On Wednesday night, the Lady Tigers kept their turnovers to a minimum, executed well offensively, controlled the glass, and played stifling defense. As a result, their four game losing streak has ended in a 76-44 blow victory over the University of New Orleans Lady Privateers.
“Anytime you get a win and especially when you get it at home, it’s good,” said coach Pat Bibbs. “It’s a good win and the ladies are feeling real good about this and we hope this stays with us.”
The Lady Tigers (3-16, 1-6 SWAC) struggled with their performance in the Fredrick C. Hobdy Arena as of late by dropping their last two home games against Jackson State and Alcorn State.
But that all changed once the Lady Tigers stepped foot on their home court with the Lady Privateers (1-16, 0-0 Indep.). The Lady Tigers never trailed and the closet UNO got to Grambling was when the game was tied at two in the first two minutes of the game.
Joanna Miller got things going by scoring Grambling’s basket of the game with a layup in through the lane.
Keri Thomas, who led UNO in scoring with 16 points, responded for UNO on a two-point jumper to tie the game at the 18:31 mark of the first half.
Then Lady Tigers scoring onslaught began.
UNO went on a stretch for three minutes and 41 seconds where they couldn’t score meanwhile, GSU scored 10 unanswered points sparked by a layup from Victoria Ricks, who finished with a double-double 16 points and 10 rebounds.
At the 15:12 mark, UNO stopped the Lady Tigers’ scoring run with a 3-point bucket by Thomas, but that didn’t stop the Lady Tigers from running.
Right after Thomas made the score 12-5, thanks to Grambling’s stingy defense, the Lady Tigers responded with a 27-7 run making to make the score 39-13.
Throughout the run, the Lady Tigers recorded four steal and two blocks that led to lay-up after lay-up mostly provided by Cierra Ceazer who scored 13 of her 17 points in the first half. She led Grambling in scoring and also finished with five rebounds and four steals.
“We just played in your face defense tonight,” said Bibbs on her teams’ defense.
UNO ended the half with a buzzer beating 3-pointer off the glass by Thomas, but the Lady Tigers lead 39-16.
The Lady Privateers scoring did pick up their scoring a bit in the second half but it was to no avail because they had no answer for Grambling.
Kamiya Burwell made a layup, UNO answered back with a layup from Mathilde Fogelstorm, then Alexis Watson scored six straight points with two consecutive 3-pointers.
Watson finished with eight points and six rebounds.
The Lady Tigers went on a 22-14 run and ran off with the game.
Turnovers, which has hindered the success of the Lady Tigers during their losing streak, was under control as they only turned the ball over 12 times compared to UNO’s 21. Every player who recorded playing time for the Lady Privateers registered at least one turnover.
They Lady Tigers capitalized on their many extra possessions as they scored 21 second chance points thanks to a good job on the glass.
Offensively, Grambling’s benched played a vital role in their victory as they pitched in 19 points to help out the starters.
The Lady Tigers will face The Arkansas-Pine Bluff Lady Golden Lions (7-10, 3-4 SWAC) in a home match up on Jan. 26. Tip off begins at 3 p.m.