Thibodaux, La. – For the second game in a row the New Orleans women's basketball team dropped a heartbreaker, this time losing to host Nicholls on a last-second layup that allowed the Colonels to escape with a 70-68 victory in a Southland Conference contest at the Stopher Gymnasium on Saturday afternoon.
THE BASICS
FINAL SCORE: New Orleans - 68, Nicholls - 70
LOCATION: Stopher Gymnasium – Thibodaux,La.
RECORDS: New Orleans (15-12/11-7), Nicholls (12-16/9-10)
HOW IT HAPPENED
- For the second time this season, freshman guard
Mia Deck reached the 20-point plateau as she led the Privateers with 20 points on a 7-of-11 shooting afternoon to go with being 4-of-6 from beyond the arc. She also added three rebounds and an assist.
- Senior
Rehema Franklin recorded her 17
th game of the year in double-digit scoring as she contributed 14 points and a steal.
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Asia Woods added 11 points, eight rebounds, two assists and two steals in a well-rounded game.
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Dionjhae Thomas, who was playing in her hometown of Thibodaux and
Jada Duncantell each registered a team-high four assists. Thomas also scored six points and had two steals while Duncantell had two steals of her own.
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Kayla Thomas also chipped in six points, two rebounds and a game-high two blocks.
- It was a back and forth first quarter as Nicholls was able to jump out early and hold onto a slight edge to take a 17-14 lead after one.
- The second quarter was even more close as both teams battled to a 18-18 frame. This gave the Colonels a 35-32 advantage as the two teams headed into the half.
- The Privateers started the third on a 6-2 run but Nicolls matched it with a 5-2 streak of its own to end the quarter as the Colonels still held onto a 51-47 lead after three.
- The fourth was an adventure as Nicholls hit its first two field goals to jump out to an eight-point lead with under eight minutes left to go. Then the three-pointers would start falling for the Privateers as
Vaquela Pimpton and Franklin knocked down deep shots to cut it to a two point game with 6:54 left. After a field goal and a free throw by the Colonels, Deck added a three and free throw of her own to cut the lead to one with 4:58 remaining.
- Franklin and Deck would each add another three and Franklin hit a driving layup to give the Privateers a 7-point edge with 3:23 remaining. The two teams traded buckets with another Franklin drive that put New Orleans up by the same seven-point margin with just over two minutes left.
- Nicholls closed the game on a 10-1 run and got a layup from Tykeria Williams with just three seconds left to escape with the 70-68 victory.
- New Orleans recorded 26 points in the paint and 26 points off of turnovers. The squad also got 13 second chance points and 44 points scored off their bench.
- The contest featured eight ties and six lead changes overall.
FOR THE FOES
- Chrystal Ezechukwu was a force in this one as she recorded a double-double with a game-high 21 points and 10 rebounds to go with four assists and a steal.
- Lauryn Bowie just missed out on a double-double of her own as she finished with 16 points and nine rebounds. She did most of her damage from the line as she converted 10-of-12 from the charity stripe.
- Loan-Anh Johnson chipped in 12 points and two steals.
NEXT UP
The Privateers will end their season with their last two regular season games on Wednesday, March 4 and Saturday, March 7. Wednesday's contest will lead the week off against Northwestern State at 7 PM CT at the Lakefront Arena. The game will feature a celebration of Campus Appreciation Night. All New Orleans faculty and staff will receive two free tickets to the game with their UNO ID.
Fans can find tickets for both games, including Saturday's Senior Day, here.
