NEW ORLEANS – The New Orleans Privateers rallied back from a 15-point deficit early to tie the game late in the second quarter, but could not hold off a hot shooting UIW Cardinals squad in the second half of a 79-68 loss on Thursday at Lakefront Arena.
A low scoring battle to start saw just four combined points in the first six minutes. From there, the Cardinals used the three-pointer to gain some early separation. Triples on back-to-back possessions helped grow the UIW lead to 18-7 at the end of the first quarter.
The Cardinals were in control, leading by as many as 15 points at the 4:49 mark of the second quarter. New Orleans had a big response near the end of the half as three-pointers from
Sephora Kayolo,
Jayla Owen and
Brialle Washington helped erase the entirety of the Cardinals' lead.
Washington's corner three tied the score at 36-36 with 1:36 left in the first half. The Cardinals got back in front on baskets by Londyn Oliphant and Raimi McCrary and carried a 41-36 advantage into the halftime locker room.
UIW broke open a close game in the second half as they shot 61.9 percent from the field over the final 20 minutes of play. New Orleans trimmed the deficit to three points with three minutes to go in the third quarter, but that was as close as they got for the remainder of the game.
The Cardinals went on an 8-2 spurt to close the third quarter and went 6-of-8 in the fourth quarter.
Brynn Lusby went for 27 points and was 12-of-14 from the field. Jorja Elliott had 15 points and Raimi McCrary had a double-double with 14 points and 12 boards.
INSIDE THE BOX
Shanihya Brown just missed a double-double with 19 points and nine boards. She also added five assists and four steals. Kayolo finished with 13 points and
Lauren Banks had 10 points while going 6-of-6 from the free throw line. Owen finished with nine points.
NEXT UP
The Privateers are back on the court on Dec. 29 when they travel to UTRGV.
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