LAFAYETTE – The Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns Women’s Basketball team made a strong push in the second half, however a big second quarter that built a sizeable lead for App State held up as the Mountaineers claimed a 69-56 win in the Sun Belt opener between the two teams on Saturday, December 30 at the Cajundome.
After Destiny Rice hit a driving layup 15 seconds into the second quarter to trim UL’s deficit to 15-11, the Mountaineers (7-5, 1-0 SBC) answered with an Alexis Black triple that began a 14-of-16 shooting exhibition – that included a perfect 6-for-6 mark from three-point range – which piled up 34 points in the frame that opened a 49-24 halftime lead for the visitors.
Louisiana (4-6, 0-1 SBC) wouldn’t back down without a fight, getting scores from Brandi Williams and Destiny Rice in the first minute-plus of the third quarter and extended the upswing into the six-minute mark as Jaylyn James’ jumper was the fourth consecutive successful make out of the break slicing the App State lead to 51-33.
The Cajuns would open the third quarter 4-of-5 from the floor and forced five Mountaineers turnovers to quickly move within striking distance, 53-35, by the 4:35 media timeout.
App State would regain what turned out to be valuable breathing room out of the media break, as Chae Harris’ sixth and final triple of the contest sparked a 5-0 run that extended the edge to 58-35 by the 3:51 mark.
UL brought a second surge at the Mountaineers starting with Nubia Benedith’s left-corner trey at 0:34, that closed the scoring in the third, making it 60-42. Another quick strike to start a quarter followed, with an Ashlyn Jones layup on the break at 9:30 of the fourth combined with Williams answering an App State score a minute later closing the gap to 62-46.
With the defense continuing to slow down the Mountaineers, holding them without a field goal make from 8:49 through 2:38, the Cajuns were on the verge of lowering the deficit into single digits after Rice’s driving layup with 4:05 remaining closed the gap to 63-52 – the closest margin since 6:16 of the second quarter.
The Mountaineers, though, were able to avoid a total collapse by getting critical stops over the final four minutes after Rice’s score, the next UL basket not occurring until 1:09 remaining. App State was reassured control of the game when Faith Alston rolled in a layup at 2:38 for a 65-52 edge.
The spirited second half energy resulted in the Cajuns outscoring the Mountaineers 32-20 after the halftime break, shooting 54 percent (13-of-24) after a 33-percent start (8-of-24) and limiting App State to 36 percent (8-of-22) after a 58-percent first half (19-of-33).
App State collected its first road win of the season and came away successful for the first time in five visits to the Cajundome. With the loss, Louisiana finished 1-3 on its four-game December homestand.
Louisiana played the contest shorthanded with leading scorer and leading rebounder Tamera Johnson sidelined for the second straight game with a nose injury suffered in the North Texas game (Dec. 17).
LEADING THE RAGIN’ CAJUNS
Williams, appearing in a Sun Belt game for the first time in three seasons, led the offense with 15 points on 5-of-10 shooting. It was her sixth double-digit scoring effort in nine games.
Rice joined Williams in scoring double figures by producing 11 points on a 4-of-8 showing. The senior point guard also swiped a season-high four steals.
The Cajuns enjoyed one of their top production in bench points this season, with James scoring seven points, Benedith providing six points and Lanay Wheaton scoring five points to pace UL’s 26-24 advantage over App State.
Jones and Uniyah Franklin each added four points to Louisiana’s output from the bench.
Williams’ four rebounds topped the list of six Cajuns who grabbed multiple boards. Tamiah Robinson handed out a team-best three assists, the eighth time in 10 outings she’s had multiple helpers to her credit.
UP NEXT FOR LOUISIANA
The Ragin' Cajuns tackle their longest road stretch of the season: a two-week, four-game SBC trek that takes the squad to Old Dominion and James Madison from January 4-6 followed by trips to Troy and Arkansas State from January 10-13.
Louisiana starts the trip with its first-ever visit to Norfolk, Virginia, meeting ODU in a 5:30 p.m. (CST) contest on Thursday (Jan. 4). That'll be followed by a matchup with JMU at the Atlantic Union Bank Center in Harrisonburg, Virginia for the second straight season, this year's bout set for 12:00 p.m. (CST) on Saturday (Jan. 6).
Live video coverage of all games on the road trip is available on ESPN+ while games can be heard in the Acadiana region on The GOAT 103.3 FM and 1420 AM and worldwide on the Varsity Network.
FOLLOW THE RAGIN' CAJUNS
Follow the Ragin' Cajuns on Twitter (@RaginCajunsWBB [twitter.com]), Facebook (/RaginCajunsWBB [facebook.com]) or Instagram (@RaginCajunsWBB [instagram.com]) to stay up-to-date on all that is happening with Louisiana Women's Basketball.
Fans are also encouraged to stay engaged with the Ragin' Cajuns by downloading the #GeauxCajuns app. Click here [apps.apple.com] for iOS/Apple platforms and here [play.google.com] for Android platforms.
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