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KATY, Texas – The New Orleans women's basketball program is looking to get its run started at the 2020 Hercules Tires Southland Women's Basketball Championships, hosted by Katy, Texas at the Leonard E. Merrell Center, Thursday, March 12 through Sunday, March 15. The Privateers enter the postseason tournament as the No. 5 seed and will take on Southeastern in their opening round matchup, set for Thursday at 11 AM CT.
• THE SERIES
New Orleans leads the all-time series against Southeastern by a 28-18 margin. The Privateers won their last game against the Lady Lions as they picked up a 58-47 victory this past Saturday at the Lakefront Arena. The teams have split this year's season-series but the Privateers have won six of the past seven matchups.
• HOW TO FOLLOW ALONG LIVE
The Privateers opening round game will be
streamed on ESPN+, where a subscription is required. Plans start as low as $4.99 a month.
Fans can listen to
live audio on the Privateers Sports Network with play-by-play provided by Jude Young.
Live stats of the
matchup against Southeastern can be found here.
Fans can also follow along live on the
PrivateersWBB Twitter account at twitter.com/privateerswbb.
• PRIVATEERS END REGULAR SEASON WITH SCHOOL RECORD IN CONFERENCE WINS
The New Orleans women's basketball team set the school record with their 13th conference victory last game. With the win over Southeastern this past Saturday, the Privateers recorded their 13th Southland win on the year, the most the team has ever recorded in conference play in program history.
• CAN'T GUARD FRANKLIN
Guard
Rehema Franklin has been the force behind the Privateer scoring attack as she leads the team with an average of 14.1 points per game (sixth in the conference). She has 19 double-digit scoring games in total and has gone over the 20-point plateau in nine contests so far this year, including a career-high of 33 back on Dec. 28, 2019, which is the third-best total posted this season by a Southland athlete.
• THANK YOU SENIORS!!
The New Orleans women's basketball team sent their seniors off on a high note with their 58-47 victory over visiting Southeastern in a SLC contest at the Lakefront Arena on Saturday evening. Congrats to
Rehema Franklin,
Kyla Malone,
Vaquela Pimpton,
Kayla Thomas,
Whitley Larry and
Asia Woods for their contributions to UNO Athletics!
• REHEMA FRANKLIN AND ASIA WOODS NAMED TO SOUTHLAND ALL-CONFERENCE THIRD TEAM
New Orleans women's basketball seniors
Rehema Franklin and
Asia Woods were selected to the Southland All-Conference Third Team after their stellar performances in the regular season, announced by the conference offices on Tuesday.
Franklin exploded on the scene for his senior season as she has led the Privateer scoring attack all year long. She recorded 14.1 points per game, the six-best mark in the conference. She was one of just six Southland athletes to break the 14-point plateau and posted 19 games in double-figures along with crossing the 20-point margin in nine contests. Her 33 points scored back in a win against North Dakota on Dec. 28, 2019 still rank in a tie for the third-best scoring performance by a Southland athlete this year.
The New Orleans native was eighth in the conference in steals per game (1.9), 14th in free throw percentage (.750) and 20th in field goal percentage (.413). Franklin also hit 51 three-pointers on the year (ninth in the Southland) and 81 free throws (11th).
Woods was one of the best all-around forwards in the Southland this season.
The Houston, Texas native was fourth in the conference in rebounding at 7.7 boards per game. She also contributed 11.5 points per contest, the 17th-best mark in the Southland, off of .479 percent shooting from the field, the seventh-best percentage.
Woods also finished 22nd in the conference in blocks per game and added 1.1 assists per contest.
During the season, Franklin captured the Southland Athlete of the Week honor twice while Woods was selected for the weekly conference honor once.
• ONE OF THE BEST DEFENSES IN THE SOUTHLAND
New Orleans enters today's contest eighth in the Southland in defensive scoring as the team has allowed 63.9 points per game to its foes. Teams have shot .396 against the Privateers (fifth-best in conference) and have held opponents to just a .282 clip from beyond the arc (third). The group has forced 20.5 turnovers per contest (fourth) to go with 10.31 steals per game (fifth). New Orleans is also third overall in blocked shots with an average of 3.90 per game.
• SELECTED EIGHTH IN CONFERENCE IN SOUTHLAND PRESEASON POLL
The New Orleans women's basketball program was selected to finish eighth overall in the 2019-20 Southland Conference Preseason Poll released by the conference office. Last year the Privateers were picked seventh and went on to conclude their season with the program's third consecutive appearance in the Southland Conference Tournament at the predicted seventh seed after finishing 12-16 overall (8-10 Southland). New Orleans returned 10 of its 13 letterwinners from a season ago which includes three of its five starters. The group also added three newcomers.
The team surpassed where the conference thought they would finish as the Privateers ranked fifth overall in the Southland at the end of the 2019-20 regular season.
• WELCOME TO OUR BLOCK PARTY
Whitley Larry finished up the regular season with 55 total blocks last season. Her 2.0 rejections per game ranked second in the Southland and ranks as the ninth-best single-season total in program history. The block total is the highest single-season mark since 2006-07 when Andrea Williams recorded 63. She enters tonight's contest with 48 blocks so far on the season, good for 1.7 per game, tied for second overall in the Southland.
Larry is currently ranked 67
th in the entire nation in rejections per game. She also recorded 1.8 steals per contest (11
th in the Southland) and is eighth in rebounding with an average of 6.9 per game. Larry shot 36.5 percent from the field and recorded 5.9 points per game.
• FOUR IN A ROW
The Privateers have now made the Southland Conference Tournament in four straight seasons. New Orleans is looking for its first Southland postseason win in program history and the first playoff win for the school since the Privateers won their first two Sun Belt Championship games during the 2009-10 season.
• YOU SURE YOU WANT TO SHOOT FROM THERE?
New Orleans ranks 35th in the nation against the three as the team has held opponents to just a 28.2 percent clip from behind the arc.
• GETTING TO THE CHARITY STRIPE
New Orleans has excelled at getting to the free throw line this season behind their aggressive, attacking guards. The Privateers rank 35th in all of NCAA Division I in free throws attempted this year (606) and sit 69th in free throws made (404).
• WE'LL TAKE THAT
The Privateers are 19th in the country in forced turnovers, 29th in steals per game and 40th in total steals.
• PRO BLOODLINES
Jada Duncantell's great uncle, J.D. Garrett played four seasons in the NFL with the Boston Patriots as a running back and kick returner.
