LAFAYETTE (Press Release) – Freshman guard Brandi Williams passed the late great Kim Perrot for the most points scored by a freshman in a single-season, but a late fourth quarter run by Little Rock (18-10, 14-3 SBC) cost Louisiana Women’s Basketball (7-21, 5-12 SBC) as the Ragin’ Cajuns fell 62-49, Thursday night at the CAJUNDOME.
Williams entered the game tied with Perrot with 354 points scored during the season, and a layup at the 7:20 mark of the first quarter pushed Williams past Perrot. Williams finished with nine points and the Sun Belt Conference leading freshman scorer now sits at 363 points on the season.
Freshman guard Andrea Cournoyer led Louisiana with 11 points on 5-for-7 shooting from the field to give Louisiana its lone scorer in double figures on the night. Little Rock hit a 10-0 run over the heart of the fourth quarter to power the way to victory for the Trojans, despite Louisiana hanging strong with the conference leaders throughout the first three quarters.
HOW IT HAPPENED (First Half): Both Little Rock and Louisiana traded baskets throughout the first quarter, with Louisiana taking a quarter-high four-point lead twice. First the lead came from a jumper made by sophomore center Ty’Reona Doucet at the 5:27 mark of the quarter and at the 3:48 mark of the period junior forward Kendall Bess nailed a jumper to make the score 12-8.
But Little Rock responded both times, not allowing Louisiana to truly pull away and a free throw made by Tori Lasker at the 47-second mark of the period tied things up at 14-14, which is where the score sat when the quarter came to an end.
Louisiana came out on fire over the first three-plus minutes of the second quarter, opening things up with an 8-0 run to push its lead to a game-high eight points when sophomore guard Jomyra Mathis hit a jumper at 7:33 to put the score at 22-14. But again, Little Rock showed why they are the conference leaders and they did not let Louisiana pull away and they quickly responded, even taking back the lead and pushing that lead to three points with 2:12 left in the quarter.
Over the final minute and a half, Louisiana took back the lead as a jumper from freshman Jazmyn Womack, followed up by a pair of free throws from sophomore guard Skyler Goodwin, gave Louisiana a 28-27 lead heading into the break
HOW IT HAPPENED (Second Half): During the first five-plus minutes of the second half, Little Rock attempted to flip the script on Louisiana, coming out of the locker strong to take back the lead and push it to a three-point advantage thanks to a three throw by Kyra Collier at 4:59 to make it 37-34. That free throw sparked a 6-0 run for Little Rock, its second 6-0 run of the period, and with 1:57 left in the quarter the Trojans lead 43-36.
But Louisiana showed its fight, not letting Little Rock pull away near the end of the period and a 5-0 run, highlighted by Williams converting the old fashioned three-point play with two seconds left, pulled the Ragin’ Cajuns within two points heading into the fourth quarter with the score sitting at 43-41.
Little Rock would run away with the game over the final 10 minutes, quickly extending its lead to double digits for the first time when, at the 6:21 mark, Little Rock’s Lasker nailed a three-point basket to put Little Rock up 54-43. Louisiana would not cut it under double digits for the remainder of the game and when the final whistle sounded, Little Rock had won 62-49.
GAME NOTES: Williams passed Perrot at the 7:20 mark of the first quarter with a layup to become the all-time leading scorer by a freshman in a single season in program history … Louisiana held Little Rock to 20 percent from beyond the arc, the second time this conference season that Louisiana has done that (App State, 1/31/19).
UP NEXT FOR THE CAJUNS: Louisiana finishes the regular season with its final home on Saturday, March 9 when the Arkansas State Red Wolves come to the CAJUNDOME with tip scheduled for 2 p.m.
