NEW ORLEANS, La. –
Shaila Forman scored 15 points in the third quarter as Lamar University outscored New Orleans by 11 points in the second half to pull away with a 72-56 win Thursday at Lakefront Arena.
Forman finished the game with 18 points on 7-of-16 shooting, grabbed four rebounds, and stole the ball twice.
Jacei Denley scored 11 points on 5-of-7 shooting while
Kamryn Wilson (10 points) and
R'Mani Taylor (six assists) also had two steals.
The Cardinals converted 43.3 percent from the field and made seven three-pointers. LU forced 25 Privateer turnovers, while recording 12 steals, and turned them into 22 points while the bench finished with 34 points.
Seven Cardinals scored a field goal in the first quarter and ended the period shooting nearly 40 percent from the field. LU had two runs of six or more consecutive points to go up 13-7. UNO ended the first quarter with a 7-2 run and trailed by one, 15-14.
Wilson started the second quarter with five points while LU connected on five of its first seven shots to lead 24-18. The Cardinals then committed four fouls, which allowed UNO to get within one at the two-minute mark. Denley came on and scored the last four points, which included a buzzer-beater to send Big Red up 31-26 at halftime.
LU separated itself from the Privateers in the third quarter as Forman (15) and Denley (five) combined for 20 points on 53.3 percent to increase the lead to 17. Forman shot 6-of-10 from the field and started the quarter by making LU's first 12 points. LU's defense kept the Privateers to eight points on 33.9 shooting.
The Cardinals made four threes in the fourth quarter and stretched their lead to 22 on three occasions.
Keyiona McDaniel came off the bench to score six points and grab two of her five rebounds for the game.
The Cardinals will now turn their focus to Nicholls Saturday at the David R. Stopher Gymnasium. The game will start at 1:00 p.m. and will be streamed on ESPN+ and broadcast on Newstalk 560 KLVI.
