Centenary Ladies Defeat UL Women
UL - Louisiana’s Ragin’ Cajuns women’s basketball team battled back from a 10-point deficit with just over five minutes to play in the second half to force overtime, but was outscored 6-to-0 in the extra frame by Centenary as they fell 75-69 on Sunday afternoon at historic Earl K. Long Gym.
Trailing 69-67, Alexis Green made her second field goal of the game count as she connected on a layup as time expired to force overtime. The final basket closed out a 20-to-10 drive by the Cajuns to end regulation.
The Cajuns’ push fell short as they were unable to convert any baskets in overtime, finishing the OT period 0-for-8.
The game was close the entire day and featured four lead changes with eight ties. The Cajuns led by as many as seven points, and trailed by as many as 10.
Louisiana took advantage of their speed, outscoring the Ladies 18-to-2 in transition. UL lost the rebounding battle 56-to-39, but matched Centenary with 38 points in the paint.
The Cajuns offense showed up on the day with a season-best four players scoring in double-figures.
UL was led by D’Mya Clay who finished the day with 18 points on 8-of-18 shooting. She added seven rebounds, a pair of steals and an assist in 26 minutes of action.
Green started the game off slow and had just four points for most of the game. She scored seven points in the final 3:22 of regulation, including the game-tying buzzer-beating layup, to finish the game with 11 points. Green has scored in double figures in all four of the Cajuns games this season. She also pulled down a team-best 10 rebounds for her first career double-double. Green is the first player of the 2008-09 season for UL to post a double-double.
Mercedes Johnson posted her first double-digit scoring effort of the season, netting 12 points by intermission. Despite scoring a dozen by half time, she failed to score in the second half and finished the game with 12 points, highlighted by a perfect day from the charity stripe, going 8-for-8.
Jasmine Barnes was once again solid for the Cajuns, netting 12 points in the game. The sophomore opened the game shooting 4-for-5 in the first stanza for eight points and added a pair of baskets in the second half to finish the game in double digits.
The Cajuns trailed 2-0 in the opening minutes of the first half, but a pair of free throws at 17:05 tied the score at 2-2 and Louisiana never trailed the remainder of the first half and went into the locker room with a 35-33 advantage.
The Ladies chipped away at the Cajuns in the second half and tied the ball game at 39-39 with 15:42 in regulation. A basket by Centenary’s Cierra Bush with just over 15 minutes in the second half gave the Ladies their first lead since the score was 2-0 at the 19:34 mark of the first half.
After exchanging baskets over the next three minutes, Centenary used a 12-0 run to take the lead 56-47 with just under seven minutes to play.
A triple by Centenary gave the visitors a 59-49 advantage with 5:21 on the game clock.
The Cajuns finished out the half with a 20-to-10 run that culminated with Green’s buzzer-beating layup to force OT.
UL was held scoreless in the extra frame and ultimately dropped their fourth game of the season.
The Ragin’ Cajuns women’s basketball team returns to action on Wednesday night as they travel to New Orleans to take on in-state opponent Tulane. Tip-off against the Green Wave is slated for 7:00 p.m.
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