New Orleans- The New Orleans Privateers got a combined 33 points, 11 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals and 2 blocks from the frontcourt duo of
Kayla Thomas and
Shania Woods, but it was not enough as Central Arkansas defeated New Orleans (5-11, 1-6 Southland), 62-60.
Central Arkansas (7-10, 2-5 Southland) led for most of the contest, but it came down to a final possession as Thomas, who notched her career-high of 20 points, missed a jumper with :05 seconds to go and time expired after UCA grabbed the rebound. A sophomore making her second start of the season, The Philadelphia native collected 6 rebounds to go along with her 20-point performance.
Senior
Shania Woods had 13 points and 5 rebounds and added two assists and 2 steals. Junior Guard
Alyssa Quixley, making her first start of the season, contributed 11 points and 3 assists.
"We had a chance at the end." said head coach
Keeshawn Davenport. "You can't leave it in the referees hands, you have to make a play. We work on late game situations so it's not new to us. It's a lot of learning lessons."
FIRST QUARTER
The initial period ended with a 16-8 Sugar Bear lead. The Privateers led 6-5 at the 6:01 mark and from that point UCA outscored the home team 11-2. UNO was 3-of-13 from the field as
Shania Woods scored all six points from the field and
Alyssa Quixley added 2 free throws. Central Arkansas was 7-of-13 from the floor.
SECOND QUARTER
New Orleans took the second quarter 20-17. After trailing by double-figures, 10 points, 18-8 early in the period, UNO sliced the deficit to 2, at 18-16 thanks to back-to-back 3-pointers by
Traya Bruce (9 points) and a jumper by
Kayla Thomas. A
Jada Duncantell old fashion 3-point-play with :50 seconds to go brought New Orleans to within 1, 29-28. Central Arkansas took a 33-28 lead into the half thanks to an Antonija Bozic 3 point shot with :06 to go. The Privateers shot 61.5% from the field in the period, 8-of-13 with Bruce leading the way with 8 points.
THIRD QUARTER
New Orleans would tie the game (37-37) thanks to 5 straight points by
Kayla Thomas on a 3-point shot, a 2-point jumper and a free throw by Pebbles Pimpton. However, the quarter would end with a seven-point, Central Arkansas lead, 50-43. Thomas scored 8 points in the third and grabbed 4 rebounds.
FOURTH QUARTER
UCA extended their lead to 9 at 54-45 thanks to a Kamry Orr layup at the 7:38 mark. Orr led Central Arkansas with 20 points. Later the Privateers closed the gap to 1 at 61-60 Sugar Bears with :42 seconds to go in regulation. Made possible by a 3-pointer and 2 free throws by Quixley. UNO would not score again. Orr canned one-of-two freebies with :23 seconds left. A Quixley 3-point attempt was blocked by Orr with :13 seconds to go. Thomas missed a jumper to tie and Central Arkansas had their second conference win of the season.
COACH'S COMMENTS
On Twin Towers (Woods and Thomas):
"We have "bigs" that can score on the inside and until they find a way to stop our "bigs" we have to feed the beast. We waited too late to get that going on the inside. We've got to know how to feed the beast and keep that going."
On Defensive Rebounding
"We gave up too many offensive rebounds (11) and it shows that they scored 9 points off of them. They got good offense every time they got an offensive rebound, they made something happen by getting fouled or they capitalized on it. In the first half they shot 52% from the field meaning every one-out-of-two touches, they scored."
On Points-Off-Turnovers
"Eighteen turnovers are too many when you have 22 points off of turnovers. It's a two-point game but you give up 22 points off turnovers. This was a heartbreaker but you can't keep holding on to anything too long but we can't keep coming up short, we've got to find a way to get the job done."
Up Next
The Privateers will hit the road next to San Antonio, Texas to face the Cardinals of Incarnate Word, Saturday, Jan. 26 at 12:15 p. m. It's the first game of a doubleheader. The UNO men's team will face Incarnate Word at 3: p. m.
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