Saturday, Nov. 29
Cajuns Remain Undefeated with 71-60 Win over Southeastern Louisiana
HAMMOND, La. – Sophomore guard Jaylyn Gordon totaled 23 points and the Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns women's basketball team put together a 9-0 run late in the second half to record a 71-60 win over Southeastern Louisiana on Saturday afternoon at the University Center.
With the win, Louisiana moved to 4-0 for the first time since the 1983-84 season. The Lady Lions dropped to 2-3 on the season, suffering their first loss at home this season.
"It seems like we keep getting better," said head coach Garry Brodhead. "We're always talking about the juniors and how we have some maturity, and it's showing up. They're able to finish a game where in the past it was difficult to finish games. We're coming together and playing harder. It's impressive to see them continue to get better."
Gordon shot 10-of-17 from the floor, finishing two points shy of a career high. Kia Wilridge added 19 points, also two points off her career high, in addition to recording a team-high seven rebounds and four assists. Keke Veal was the third Cajun to score in double figures, totaling 14 points with a team-best three steals.
"In the past, we hadn't really played them (Jaylyn Gordon, Kia Wilridge, Keke Veal) all at the start of the game because we were trying to save them because of fouls," Brodhead said. "When they're in the game together, they make a lot of things happen. They play really well together. They move the ball and can defend well. It's been a good move for us to have them on the floor at the beginning."
Nanna Pool led SLU with 18 points and 15 boards while Symone Miller added 16 points and Elizabeth Styles chipped in 10.
After the Lady Lions took an early 5-0 lead, the Cajuns answered with an 8-0 run to grab an 8-5 advantage four minutes into the game. Outside shooting helped the Lady Lions stay in the contest in the early going as Miller knocked down SLU's third three-pointer of the game at the 13:58 mark to give the Lady Lions a 15-12 lead.
Teams traded baskets for a majority of the first period. After a layup by Pool put the Lady Lions up 29-27 with 40 seconds to play, the Cajuns put together a 6-0 spurt to end the half. Gordon knocked down two free throws and added a layup before a layup by Veal in the final seconds gave Louisiana a 33-29 lead at the break.
Veal hit two-three pointers in the opening minutes of the second half to help Louisiana stretch its lead to 45-38 with 14:47 to play. Veal extended the Cajuns' lead to double digits for the first time one minute later with a layup to make it 49-39.
Leading 51-39 with less than 13 minutes to play, SLU cut into its deficit with a 9-2 run with six points coming from Pool for a 53-48 score with 8:52 to play.
However, Louisiana would not let the Lady Lions get any closer as the Cajuns put together an 11-2 run with nine points from Gordon for a 64-50 game with 5:19 remaining. SLU came within eight in the final five minutes but Louisiana was able to pull out a 71-60 win.
The Cajuns shot 45.3 percent from the field while SLU finished 51.1 percent from the field, the highest percentage a Louisiana opponent has recorded this season. Louisiana scored 25 points off 26 Lady Lion turnovers, the second time this season the Cajuns have forced their opponent to 20-plus turnovers.
Louisiana begins a three-game homestand Saturday when the Cajuns tip-off against Sam Houston State at 2 p.m. at the Cajundome.
UALR Knocks Off Memphis for Fifth Consecutive Win
MEMPHIS, Tenn. – The UALR women’s basketball team took over midway through the second half to pull away from Memphis in a 66-59 victory at Elma Roane Fieldhouse on Saturday afternoon.
Kaitlyn Pratt got her second career double-double with a career-high 20 points and 10 rebounds while Taylor Gault moved up to third all-time in scoring at UALR with 19 points.
Most of the offense for UALR (5-0) came in a big second-half run, as the team turned a 7-point halftime lead into a 17-point advantage with seven minutes to play. The defense was also excellent as usual, forcing 23 Memphis turnovers and only allowing the Tigers (2-4) to score 36 points in the first 33 minutes before a late offensive surge.
The win was UALR’s third consecutive against the Tigers, and it extended the team’s best-ever start to a season to 5-0. The victory also marks the Trojans’ first five-game winning streak since March 2013.
Besides the big offensive days for Gault and Pratt, Alexius Dawn also reached double figures in scoring with 12 points, and Kiera Clark had 11 to her name. Shanity James finished second on the team with seven rebounds, and Ka'Nesheia Cobbins led the way with six assists. Gault had a team-high three steals.
After leading by seven at the break, the Trojans were up only by five with 16 minutes to play as Memphis scored six of 10 points to start the half. That’s when the game completely changed in UALR’s favor.
UALR rattled off the next six points after that, getting a layup and free throw from Pratt and a 3-pointer from Dawn. Pratt also picked up her 10th rebound of the game in that stretch, giving her the double-double of her career.
A Memphis free throw briefly interrupted UALR’s momentum, but the Trojans got it back when Gault entered the game and scored five straight on a jumper and a 3-pointer. That forced a Memphis timeout with the Trojan lead reaching 46-31 midway through the half.
