NEW ORLEANS – The New Orleans Privateers women's basketball team will face tough tests against the last two remaining undefeated teams in Southland play. A visit to defending regular season champion, Lamar on Thursday will be followed by a home game against Southeastern on Saturday at 2 p.m.
The Lamar Cardinals and Southeastern Lions were picked to finish first and second respectively in the Southland preseason poll.
New Orleans (0-12, 0-3) looked to have their first conference win in hand but UTRGV rallied from a 10-point deficit at the start of the fourth quarter to sting the Privateers 64-62. The Privateers were led offensively by
Alexis Calderon who scored a season-high 16 points.
Calderon became the most recent member of the 100 steals club in Privateer history, accomplishing that feat at UTRGV. Calderon is currently at 102 steals. She became the 34th Privateer to reach that mark. Michelle Anderson (1980-84) is the program's leader in career steals with 406.
Since conference play started three games ago, the Privateers have seen a huge uptick in assists. As a team, New Orleans has 49 total assists in three conference games (16.3 per game). In their nine non-conference games, the Privateers had 87 assists (9.3 per game).
The recent series history between Lamar and New Orleans has been tightly contested. Both games last season were decided by one possession and four of the last five games have had a point differential of five or less.
Nora Francois is on a run of eight straight games with double figures in points. Her scoring average currently sits at 13.7 points per game, which is tied for seventh in the Southland. Francois is also seventh in the league in rebounding at 7.0 per game.
ABOUT THE OPPONENTS
Lamar (8-4, 3-0) is shooting 45 percent from the field as a team on the season, which is 62
nd in the nation and second in the conference. Akasha Davis is shooting 62.1 percent from the field in 87 field goal attempts.
The Cardinals have also been efficient from the three-point line, connecting on 40.8 percent of their shots from beyond the arc. Their percentage is second in the country only behind Notre Dame.
Southeastern (10-3, 4-0) has made it tough on opponents consistently from the field. The Lions are 34
th in the country in field goal percentage defense. Opponents have made only 36.1 percent of their shots against Southeastern.
Jalencia Pierre is 56
th in the nation in steals per game at 2.5 heading into the week. Also, Cheyanne Daniels has connected on just over 92 percent of her free throw attempts this season.
BLUES ON TUES. NEWSLETTER
To keep up with all athletics news at the University of New Orleans, subscribe
here for our weekly newsletter.
WE ARE YOUR KREWE
For 54 seasons, Privateer student-athletes have had the unique experience of wearing New Orleans across their chests. Like the city itself, our sports teams have been fueled by resiliency, grit, and the unquenchable desire to win. Our city also houses the nation's biggest celebration each year. And much like a Mardi Gras parade krewe, we are tethered to our community through pride, tradition, a culture of acceptance, and finally our commitment to show that New Orleans is a world-class city to live, learn, play and work. We invite you to become more involved with the only University that truly represents New Orleans all day, every day. Join #NOLAsTeam, We Are Your Krewe!
Visit UNOPrivateers.com/signup to stay connected and follow us @UNOPrivateers on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.
SOCIAL MEDIA
Fans are encouraged to follow
@PrivateersWBB on Twitter/X,
@PrivateersWBB on Instagram, and like
/PrivateersWBB on Facebook.
