OXFORD, Miss – The New Orleans women's basketball team marched into Oxford and upset Ole Miss, 69-64 at The Pavilion on Friday afternoon. It was the first win against a SEC team for the Privateers since a home victory against Florida on Feb. 13, 1995.
Asia Woods led the charge on both ends of the floor as she recorded a career-high 23 points on 10-of-14 shooting to go with nine rebounds, three steals and a block.
Rehema Franklin kept her hot streak going as she posted a double-double with 14 points and a career-high in both rebounds (11) and assists (7).
Vaquela Pimpton was the third double-digit scorer for the Privateers as she finished with 13 points, six assists, four rebounds and two steals.
New Orleans entered the game 13
th in the nation in steals and they kept that defensive momentum going as the group forced 23 turnovers (12 coming off steals). The defensive unit is what won the game for the Privateers as they held the Rebels to just two points in the opening quarter. It was a deficit they were never able to climb out of as New Orleans led wire-to-wire.
"They just did an awesome job," head coach
Keeshawn Davenport said. "I told these young ladies whenever it is that they put their minds to do something they can do it. I'm telling you for 40 minutes this team played hard. They sustained runs, they kept it together and they came into this environment and got a big time win. I am just so proud of them."
The Privateers took a 23-17 lead into the half and extend it to 50-39 after outscoring the Rebels by five in the third. Ole Miss tried to go on a wild comeback late, but it was too little, too late as New Orleans sealed its second victory of the season.
"We emphasized that we had to have paint presence," Davenport added. "We knew that it was an area that we need to exploit against them, our inside play. They capitalized on that."
Capitalize they did as the Privateers ended the contest with a 34 points in the paint and a 40-36 edge in rebounds.
Coming into the game, New Orleans was just 11-40 against current SEC schools with the majority of those wins coming in the early 1990's.
"Again just a total team effort across the board," Davenport said. "I see we forced our 20-plus turnovers again and got 40 rebounds with a double-digit assist night to go with double-digit steals. I couldn't be more proud of this team than I am right now."
"That's an awesome win for our university," Davenport concluded. "Our goal is to be Nola's team and to make this university's name known around the country and I can guarantee you a few people are going to look at that box and know who New Orleans is now."
The Privateers will next be in action with a home showdown against Louisiana on Thursday, Nov. 21. Tip off is set for 7 PM CST.
