Cold Shooting Hurts Cajuns In Sun Belt Opener

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LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – It was a tough Sun Belt Conference opener for the Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns women's basketball team as the Cajuns shot a season-low 25 percent from the floor in a 67-41 defeat Tuesday to UALR at the Jack Stephens Center.

In addition to a season-low shooting percentage, the Cajuns were also limited a season-low 41 points. The Trojans held a 34-12 advantage in the paint to help themselves to a 51.0 shooting percentage. UALR also managed a 20-12 edge in second chance points, outrebounding the Cajuns 47-28, while also recording a 12-0 advantage in fast break points.

"They (UALR) got some easy shots around the goal," said associate head coach Sallie Guillory. "I thought we got some decent looks, they just didn't fall. I think the thing that killed us was the offensive rebounds. They had 20 second chance points and that's something we had talked about. We didn't rebound like we needed to."

Louisiana (8-2, 0-1 SBC) jumped out to an early 7-2 lead as the Cajuns made their first three shots of the ballgame. However, four turnovers over a span of 3:44 helped the Trojans put together a 12-0 run to grab a 14-7 lead with 12:07 to play in the first half.

After Kia Wilridge ended the Trojans (8-2, 1-0 SBC) spurt with a jumper, UALR extended its lead to double digits as Taylor Gault connected from long range to make it 19-9 midway through the period.

Both teams continued to trade buckets over the next several minutes but an eight-minute field goal drought for the Cajuns allowed UALR to stretch its lead to as much as 20 before Jaylyn Gordon knocked down a three-pointer just before the buzzer for a 37-20 halftime score.

UALR went more than eight minutes without a field goal to begin the second half but shot 8-of-10 from the charity stripe to maintain a sizeable advantage over the Cajuns.

After back-to-back jumpers from Wilridge pulled Louisiana within 13, the Cajuns were unable to keep their momentum as the Trojans went on a 6-0 run to push their lead to 47-28 with 11:41 to play.

Louisiana was held to just six points for the next 10 minutes as UALR brought its lead to as many as 28 points late in the second half.

Gordon scored the Cajuns' final seven points of the contest, but Louisiana was only able to pull back within 24 in the final minutes as UALR pulled out the victory.

Wilridge and Gordon scored in double figures for the fourth-straight game as each tallied 14 points in the loss. Wilridge finished 7-of-16 from the floor for her eighth double-digit scoring performance of the season. Simone Fields added eight points while Keke Veal finished with five points and a team-high five boards and three assists.

"Kia is like the energizer bunny," Guillory said. "She never stops no matter if we're winning by 50 or losing by 50. That's how she practices and that's how she plays. She carried us and played extremely hard. I'm really proud of her."

Shanity James and Alexius Dawn each recorded 12 points to lead the Trojans with James pulling down 13 boards to record the double-double. Gault also reached double digits, posting 11 points.

Louisiana will return to action Saturday at 5 p.m. at the Cajundome as the Cajuns host Troy in their Sun Belt Conference home opener.

-- RaginCajuns.com --

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Team Stats

Jaylyn Gordon

Kia Wilridge

Simone Fields

Keke Veal

Players Mentioned

Simone Fields

Jaylyn Gordon

Keke Veal

Kia Wilridge