UNO clinches Southland Tournament spot with 46-45 win over SLU on Senior Night

New Orleans – In her final game at Lakefront Arena, on Senior Night, Shania Woods grabbed 17 rebounds against Southeastern Louisiana (9-19, 4-13 Southland).

The 17th and final rebound was the biggest– perhaps the biggest of her sterling career, as New Orleans (12-15, 8-10 Southland) clinched a spot in the Southland Conference Basketball Tournament in Katy, Texas for the third straight season thanks to a 46-45 win over the Lady Lions from Hammond.

In a game with 20 lead changes, UNO took its final lead with 2:50 to go in the game on a basket by Shania Woods making it 45-44, New Orleans. Kayla Thomas was fouled, hit 1-of-2 freebies at the 1:01 mark and it was 46-44 UNO.

Southeastern Louisiana had a chance to tie it and send it into overtime when Rehema Franklin fouled Jaclyn Scholvin with 1 second to go. Scholvin, who led Lady Lion scorers with 13 points, hit the first but missed the second, Woods collected the rebound and time expired.

It was the 14th double-double performance for Woods. The Houston, Texas native had 17 points, 17 rebounds and 3 blocks. She was the only Privateers who reached double figures in scoring.

“I was just trying to go out with a bang since it was my last home game,” said Woods. “I can’t believe it’s here but I tried to do everything I could to secure the win and get that spot in Katy.”

Both clubs had difficulty shooting on the night. New Orleans was 16-of-50 (32%) and SLU was 15-of-53 (28.3%).

It was 21-18 Southeastern at the half as New Orleans went 2-of-8 from the field in the second quarter. Dionjhae Thomas and Kayla Thomas hit the only baskets of the period for the home team. The Privateers went the final 8:04 of the first half without a bucket with 5 of the 9 points coming from the free throw line.

New Orleans won the third quarter, 17-12. Woods, who had only 2 points at the break, led the way with 11 points and 4 rebounds in the quarter. New Orleans took its largest lead, 3 points, with 1:55 to go at 34-31 thanks to two free throws by Woods. The Privateers led 35-33 going into the final quarter.

The final quarter featured 8 lead changes and no ties. The largest advantage in the fourth period was a 37-33 UNO lead early in the fourth. Woods scored 4 of New Orleans’ 11 points in the fourth as they held Southeastern to 5-of-13 from the floor in the final quarter and outrebounded the Lady Lions 13-7.

—New Orleans outrebounded SLU 49-33.

—Whitley Larry tied her season-high with 5 blocked shots.

—Shania Woods needs four baskets to passed Lora Bresson for 8th in field goals made all-time at UNO.

COACH’S COMMENTS:

ON 3 STRAIGHT SLC TOURNAMENTS
“If you cut me I’ll bleed blue and silver because UNO is my heart. I was so encouraged by Coach Sless’ championship and Coach Blake’s runners-up in baseball last year. We’ve come a long way to be able to compete for conference championships. There were so many young ladies who believed in our vision and I’d just like to say “thank you” to those ladies who laid the foundation for these young ladies to continue to play and compete.”

ON THE WIN
“Good, bad, ugly. A win is a win and I’ll take it. In the end we found a way to get it done and I’m proud of them for that. At least we are going to Katy with a win under our belts. We know they are no blowout games at this point of the season, so we’ll take it.

ON SHANIA WOODS
“I’m super-proud of Shania the way she went out. 17 points and 17 rebounds is an awesome job by her! I’m so happy that her final game in the Lakefront Arena was a win. In the second half we wanted to get points-in-the-paint because we knew they couldn’t stop Shania. Maybe they could contain her but not stop her.”

UP NEXT
New Orleans travels to Katy, Texas for the 2019 Southland Conference Basketball Tournament at the Merrell Center, Wednesday-Sunday, March 13-17.

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