NEW ORLEANS – The ACU Wildcats had no answer for the pressure defense of the New Orleans Privateers on Saturday as UNO snapped the Wildcats' five-game winning streak with a 71-50 win in Southland Conference women's basketball action at Lakefront Arena.
The Wildcats committed 31 turnovers against a very active New Orleans defensive effort that pressured ACU from one end of the floor to the other.
UNO took the lead about eight minutes into the game and never relinquished it as the Privateers won for the fourth time in their last seven games. ACU hit just 32.0 percent of its shots from the field (16 of 50), including just 19.0 from 3-point range (4 of 21).
New Orleans took a 15-13 lead with 14:40 left in the first half on a 3-pointer by freshman Randi Brown and never lost it the rest of the night. Brown – who had a game-high 27 points – has been hot of late, scoring 18, 13, 17, 30, 22, 27 and 27 in the Privateers' last seven games.
The Wildcats were led by sophomore center
Sydney Shelstead, who recorded her third straight double-double – and 10th of the season – with 11 points and 10 rebounds. Junior guard
Whitney West, meanwhile, led ACU with 12 points, while
Alexis Mason had nine points and
Suzzy Dimba had eight points and six rebounds.
Brown was one of three Privateers in double figures as Danielle Davis had 14 and Octavia Wilson 13.
The loss drops ACU to 16-11 overall and 8-8 in the league, while New Orleans improves to 6-19 and 4-12. ACU will close out the regular season this week with a game Thursday night at Incarnate Word, followed by a Saturday afternoon game at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.
