Houston- Freshman
Traya Bruce hit a career-high 15 points Saturday against Rice University in Houston, Texas but it was not enough as the Owls of Conference USA defeated the New Orleans Privateers, 67-56.
Bruce, from Cut Off, Louisiana, was 6-of-12 including 3-of-7 from behind the 3-point arc in 31 minutes of play. Senior center
Shania Woods was the only Privateer to reach double figures with 13 points and she led UNO with 8 rebounds and 3 steals.
Rehema Franklin, out of Edna Karr High School in New Orleans had 8 points and junior
Whitley Larry had 7 and led New Orleans with 3 blocks.
New Orleans falls to 2-3 on the year while Rice is 5-2.
"I'm proud of the team's effort," said head coach
Keeshawn Davenport. "Rice is picked to finish second in Conference USA and these ladies played well today. We progressed. The atmosphere of the team was different today because everybody had each other's backs and everybody encouraged each other"
FIRST QUARTER
New Orleans jumped out to a 5-0 lead, their largest of the first half, however the quarter ended tied at 12-12. The Privateers got 5 points off the bench in the period from
Rehema Franklin, the first points of her UNO career. It was a soppy quarter for both clubs. UNO committed 9 turnovers and Rice finished the quarter with 6 mistakes.
SECOND QUARTER
Rice outscored UNO 18-16 in the second quarter for a 30-28 Owls' lead at the break. Freshman
Traya Bruce was the leading scorer for Privateers with 7 points. Franklin had 6 and
Jada Duncantell had 5 points.
Shania Woods paced UNO with 5 rebounds and junior center
Whitley Larry had 4 points, 3 rebounds and 2 blocks during the first half. Starting guard
Jada Duncantell picked up three fouls in the first half. New Orleans was 7-of-10 from the field during the period for a 70% clip.
THIRD QUARTER
Rice broke the game open in the third quarter with a 17-5 run in the first five minutes to take a 47-33 lead at the 4:28 mark. The Owls scored 12 consecutive points during the run. Five straight New Orleans points stopped the run as
Alyssa Quixley canned a 3-pointer and
Kayla Thomas scored on a layup to closed to single-digits at 47-38. Rice held a 55-40 advantage at the end of three periods, outscoring the Privateers 25-13.
FOURTH QUARTER
Freshman
Traya Bruce kept UNO within striking distance with the first 8 points of the fourth for New Orleans. Her 3-pointer cut the lead to 57-48. However back-to-back 3's by Erica Ogwumike (who had a game-high 28 points) made it 63-48 at the 6:02 mark. From there Rice coasted to an 11-point victory.
COACH'S COMMENTS
On the play of Traya Bruce
"It was good to see her relaxed and playing with confidence. It was good to see her back because I haven't seen her play that relaxed since the exhibition against West Alabama when she had 26 points. I think the play of her teammates gave her the confidence to do what she does well in her element."
On the Rehema Franklin
"She really did a good job and the more games she gets under her belt the more comfortable she'll be. There were a lot of things she did that won't show up in the stats. The energy she brought at the point-guard position really helped when
Jada Duncantell got in foul trouble. It was good to see her play in this environment."
Up Next
The Privateers continue with their second stop of a three-game road swing with a trip to face the Memphis Tigers, Tuesday, Dec. 4 at 5:30 p. m.
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