SAN ANTONIO – The University of the Incarnate Word women's basketball team is preparing for its third home game over the last week when they host the New Orleans Privateers in the McDermott Center, Saturday at 12:15 p.m.
 
The Cardinals will be looking for their second conference victory against UNO. The Privateers are one of three Southland teams, along with UIW, with one conference win. UNO currently is the only team in the SLC with six conference losses.

 
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A STARR IS BORN

• Since the start of conference play, freshman forward Starr Omozee has emerged as a key contributor for UIW.
• Omozee is averaging 9.3 points, 7.0 rebounds and 2.3 assists in an average of 26.8 minutes through her first six SLC games.
• While not a high volume outside shooter, she chooses her deep shots well, hitting three of her seven attempts in SLC games.
• She leads the team with 105 rebounds this season, second most among freshman in the conference.
• After securing three double-doubles in her first six games as a Cardinal, Omozee set the UIW DI freshman record for most double-doubles in a single season when she delivered her fourth of the season in her last outing against Lamar (11 points and 10 rebounds).
• Against GCU (11/9/18), she posted 11 points and 15 rebounds, becoming the first freshman besides Robinson (2016) to record a double-double in UIW DI history.
• She set multiple season-highs in her first game at the McDermott Center (vs. Houston, 11/16/18), scoring her second double-double (19 pts, 10 rebs) and making multiple threes in a game for the first time.
• Just two games later, she hung 10 points and 11 rebounds on Weber State (11/21).

 
A RAY OF LIGHT

• Freshman guard Macy Ray has established herself as the defensive leader of the team through just seven starts.
• After assuming the role of starting point guard against Rice (Dec. 29, 2018), Ray is averaging just under 29 minutes per game, often with the task of shutting down the highest scoring opposing guard.
• In her seven starts, she has held the opposing point guard to below their average field goal percentage in four of them, including holding the McNeese point guard to .250 percent shooting and forcing eight turnovers.
• On Jan. 19, she held the SFA point guard to 0-4 from the field, she was shooting .462 percent from the field in conference games heading into play.

 
 
SPEERHEADING THE OFFENSE

• Sophomore guard Kara Speer has turned a corner in conference play.
• After averaging 2.8 points per game in non-conference, Speer has taken her game to a new level. She's fourth on the team in ppg (6.8) since the start of SLC play.
• She does a majority of her damage at the line. She leads the team over the last six games with a .929 shooting percentage from the line (13-14).
• That .929 percentage from the line is second best in the conference, behind Alyssa Quixley from New Orleans (1.000 FT%).
• She has converted her last 12 free throws attempted.
• She led the team in points for the first time this season with 13 points against SFA (Jan. 19).
• She leads the Cardinals backcourt in shooting in conference play, having made 12 of her 31 shots from the field (.387 percent).
• Has shot .500 or better from the field in four of her last five games played. (5 of last 7).

 
SCOUTING NEW ORLEANS

• The New Orleans Privateers enter play at the bottom of the conference with a 1-6 record.
• They enter play fourth in the conference in offensive rebounds per game, averaging 15.8.
• They are led by senior center Shania Woods, who is averaging 13.5 points and 8.4 rebounds per game this season.
• This will be the first of two meetings this season between UIW and New Orleans. They will meet up again next week, when the Cardinals pay a visit to Lakefront Arena.

 
UP NEXT
The Cardinals hit the road next week for three straight road contests in the Southland Conference. The trip begins at Houston Baptist next Wednesday for a 7:00 p.m. tip. From there, UIW takes its final trip into Louisiana for rematch against New Orleans next Saturday at 2:00 p.m. The trip concludes the following Saturday, Feb. 9, when the Cardinals travel to Corpus Christi for a clash with the Islanders of Texas A&M-CC.

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