NEW ORLEANS – The New Orleans Privateers women's basketball team enters their final stretch of home games this week when they host East Texas A&M (Thursday-6:30 p.m.) and Northwestern State (Saturday-2:00 p.m.) at the Lakefront Arena.
Thursday is Academic Honors Night where all student-athletes who achieved at least a 3.0 GPA in the Fall 2024 semester will be honored. In total, 132 student-athletes reached that mark and the women's basketball team achieved a 3.541 GPA in the Fall semester.
Saturday will be Senior Day where five seniors will be recognized for their contributions to the program.
Syria Butler,
Gabbi Cartagena,
Alexis Calderon,
Brianna Ellis and
Nora Francois will be recognized before the game.
Last time out, the Privateers lost a heartbreaker 71-66 at home to McNeese. New Orleans had a late lead with just over two minutes remaining but the Cowgirls scored the last six points of the contest.
Nora Francois had 21 points and 11 rebounds to lead the Privateers in both categories.
Francois made 10-of-11 free throws against McNeese. A perfect 11-for-11 would have tied Francois for the fifth most free throws in a game without a miss in program history. The program record is held by Sandra Hodge (1983) and Sandy Lucht (1984) at 13-for-13.
In the first meeting against East Texas A&M, the Privateers had their first overtime win in their last nine contests that went beyond 40 minutes when they won 66-62. It also marked their first win of the season. Four Privateers scored in double figures that day led by
Alexis Calderon who had 15 points.
The Privateers lost to Northwestern State 83-66 on the road in mid-January. New Orleans has five games remaining and is currently two games behind the eight-seed Texas A&M-Corpus Christi heading into the week.
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East Texas A&M (6-18, 3-12) is also fighting for the final spot in the Southland Tournament. The Lions lost to Stephen F. Austin and Lamar last week. Jordyn Newsome is the fourth leading scorer in the Southland thus far, averaging 14.4 points per game. Nykesha Sanders is second in the conference at 4.2 assists per game.
Northwestern State (12-12, 9-6) is a half-game behind UIW for the 4-seed which would mean a single bye in the Southland Tournament. Mya Blake is the leading scorer in the Southland and has put up at least 20 points in six of her last nine games. That included a season-best 37 points against Stephen F. Austin.
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