figures in 20-of-21 contests this season and has a string of 14 double-figure outings in a row. She also has 1,939 career points, placing her 61 shy of reaching 2,000 points for her UNO career. She will become only the second Privateer to reach 2.000 points joining former UNO All American Sandra Hodge (1980-84).
New Orleans never trailed in the game.
UP NEXT
New Orleans will return to the court Wednesday, January 31, when they take on Northwestern State in Natchitoches, Louisiana at 6:30 p. m.
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