WBB: Louisiana Opens SBC Tournament Play Against Arkansas State

[NewsCopy]

Entering the postseason winning six of their last seven, the seventh-seeded Louisiana women's basketball team begins play at the Sun Belt Conference Tournament against 10th-seeded Arkansas State on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m.

The game between the Ragin' Cajuns (15-13, 10-8 SBC) and the Red Wolves (13-16, 6-12 SBC) will be streamed live on ESPN+ with radio coverage in the Lafayette area on The GOAT 103.3 FM and 1420 AM and The Varsity Network worldwide.

Louisiana is coming off a thrilling overtime victory against Southern Miss, 58-57. The win marked the 200th for head coach Garry Brodhead, becoming the first coach in Louisiana record 200 wins. Trailing by as many as 12 in the fourth quarter, the Cajuns went on a 15-2 run to take a 43-42 advantage with 2:38 remaining.

In overtime, Louisiana began the comeback as Brandi Williams made a pair of free throws to cut the lead to 57-55. After forcing a five-second inbound violation with seven seconds left to play, Tamiah Robinson took the inbound pass and drove to the free-throw line where she made the jumper to tie the game and drew a foul before converting from the charity stripe to give the Ragin' Cajuns the win.

Wednesday's contest is the third meeting between the two teams this season as the Ragin' Cajuns swept the regular season series against the Red Wolves, winning 64-63 in Jonesboro
on Jan. 13 and at home on Feb. 17, 59-46. In the two meetings, Jaylyn James averaged 21.0 points and hauled in 12 rebounds while Tamera Johnson nearly averaged a double-double with 11 points and eight rebounds. In the series, Louisiana outscored Arkansas State, 38-14, in the third quarter.

For the season, Williams paces the Cajun offense with 11.1 points per game while Johnson is second with 10.2 points and hauls in a team-high 6.3 rebounds. Since January, James has upped her game, averaging a team-best 12.1 points, raising her season total average by more than five points.

Arkansas State enters the tournament on a six-game losing streak. The Red Wolves are led by All-SBC First Team selection Izzy Higginbottom, who averaged 22.2 points. Lauryn Pendleton ranks second on the team with 12.4 points as Anna Griffin is third at 11.3 points and second in rebounds with 5.8.

GAME INFORMATION
LOUISIANA (15-13, 10-8 SBC) vs. Southern Miss (13-16, 6-12 SBC)
Date / Time: Wednesday, March 6, 2024 / 7:30 p.m.
Site: Pensacola, Fla.
Arena: Pensacola Bay Center (10,000)

RADIO/TV
Radio: The GOAT 103.3 FM/1420 AM
Talent: Dawson Eiserloh (PxP)
TV: ESPN+
Talent: Noah Frary (pxp), Kelley Deyo (color)

Louisiana Athletics
RaginCajuns.com
PRESS RELEASE

[ZoomZoom]

39-23 UL end of 3rd period.

ASU stinking the place up. 9, 7, and 7 the first 3 quarters.

UL counters with an 8 point second.

[SlickRick]

So hard to hard to watch sometimes.

[BeauCajun]

Get the W. 54-41

[Cajunsmike]

Get the W. 54-41

Brandy Williams with a 3 from the logo at the end of the third quarter was a highlight. Good defense throughout.

[ZoomZoom]

Troy is up next. Third time the charm?

[SlickRick]

Troy is on another level....we'll have to shoot the ball much, much better to be competitive in this game.