Louisiana's Ragin' Cajuns women's basketball team was unable to avenge last week's overtime loss as Southeastern Louisiana was able to defeat the Cajuns for the second time within a week, 72-61, at the Cajundome on Saturday.

With the loss, the Cajuns fall to 2-6 on the year. The Lady Lions improved to 4-5 with the win.

Neither team was able to grab a definite lead through the first 14 minutes. With five lead changes and three ties, the score was tied at 20-20 with less than six minutes remaining. The two teams found themselves tied again at 24-24 with 3:55 remaining, but Southeastern Louisiana closed out the half on an 8-1 run to take a 32-25 lead into the half.

The Cajuns struggled to find their mark in the first half, shooting just 22.9 percent (8-35). UL also failed to hit a three-point shot, missing on all four attempts.

In contrast, the Lady Lions were 12-of-24 from the floor in the first half, including 3-for-8 from behind the arc.

Southeastern widen their lead to 11 points, 42-32, at the 14:45 mark after opening up the half with a 10-6 run and never looked back.

The Cajuns were never able to crack the Lady Lions' lead. The closest Louisiana could come to Southeastern was at the 3:27 mark with the score 52-58. But the Lady Lions scored a quick five points to widen the lead back to 52-63 with 2:36 remaining.

Mercedes Johnson was UL's leading scorer with 18 points, including 6-for-10 from the charity stripe. Jasmine Barnes chipped in 15 points during the losing effort. Alexis Green led the Cajuns on the glass with eight rebounds.

Zevy Ivory was one of four Lady Lions in double figures with a team-high 17 points.

The Cajuns had a rough night finding the bottom of the net, hitting just 32.4 percent (24-74) on the night. From three-point range, UL was a woeful, 1-for-11.

Next on the slate for the Cajuns is North Carolina A&T at the Sue Gunter Classic on Tuesday, Dec. 15 in Baton Rouge, La. Tip-off is at 4:30 p.m. CT. On Wednesday, UL will face either Louisiana State or Houston Baptist on the final day of the tournament.

UL SI




-->