But UALR was far from done with its offensive run. Gault sank another 3-pointer after the timeout and then started a fast-break layup for Dawn that gave the team a 51-34 lead 8:27 left on the clock. Gault moved up to third all-time at UALR in scoring with that 3-pointer, passing Jocelyn Love with 1,497 points. She scored her 1,500th career point later in the game from the free-throw line.
Memphis fought back hard after that, pressing the Trojans in the backcourt and forcing several turnovers. But the damage had already been done, and the Tigers never got closer than 7 points for the rest of the night.
The first half was much tighter than the second, as the teams were neck-and-neck for the first 10 minutes.
The Trojans scored the first basket of the game on a jumper from Dawn, but Memphis quickly tied the game with a basket of its own. The game would stay tied at every even-number point through 10-10, and no team had more than a 2-point lead until UALR went ahead 16-13 on a Pratt layup. That lead was short-lived, though, as the Tigers re-tied things with a 3-pointer almost immediately.
Two free throws from Pratt with six minutes left in the half gave UALR a 4-0 run and their largest lead to that point at 20-16. Memphis got the game back within one thanks to another shot from distance, but the Trojans closed the half on an 11-5 run to go into the break leading by 7 at 31-24.
Next up for UALR is a return trip home to face Tulane at the Jack Stephens Center. The Trojans and the Green Wave are set for a noon tipoff on Saturday.
Defense Leads Georgia Southern Past Toccoa Falls
STATESBORO, Ga. – Sierra Kirkland tallied 12 points and 11 rebounds, and Georgia Southern held Toccoa Falls to 20 percent shooting to earn an 84-36 women's basketball victory over the Screaming Eagles Saturday afternoon in Hanner Fieldhouse.
Angel McGowan posted 10 points, four assists and three steals for Georgia Southern (2-3), while Jakayvea Akins scored 10 points. Alexis Sams scored nine points, and Patrice Butler corralled nine rebounds.
Jeanelle Arnold scored nine points to lead Toccoa Falls (4-7), and Cassidy Lang scored eight. Katie Calloway had a team-high nine rebounds.
The Eagles scored the first 12 points of the game as Toccoa Falls missed its first 10 shots of the contest. Leading 18-5, Georgia Southern used a 19-4, sparked by seven points by Sams, to open a 37-9 cushion with 4:17 left in the half. The Eagles turned four Toccoa Falls turnovers into eight points to cap the stretch and led 38-15 at the break.
Kirkland scored six points in a 22-1 Georgia Southern run to start the second half. Toccoa Falls missed its first 13 shots of the frame, and the Eagles led 60-16 with 12:01 remaining after a pair of free throws by Sams.
"I thought our communication got better as the game went along, and that's something we've been stressing," said Georgia Southern coach Chris Vozab. "When our communication got better, our defensive rotations got better. I thought we shared the ball better and made plays for each other as the game went along, and I thought we controlled the boards very well."
Georgia Southern held Toccoa Falls to 17 percent shooting in the first half and 22 percent in the second frame. The Eagles canned 25-of-30 free throws, with 20 coming in the second half, and Kirkland went 10-for-10 from the charity stripe. The Eagles' 64 rebounds as a team are the second most in a game in program history.
The Eagles return to action in a non-conference match-up at Jacksonville State Tuesday, Dec. 2. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m. (Eastern).
Texas State Falls to No. 19 Oklahoma State
STILLWATER, Okla. – An early second half run ultimately fell short on Saturday afternoon as the Texas State women's basketball team fell to No. 19 Oklahoma State by a score of 64-37 at the historic Gallagher-Iba Arena in Stillwater, Okla. With the loss, Texas State falls to 2-3 on the year.
The Bobcats struggled to get on the board early, finding themselves in an 8-0 hole against the Cowgirls. Kaitlin Walla got the Bobcats on the board in the first half with a pair of free throws backed by a lay-up to cut the Cowgirl lead to four.
After a shooting drought that gave Oklahoma State a 20-point lead, the Bobcats finished the first half on a 6-1 run that was highlighted by a pair of three-pointers by Meghan Braeuer and Ayriel Anderson.
Braeuer finished the first half with two made three-pointers while Kileah Mays led Texas State with eight rebounds.
With 11:28 left in the game, the Bobcat offense cut the Cowgirl lead to its smallest, 42-32, since just under nine minutes remaining in the first half. That spark was ignited by junior guard Erin Peoples who opened the half with a pair of baskets.
Ten points would prove to be as close as the Bobcats would come throughout the remainder of the contest as Oklahoma State produced a 13-0 run in the closing minutes of the game.
Peoples finished the game with a team-high 14 points while Braeuer finished with three, three-pointers for Texas State.
The 64 points allowed by the Bobcat defense was the lowest point total this season for the Cowgirls.
The Bobcats will remain on the road next week when they travel down to San Antonio for the I-35 rivalry game against UTSA. Tip-off against the Roadrunners is scheduled for 7 p.m. For more information, check out www.txstatebobcats.com.