HAMMOND - The New Orleans Privateers (2-16, 1-10 Southland) were on the cusp of an upset but were repelled in overtime by the Southeastern Lady Lions (13-9, 9-3 Southland) by a 59-51 score at the University Center in Hammond, La on Thursday night.
With a short-handed Privateers in foul trouble, Southeastern was able to outscore the Privateers 9-1 in the overtime period for the victory.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Tiana Gipson swished a three-pointer on the first Privateer possession foreshadowing a hot shooting first quarter for New Orleans. A jumper by
Zoe Cooper and another trey by
Jomyra Mathis gave the Privateers a perfect start and an 8-0 lead forcing a Southeastern time out. UNO connected on 8-of-13 shots in the opening, including 5-of-7 from deep to take a 21-17 lead into the second quarter.
Gipson's wide open three from right of center extended the Privateer lead to 29-23 midway through the second quarter. The Privateers came out hot from the media time out with
DeArica Pryor connecting on a free throw line jumper to extend the UNO lead to eight-points. Mathis' right-handed floater as time expired in the second quarter gave UNO a 36-28 halftime lead.
Free throws by Southeastern's Natalie Kelly and Alexius Horne cut the Privateer lead to 43-37 with 3:55 left to play in third quarter.
Zoe Cooper hit a baseline jumper to temporarily slow down the Southeastern rally before Lady Lion guard Chrissy Brown knocked down a pair of free throws cutting the Privateer lead to just a single-point with 38.4 seconds left in the third quarter. Horne streaked down the court but missed a buzzer beating layup keeping the Privateers ahead by a single-point headed into the final quarter.
Brown knocked down one of two free throws to tie the contest at 45 with 8:24 to play.
Kyla Davis saved a loose ball to Mathis would storm down the court and completed the and-one giving UNO a three-point lead with 5:41 to play. Â
With just over a minute remaining Pryor swiped the ball from Caitlin Williams and raced down the court for the fast break layup to give the Privateers a 50-48 lead. Williams came back and sank a pair of free throws on the other end to tie the game with 56.9 seconds to go forcing a Coach Davenport to call a time out.
Gipson took the ball away from Horne setting up a final Privateer possession after UNO used its final time out with 18.8 seconds to play. Cooper grabbed an offensive rebound after a miss by Pryor and was fouled on the put back attempt by Williams with 0.4 seconds to play. She missed both free throws and the game went to overtime.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Mathis finished with 15 points, the sixth time in her last seven games scoring in double-figures. She also had six rebounds, and four assists before fouling out with 36.8 seconds left in overtime.
- Gipson finished with a career-high four steals.
- Both teams got off to a hot start combining to shoot 15-of-27 and 8-of-11 from beyond the arc in the first quarter.
- The fourth quarter was the exact opposite with the teams combining to go 3-for-18 and 2-for-6 from beyond the arc.
- UNO forced 10 first half turnovers scoring 10 points off them on their way to an eight-point halftime lead.
- UNO finished with 11 steals - Â the fourth time in the last six games they have finished with 10 or more steals.
- UNO's nine made three-point field goals – tied for their second-most this season. They made 13 in the victory over UIW on Feb. 12.
NEXT UP
The Privateers will travel to Natchitoches to take on the Lady Demons of Northwestern State on Saturday. Fans can watch the game on NSUDemons.com and Jude Young will have the call on UNOPrivateers.com. Tipoff is set for 1:00 p.m.
SOCIAL MEDIA
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