Women’s Basketball Defeats Lamar for First Time Since 2001 with 62-57 Victory

BEAUMONT, TEXAS - Asia Woods scored 16 of her game-high 22 points in the fourth as the New Orleans women's basketball team used a strong final quarter surge to escape Beaumont with a 62-57 victory over host Lamar for their first Southland Conference win of the season at the Montagne Event Center on Thursday evening.

THE BASICS
FINAL SCORE: New Orleans - 62, Lamar - 57
LOCATION: Montagne Event Center – Beaumont, Texas
RECORDS: New Orleans (5-7/1-2), Lamar (6-6/2-1)

HOW IT HAPPENED
- Asia Woods led the way with a game-high 22 points and a career-best 16 rebounds to go with three steals and an assist. It was her second double-double on the season. She also set a new career mark with eight made free throws.
- Dionjhae Thomas added 11 points (which included the first eight of the game) to go with five rebounds and two assists.
- Mia Deck made her presence felt throughout the evening as she finished with 11 points, five rebounds, two steals and an assist.
- Whitley Larry recorded a team-high four steals and two blocks along with five points and five boards.
- Jada Duncantell chipped in six points, two rebounds and two assists.
- Defense was the name of the game throughout as New Orleans held a slight 12-11 edge over Lamar after the first quarter. The Privateers held the Cardinals to a 17.8 percent (3-of-17) mark from the field.
- New Orleans held Lamar to a 3-of-18 showing from the field in the second as they entered the half with a 25-22 lead.
- Lamar started to battle back in the third as they forced nine turnovers and scored 13 points off of them to take a 39-38 lead into the fourth. The Privateers were only able to get off six shots in the quarter compared to the Cardinals's 15 attempts.
- The game was tied with 4:20 to play in the fourth before Woods took the game over. The senior forward hit two straight baskets to push it to 55-51 New Orleans with 2:23 remaining.
- After the two baskets, Lamar was able to make a two-pointer itself to close the gap to 55-53 with 1:23 left.
- Woods would go on to make 1-of-2 on her next trip to the line to ice it and she would go an additional 4-of-4 over the last minute of play to give the Privateers the 62-57 victory.

FOR THE FOES
- Briana Laidler and Amber Vidal tied for the team-high with 11 points apiece. 
- Jadyn Pimentel had a game-high in both assists (six) and steals (nine) to go with 10 points.

NOTEWORTHY
- It was the first win for the Privateers over Lamar since a 83-71 victory on a neutral court in Baton Rouge back on Nov. 24, 2001. The Cardinals entered tonight on a eight-game winning streak against New Orleans. 
- It was also the first conference win of the year for the Privateers.

COACHES CORNER with KEESHAWN DAVENPORT
"When Asia Woods shows up like that on the inside, especially a game like this, we're going to have some good basketball. We knew that we could score on the inside. That was a point of emphasis for us and we didn't fully expose that in the first half, but I thought Asia got it done with some offensive rebounds, some putbacks and some nice free throws at the end. I wanted to make sure that the ball got into her hands when Lamar wanted to foul because I have the utmost confidence that she could get up to the line and seal it for us."

NEXT UP
The Privateers host conference foe Stephen F. Austin on Saturday, Jan. 4 as part of a doubleheader with the men's basketball program at the Lakefront Arena. The women's game will get the day started with a 4 PM CST tipoff. The contest will also feature a celebration for Bruno's Birthday Party, paying homage to the University of New Orleans mascot.

After her 22 point, 16 rebound performance, star of the game Asia Woods stopped by to explain the win, how the forwards took over the game on the backend, her strong 4Q along with what it was like playing in front of family and friends as a Houston, TX native. #NOLAsTeam?? pic.twitter.com/EhbzQcsWSZ

— New Orleans Women's Basketball (@PrivateersWBB) January 3, 2020