Colorado University Athletics
New Orleans defeats Georgia Southern in Omni Hotels Classic
November 28, 2009 | Women's Basketball
The first half got off to a slow start for both teams. The first basket of the game came at the 18:35 mark by New Orleans senior Candice McGee. Neither team shot particularly well as the Lady Privateers opened up the first 11:06 of the game on an 11-0 run. During that run New Orleans shot 5-of-15 and Georgia Southern (1-4) was shutout shooting 0-for-12.
After starting out in a slump, the Lady Eagles put together a run little run of their own to tighten up the contest. Over the next 2:19 Georgia Southern put up nine consecutive points slimming the New Orleans lead to 11-9.
Both teams had trouble establishing any kind of consistent offense in the half. Turnovers played a huge part of the opening period as each team had 10. The two teams struggled from the field as well. Georgia Southern shot 22.2 percent and New Orleans didn't fare much better shooting 34.6 percent.
At the half New Orleans lead by nine, 24-15. McGee and Freshman Amanda McCarthy led the team with five points each. Senior Carolyn Whitney totaled a team high five points for Georgia Southern.
Coming out of halftime Rusty Crams' Georgia Southern team cut the lead to six starting with a Whitney 3-pointer, followed by a lay-up by sophomore Candice Ivy to make it 28-22. The Lady Eagles then let New Orleans go back up by 13 in a 3:12 run highlighted by a McCarthy three that made it 35-22.
Georgia Southern dug themselves too much of a hole to recover from, and with 2:39 left to play in the game senior Nicole Holmes put the game away for good with her two free throws giving New Orleans a 15-point lead, their largest of the game.
New Orleans' bench played a major role this evening. Holmes came off the bench to lead the team with nine points in 15 minutes of play.
"Nicole, the last two games, has really struggled. I think her shooting percentage was 2-for-12. She did get to the line she was able to hit 9-of-11 free-throws, and really contribute down the stretch," said Coach Amy Champion after her teams' victory.
Georgia Southern also had good contributions from the bench. Freshman Meredyth Frye put up 10 points in 21 minutes of play. The Lady Eagles were lead by their senior leader, Whitney, who had a game high 13 points.
Whitney and New Orleans' Brittany Helm were named to the Omni Hotels Classic All-Tournament team.
Both teams continued the trend of poor shooting from the first half. Georgia Southern shot a dismal 20 percent for the game.
"We normally shoot anywhere from 40-45 percent, but I really think rebounding the basketball having 15 offensive boards and out rebounding them by nine was important. We had 11 assists and a few steals here and there. Overall I'm pleased with this win. I'm glad to get that under our belts," Champion said.
