The Louisiana Lady Cajuns basketball team trailed for less than 30 seconds in the first half and cruised to their first victory of the season, downing Nicholls State, 71-57 on Friday night at Stopher Gym in Thibodaux, La.
The Ragin’ Cajuns topped the 70-point plateau for the first time this season and received a solid team effort in the victory shooting 41.8-percent from the floor as a team. Twelve of the 13 UL players who played in the game scored.
Louisiana was led by Nicole Morris. The true freshman earned her first start of the season and used that to score a career-best 16 points, netting 13 points in the first half.
Two other Ragin’ Cajuns turned in double-figure scoring performances as Whitney Dunlap and Mercedes Johnson, netted 12 and 13, respectively. Dunlap connected on three field goals including a pair of three pointers to go along with a 4-for-4 performance from the charity stripe. Johnson was 6-for-9 from the floor with a free throw.
The Lady Cajuns won the rebounding battle, 53-to-38.
UL was led on the boards by Amy Richard, who grabbed game-best 10 boards. Her double-digit rebounds effort was the first of her Louisiana career. Johnson pulled down seven boards, while Jessica Sigue, who made her first collegiate start, grabbed five rebounds of her own.
The Cajuns took an early lead as Alexis Green drained a bucket just six seconds into the game for a quick 2-0 lead, but Nicholls State responded with four straight points from Christie Byrant to take a 4-2 lead – their first lead of the season.
Dunlap connected on a three pointer to give the Cajuns back the lead at 5-4. From there, Louisiana would build a lead and not look back.
Following Dunlap’s triple, D’Mya Clay made a mid-level jumper to extend the lead to three points. A free throw trimmed the Cajuns lead to just a pair, but a trey by Morris and a jumper by Krystal Motley pushed the lead to as many seven.
Leading 16-13, UL went on an 11-to-0 run to extend their lead to 14 points – their largest lead of the season. The run began with a layup by Johnson. Morris followed with back-to-back triples and Becky Hall added a trey of her own. Morris concluded the run with a midrange jumper to give the Cajuns a 29-13 advantage with just under nine minutes to play in the half.
The Cajuns matched the Colonels shot-for-shot over the next five minutes and concluded the final four minutes of the first stanza with a 10-to-5 push to take a 45-24 advantage into the locker room.
In the second half, the Cajuns extended their lead to as many as 28 points with just under eight minutes remaining in the game at 65-37. Nicholls State used an 11-to-0 run to trim the lead to 65-48, but was never able to get within 14 points of UL.
The Lady Cajuns return to action after a brief hiatus for finals. Louisiana returns to action with a pair of games at the Blazer Invitational in Birmingham, Ala. The Cajuns will square off with Georgia State on Monday, Dec. 15, before taking on either tournament host UAB or Alabama State on Tuesday. The Cajuns and Panthers will start the tournament at 4 p.m.
RaginCajuns.com
Lady Cajuns WIN !!!
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