Tuesday, December 15
Cajuns Pull Away Late, Defeat Gauchos, 61-42
LAFAYETTE -- The Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns women's basketball team extended their win streak to five games, topping visiting UC Santa Barbara, 61-42 in the Education Game at the Cajundome on Tuesday afternoon.
Senior point guard Kia Wilridge established a career high in rebounds with 13, and added a team-best 14 points for the program's first double-double of the 2015-16 season. The Crowley, La., native also added three assists to her stat sheet.
"I thought at times we played very good defense and that's what we predicate ourselves on," Ragin' Cajuns head coach Garry Brodhead said. "We did a good job of rebounding against a taller opponent. For Kia [Wilridge] to get 13 rebounds was big, she works so hard at her game.
The Cajuns never trailed in the game and only allowed UC Santa Barbara to tie the game once at 2-2 just two minutes into the contest.
UL held a 5-4 lead early in the quarter and began a 12-0 scoring surge to move ahead by 13 points. Junior guard Jaylyn Gordon accounted for five of the 12 points during the run and finished with 13.
UC Santa Barbara sliced into the Cajuns lead to make it 20-10 after the first quarter, but Louisiana's defense held the Gauchos to nine points in the second stanza. The Cajuns made just 4-of-14 shots (28.5%) from the floor in the quarter, and held a 30-19 lead at the break.
The freshmen duo of Jordan Alexander and Breionne Cooper made the first three shots for the Cajuns following halftime, pushing Louisiana ahead by 17.
UC Santa Barbara scored nine unanswered points to make it a 36-28 contest with 2:41 remaining in the third quarter.
The Cajuns ended the final 2 ½ minutes on a 6-2 run to bump their lead to a dozen, 42-30.
Sophomore Simone Fields (layup) and Wilridge (three-point play) put the Gauchos in a 47-30 hole in the first 1:04 of the final quarter. The lead never dipped below 14 points for the remainder of the game and reached as many as 24 (61-37) with 2:01 on the game clock.
Louisiana won their eighth non-conference game in their last nine tries and opened the season at 7-1 for the second-consecutive season.
Senior Keke Veal chipped in 12 points off the bench to extend her double-digit points streak to 22 games.
Louisiana brought a balanced attack on both ends of the floor in the victory, shooting 44.6% (25-of-56) from the floor and outrebounding UC Santa Barbara 37-22.
"We have to figure out how to get more scoring on the inside, but overall with the big crowd and having some nerves we played pretty well," Brodhead said. "We controlled the tempo of the game, which is what we always try to do."
The Cajuns face a challenging task with a road matchup coming up at Louisiana Tech this Saturday, Dec. 19 at 6 p.m.
Trojans Dominate Late to Grab Road Win
MONTGOMERY, Alabama – The Troy women's basketball team held Alabama State without a field goal in the fourth quarter and dominated down the stretch in a 73-59 win on the road at the Dunn-Oliver Acadome on Tuesday night.
Troy (4-3) picked up its first road win of the season as Ashley Beverly Kelley was outstanding with 19 points, nine rebounds and five steals. Caitlyn Ramirez added 12 points, nine rebounds and four steals for the Trojans who collected 25 Alabama State turnovers.
The Hornets led by nine, 52-43, with 3:07 to go in the third quarter. However, from there the Trojans went on a 30-7 run to close the game, including a 23-5 advantage in the fourth quarter as Alabama State (1-6) hit 0-of-11 from the floor and committed 10 turnovers in the final frame.
"It's good to have a come from behind win on the road," Troy head coach Chanda Rigby said. "We needed that for our team confidence. We put our full court zone press on them in the fourth quarter when they were fatigued, and that energized us on offense."
Troy also forced 10 ASU turnovers in the first quarter and held a 20-12 lead after the first 10 minutes. However, the Trojans never found their shooting rhythm and were down by as many as nine points late in the third quarter.
The Trojans finished the night at just 33 percent (23-of-69) shooting overall, including 3-of-19 from 3-point range. However, the game was a very physical one and the Trojans scored 24 points from the free throw line, but also struggled from there, hitting just 62 percent (24-of-39).
Alabama State shot 45 percent (13-of-29) in the first half, including 5-of-9 from deep, but the Hornets did not hit a 3-pointer in the second half and finished at 36 percent (19-of-53) overall.
Troy committed a season-low 11 turnovers and outscored the Hornets in points off of turnovers, 33-8. Alabama State, who excels at offensive rebounding, outrebounded Troy by just two, 48-46, while Troy grabbed more offensive boards than the Hornets.
Next up, the Trojans travel to UAB to take on the Blazers on Friday at 7 p.m. at Bartow Arena. That will be the second of three games in six days for the Trojans.
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