JACKSON – All throughout her high school career at Warren Central, Cookie Johnson played closed to the basket. Her big brother, Jefferey, knew things would be different in college.

He was right. Johnson now plays guard for the University of New Orleans and Thursday night she got to play for the first time in her native Mississippi when the Lady Privateers took on Mississippi State at the Mississippi Coliseum.

Playing against a Southeastern Conference opponent for the second time this season, UNO (6-7) played competitively to the end before falling 61-54.

Johnson scored 11 points, hit three 3-pointers and had four assists. It’s that outside shooting that keeps her on the floor and she can thank Jefferey for that.

&#8220College basketball is a whole other level. All through grade school, junior high and high school, I was always the biggest girl on the team. But my brother, Jefferey, told me that wouldn’t be the case in college. I was going to have to be a guard, because I’d be one of the smallest ones out here,” Johnson said.

She’s handled the transition well following a challenging freshman season which saw the Lady Privateers battle the effects of Hurricane Katrina and then a 3-25 season. UNO had to move to the University of Texas at Tyler for the fall semester last year before finally returning to New Orleans earlier this year.

&#8220Being in Texas was kind of strange, we did a lot of moving. But I’d say we’re almost back to normal in New Orleans,” Johnson said.

During the summer in Vicksburg, Cookie worked daily with Jefferey.

&#8220I did a lot of work with my brother. I shot more outside and we worked on ball handling,” she said.

The work has paid off. Johnson went from shooting 27.2 percent from 3-point range in her freshman season to 40.6 this season, enough to lead the team in that category. She’s also much better from the free throw line, ranking second on the team at 82.9 percent.

&#8220Cookie’s been great for us from the first day she stepped on campus,” said third-year UNO coach Amy Champion. &#8220She’s worked on her shooting and her ball handling and she’s been able to move from being an inside player to the outside. She even, now, brings the ball up the floor for us. She’s also one of our best defenders.”

Against State, Johnson dropped in the first of her 3-pointers at the 13 minute, 58 second mark of the first half to pull UNO to within 14-11. With the game tied at 15, State went on a 14-0 run to go up 29-15, and it led 37-24 at the half.

Johnson, though, came back to hit a pair of 3-pointers within the first five minutes of the second half to pull UNO to within eight at 43-35 with 14:58 left.

Then, State’s rebounding prowess and UNO’s bad habit of making turnovers kept the Lady Privateers from getting closer.

Johnson, particularly, had her problems, being charged with seven of the 22 UNO turnovers.

&#8220I had a lot,” Johnson shrugged. &#8220I was thinking too much. I was hesitating too much with the ball.”

Champion said it’s been a team problem all season.

&#8220It’s been our nemesis. My goal is to limit them to 15 a game but we’ve yet to get it. A lot of them were unforced. But I think another thing is I can’t go to my bench much because we still have a girl out. State could go to its bench. And us playing a zone hurt us because we give up offensive rebounds, but I felt it was more important to keep a right tempo for us.”

The Lady Bulldogs (6-5) held a 45-31 edge on the glass, including a whopping 24-10 advantage on offensive rebounds.

Johnson and UNO play in the Sun Belt Conference and already, the Lady Privateers are 0-2 in league play. They return to conference play on Dec. 29 at the University of Denver.

&#8220In our first two conference games, we started off bad and then came out and won the second half. Tonight, against State, I think we were ready to play,” Johnson said.