HAMMOND, La. – The New Orleans Privateers engineered a comeback from a 16-point deficit and missed free throws by the Southeastern Lady Lions sealed a 64-63 victory for the Privateers on Thursday night at the University Center.
New Orleans grabbed the lead late after
Shanihya Brown got a steal and was fouled on a drive to the basket. Brown stepped up and hit two clutch free throws to put the Privateers ahead.
On the other end, Mia Ramos missed a three-pointer but Bethany Graves got the rebound and was fouled. She stepped up for two free throws but missed them both. However, the Lady Lions had another crack at it. The ball got into Graves' hands again with 1.9 seconds and she was fouled once more.
Graves stepped to the line and missed the first free throw before being attended to by the Southeastern trainer. Ramos came back on the floor to take the second free throw, but missed it to the left and the final second ticked off the clock as the Privateers held on for their first win in Hammond since 2019.
New Orleans rallied after a cold shooting start by outscoring the Lady Lions 24-9 in the third quarter.
Jayla Kimbrough scored 10 of her 14 points in the quarter and the Privateers shot 58.8 percent in the penultimate stanza.
Southeastern started the fourth quarter on an 8-0 run but the Privateers settled in and had a string of big shots to cut the deficit back down to one.
Jayla Owen hit a pair of threes that helped close the gap to 56-55 with 4:03 left.
The Privateers (1-13, 1-5) got the lead twice before Brown's clutch free throws but Southeastern had an answer each time through five late points from Lihi Azouri.
The Privateers and Lady Lions were locked in a defensive battle throughout most of the first quarter. Southeastern made three of their first 10 field goals while the Privateers made two of their first 10 in the opening minutes of the game.
Southeastern (2-11, 1-5) hit a 7-0 spurt near the end of the first quarter and surged to a 17-12 lead after the opening 10 minutes of play. In the second, Southeastern held the Privateers to just two made field goals while they continued to steadily expand their lead.
By the time both teams went to the locker room for the half, Southeastern held a 34-18 advantage behind Eryn McKinzie's 16 points.
INSIDE THE BOX
Kimbrough finished with 14 points and nine rebounds.
Lauren Banks added 11 points and eight rebounds.
Brialle Washington finished with 12 points. Owen added nine points, four rebounds and three assists. The Privateers shot 60 percent in the second half and turned 19 Southeastern turnovers into 25 points.
NEXT UP
The Privateers return home to face Nicholls on Saturday at 2 p.m.
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