Cajuns Fall To Houston At Home, 69-64
LAFAYETTE – Jasmyne Harris scored 23 points and added eight rebounds to lead Houston to a 69-64 win over Louisiana on Wednesday at the Cajundome.
Louisiana (4-3) led 8-7 when Simone Fields made a layup with 7:00 left in the first quarter. Fields' basket sparked a 9-2 run for the Cajuns that was capped off by a Jaylyn Gordon layup while being fouled. Gordon sunk the free throw and Louisiana led 17-9 with 3:59 left in the first quarter.
Houston (5-5) then went on a 9-2 run of its own to cut the lead to 19-18 after Harris connected on a three-pointer to close out the scoring in the first period.
The Cougars jumped out to a 28-23 lead when Serithia Hawkins made a layup with 7:02 left in the second quarter.
Kierra Graves knocked down two free throws for Houston to give the Cougars a 30-25 lead with 5:59 remaining in the second period.
Louisiana trimmed the lead to 30-28 when Nekia Jones made a layup with 3:29 left until halftime.
"I really believe this team, when they do play together, when Nekia is going to get used to playing with Jasmine Thomas, you are going to see some improvements," head coach Garry Brodhead said.
Harris connected on another three-pointer to give the Cougars a 33-28 lead at half.
Houston led 36-29 when Hawkins made a layup with 7:53 left in the third quarter.
The Cajuns trailed 38-35 when junior guard Jodi Quinn made one-of-two free throws with 6:07 remaining in the third period.
The Cougars jumped in front 44-37 when Graves made a layup on a fast break with 4:47 left in the third quarter.
Louisiana cut the lead to 46-42 when Gordon made one-of-two free throws with 1:58 remaining in the third period.
Houston scored the last four points of the quarter to take a 50-42 lead entering the final frame.
The Cougars had their biggest lead of the game when Brianne Coffman made a layup to put Houston in front 55-44 with 7:02 left in the fourth quarter.
Harris, who was five-for-nine from the three-point line, connected on another trey to give the Cougars a 60-49 lead with 5:08 remaining in the game.
Louisiana then went on a 9-0 run to trim the lead to 60-58 when Gordon made a layup with 2:50 left in the game.
"They are always going to fight," Brodhead said of his team. "That's one of the good things about the style we play. You are never out of the game. We just keep coming at you no matter what's happening."
The Cajuns trailed 64-62 when Gordon sunk two free throws with 31 seconds remaining.
Houston was able to close out the game from the free-throw line by connecting on five-of-six free throws to secure the win.
Fields led the Cajuns with 20 points and eight rebounds while Gordon added 16 points.
Louisiana will return to action on Monday, Dec. 19 when it hosts Southeastern Louisiana at 6 p.m. inside the Cajundome. The Ragin' Cajuns then conclude their five-game homestand on Thursday, Dec. 22 hosting Louisiana Tech in a 7 p.m. contest.
A-State Women’s Basketball Rallies, Falls Short at UT Martin
MARTIN, Tenn. (12/14/16) – The Arkansas State women’s basketball team erased an 18—point third quarter deficit, but fell 68-63 at UT Martin Wednesday.
Jada Ford led the Red Wolves with 17 points while Brittany Fowler posted 16 points. Tahlon Hopkins posted her first career double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds. Myah Taylor finished with 17 points to lead three Skyhawks who posted double figures.
“We didn’t quit and kept fighting and that is a big deal for us,” A-State head coach Brian Boyer said. “We continued to compete and played our tails off on defense and cleaned up the turnovers in the fourth quarters and gave ourselves a real chance at winning this thing.”
The Red Wolves (1-8) faced an 18-point deficit, 50-32, with 5:33 remaining in the third quarter, but A-State refused to go away quietly. UT Martin (3-7) held a 55-38 lead with 2:45 remaining, but the Red Wolves went on a 20-3 run over the next 7:56 to tie the game at 58.
Taylor hit one of her five 3-pointers on the night to put the Skyhawks back in front 61-58, but Fowler answered with a trey on the other end to knot the score at 61 with 3:45 left. A-State took its only lead of the game, 62-61, with 3:02 remaining after Ford split a pair of free throws. UT Martin regained the lead on a jumper by Janekia Mason and Taylor followed with another trey to make it 66-62 with 2:06 left.
Hopkins was fouled with 1:18 left, but split the free throws making it 66-63. Emanye Robertson hit a layup with the shot clock expiring to make it 68-63 and time expired on the Red Wolves before any chance of another comeback.
“We had some players step up and some big shots for us,” Boyer said. “Jada was big for us in that third quarter and Tahlon hit some big shots and was real aggressive in got some key rebounds and got to the free throw line, but we just had some real crucial mistakes and that speaks to what we’ve been working on all year in making sure we are communicating constantly and not doing that hurt us today.”
A-State dug itself out of a seven point deficit in the second quarter thanks to a 6-0 run that included back-to-back baskets by Fowler to get within 23-22 with 6:11 remaining in the half. The Skyhawks went 2:56 without scoring during the run and committed five turnovers.
Jada Ford tied the game at 25-25 with 4:49 to go in the half, but UT Martin responded with a 13-3 run to take a 38-28 lead into the break and it extended to a 21-3 into the opening minutes of the third quarter as the Skyhawks built an 18-point advantage.
A-State shot 46 percent from the field on the day, but turned the ball over 24 times. UT Martin also shot 46 percent from the field and turned the ball over 21 times, but the Skyhawks held a 36-31 advantage on the glass and had 16 second chance points.
A-State will wrap up non-conference with a three-game at the Puerto Rico Classic in Las Vegas, Nev., when it takes on Kennesaw State, Northern Kentucky and Cal Dec. 19-21.