New Orleans women's hoops drops first conference game

The University of New Orleans women’s basketball team led at the half and midway through the third quarter but could not hold on for the win as it fell to the Abilene Christian Wildcats Tuesday, 68-55.
Abilene Christian is 8-6overall and 2-0 in the conference.
“I won’t hang my head about this one,” New Orleans Women’s Head Basketball Coach Keeshawn Davenport said in a news release. “We did not play our best basketball, and we were still up by one at halftime. When we are consistent with the details of winning, we’re going to be all right.”
The Privateers (6-6 overall, 1-1 in Southland Conference) started slowly as Randi Brown missed all six field goal attempts in the first quarter.
Abilene Christian’s largest lead was eight; however, the period ended with the Wildcats holding a 17-16 advantage as eight points by senior Jewel Angelo kept the Privateers in the game.
The second quarter was a back-and-forth affair featuring a scoring drought by both teams. The largest lead was a four-point, 22-18 Abilene Christian advantage.
An Angelo 3-pointer drew New Orleans to within 22-21; however, New Orleans went 5:03 without scoring.
Abilene Christian’s shooting also was frigid, going more than 3:49 with without a bucket.
Brown, a Central Catholic alum, finally got shots to fall in the final minute of the half, hitting two jumpers, the final one with 5 seconds remaining, giving New Orleans a 29-28 lead at halftime.
Brown, the Southland Conference’s leading scorer, missed her first 10 shots of the game.
Angelo led New Orleans in first-half scoring with 11 points.
The third period saw a 13-point turnaround in favor of Abilene Christian.
A layup by Shania Woods, a 3 pointer by Brown and a jumper by Ariele Davis completed a 7-0 run, giving the Privateers a 36-29 lead at the 7-minute mark.
However, the Wildcats stormed back as Dominique Golightly canned a 3-pointer to push Abilene Christian ahead, 41-38. It was her only basket of the game.
Abilene Christian extended the lead at the close of the period to nine and took a 48-39 lead into the final quarter.
The Wildcats’ largest lead in the fourth was 11, thanks to free-throw shooting. Abilene Christian was 12-of-13 from the charity stripe in the period and 23-of-29 for the night.
A 3 pointer by Brown cut the Abilene Christian lead to 57-53 with 1:27 to go, but New Orleans would not get any closer.
“The free throws did us in tonight,” Davenport said. “We couldn’t keep them off the line, and they hit their free throws.”
Brown, this week’s Southland Conference Player of the Week, had 16 points on 6-of-26 shooting from the field. Angelo had 12 points and seven rebounds. Woods had eight points and led the Privateers with eight rebounds. Mariah Wright had eight points, four rebounds and three assists.
The Privateers were outrebounded 56-39.
New Orleans held Abilene Christian to 31.3 percent from the field (20-of-64).
The Privateers could muster only eight assists.
“You’ve got to give credit to Abilene,” Davenport said. “They are a good, championship team. But we are a great team in the making.”
The Privateers continue their road trip with a visit to Beaumont, Texas, to face Lamar Thursday and then on to San Antonio to face the University of Incarnate Word, Saturday.