University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics
Wednesday, March 9
New Orleans, La.
7:30 p.m.
Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns
21-9
59
vs
53
UT Arlington
15-16
1
2
3
4
F
UT Arlington
9
13
18
13
53
Louisiana
13
10
12
24
59
Team Stats
UTA
UL
FG%
.388
.480
3FG%
.313
.214
FT%
.769
.571
RB
26
35
TO
15
16
STL
3
7
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
18
FGM
9
3FGM
0
FTM
0
Pts
9
FGM
3
3FGM
3
FTM
0
Pts
8
FGM
4
3FGM
0
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
G/F
/ Women's BasketballF
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's Basketball
G/F
/ Women's BasketballPG
/ Women's Basketball
Cajuns Erase Late Deficit to Advance in SBC Tournament
3/10/2016 12:20:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Louisiana trailed by five points with 2:54 remaining to top UT Arlington, 59-53 in first round of Sun Belt Conference Tournament
NEW ORLEANS – The No. 3 seeded Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns women's basketball team rallied from five points down with 2:54 remaining in the fourth quarter to eliminate No. 6 seeded UT Arlington, 59-53 in the first round of the Sun Belt Conference Tournament Wednesday night at Lakefront Arena.
Sophomore forward Simone Fields led the offensive charge for the Cajuns (21-9), finishing with 18 points, five rebounds and two assists in 39 minutes. Senior Keke Veal added 15 points, four rebounds, and team highs in assists (4) and steals (3). Junior guard Sylvana Okde chipped in nine points off the bench on 3-of-4 shooting from three-point range.
The Cajuns outscored the Mavericks, 24-13 in the fourth quarter to secure the victory and move on to their second-consecutive Sun Belt Conference Tournament semifinal round.
"We were kind of sluggish on offense and defense," Ragin' Cajuns head coach Garry Brodhead said. "I thought we started the first two minutes perfectly, but then we started to be more methodical and not play our type of basketball. I think in those last three minutes our kids made some steals, made some layups and drew fouls. It was exciting to see."
The Cajuns turned in a solid shooting performance, knocking down 48% (24-of-50) of their shots.
Louisiana came out scoring the first seven points of the game, but UT Arlington came storming back with seven unanswered points of their own.
With the contest tied at 9-9 at the 4:25 mark of the first quarter, the Cajuns defense buckled down and held the Mavericks scoreless for the remainder of the stanza, taking a 13-9 advantage into the second quarter. A pair of jump shots from senior Kia Wilridge gave the Cajuns the four-point edge after a quarter of basketball.
The Cajuns' largest lead of the game stood at seven points (16-9) at the 8:39 mark of the second following a three-pointer by Okde.
UT Arlington battled the keep the score within a possession for the remainder of the second quarter, as Louisiana took a narrow 23-22 lead into the intermission.
In the third quarter, Veal jumpstarted the Cajuns offense with a jumper to extend the lead to 25-22, but five straight points put the Mavericks ahead, 27-25 at the eight minute mark.
The two teams traded buckets for the next five possessions and UT Arlington went ahead, 34-32 on a jump shot by Morgan Hunt with 3:03 left in the third quarter.
A layup by Fields kept the Cajuns within a point at 34-33, but the Mavericks ended the quarter on a 6-1 run to take a 40-35 lead into the final 10 minutes. The third quarter was highlighted by four lead changes and two ties.
Okde splashed a trey with 8:23 to play in the game to pull UL to within 40-38.
A layup by Veal tied the game at 40-40 with 7:33 to go, but UT Arlington answered with a three-pointer by Cierra Johnson.
Trailing 44-40, the Cajuns scored four straight points on a layup by Fields and a jumper by Veal to tie the game at 44-44.
UT Arlington regained the lead and went ahead by five with 3:35 to go following a layup by Toma Zaleckaite and a three-pointer from Amara Wainwright.
Okde hit her third triple of the game with 2:26 left to cut the deficit to 51-49. With 1:38 remaining, Wilridge splashed a jumper to knot the game at 51-51.
Veal forced a steal on the ensuing inbounds pass and found Fields who scored on a layup to put UL ahead, 53-51 with 1:28 to go.
After a steal by Veal, who was fouled by Lashanda Green, Veal hit a pair of free throws to give the Cajuns a 55-51 advantage with 1:07 to go in the game.
Senior Brooklyn Arceneaux came up with a steal with 42 seconds remaining and was fouled by UT Arlington. Veal knocked down both free throws with the Cajuns in the bonus, extending the lead to 57-51.
UT Arlington made it a 57-53 game with 26 seconds left, but the Cajuns preserved the win with two more free throws by sophomore Jodi Quinn with 20 seconds on the clock.
The No. 3 seeded Cajuns will face No. 2 seeded Little Rock this Friday, March 11 at Lakefront Arena in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament semifinals. Tip-off is set for 2 p.m. and can be watched on ESPN3.
"It's going to be tough, we are going to have to move the ball and be aggressive," Brodhead added. "It's going to be a difficult game, but it's a great challenge for us. We want to play these types of games in this setting."
Sophomore forward Simone Fields led the offensive charge for the Cajuns (21-9), finishing with 18 points, five rebounds and two assists in 39 minutes. Senior Keke Veal added 15 points, four rebounds, and team highs in assists (4) and steals (3). Junior guard Sylvana Okde chipped in nine points off the bench on 3-of-4 shooting from three-point range.
The Cajuns outscored the Mavericks, 24-13 in the fourth quarter to secure the victory and move on to their second-consecutive Sun Belt Conference Tournament semifinal round.
"We were kind of sluggish on offense and defense," Ragin' Cajuns head coach Garry Brodhead said. "I thought we started the first two minutes perfectly, but then we started to be more methodical and not play our type of basketball. I think in those last three minutes our kids made some steals, made some layups and drew fouls. It was exciting to see."
The Cajuns turned in a solid shooting performance, knocking down 48% (24-of-50) of their shots.
Louisiana came out scoring the first seven points of the game, but UT Arlington came storming back with seven unanswered points of their own.
With the contest tied at 9-9 at the 4:25 mark of the first quarter, the Cajuns defense buckled down and held the Mavericks scoreless for the remainder of the stanza, taking a 13-9 advantage into the second quarter. A pair of jump shots from senior Kia Wilridge gave the Cajuns the four-point edge after a quarter of basketball.
The Cajuns' largest lead of the game stood at seven points (16-9) at the 8:39 mark of the second following a three-pointer by Okde.
UT Arlington battled the keep the score within a possession for the remainder of the second quarter, as Louisiana took a narrow 23-22 lead into the intermission.
In the third quarter, Veal jumpstarted the Cajuns offense with a jumper to extend the lead to 25-22, but five straight points put the Mavericks ahead, 27-25 at the eight minute mark.
The two teams traded buckets for the next five possessions and UT Arlington went ahead, 34-32 on a jump shot by Morgan Hunt with 3:03 left in the third quarter.
A layup by Fields kept the Cajuns within a point at 34-33, but the Mavericks ended the quarter on a 6-1 run to take a 40-35 lead into the final 10 minutes. The third quarter was highlighted by four lead changes and two ties.
Okde splashed a trey with 8:23 to play in the game to pull UL to within 40-38.
A layup by Veal tied the game at 40-40 with 7:33 to go, but UT Arlington answered with a three-pointer by Cierra Johnson.
Trailing 44-40, the Cajuns scored four straight points on a layup by Fields and a jumper by Veal to tie the game at 44-44.
UT Arlington regained the lead and went ahead by five with 3:35 to go following a layup by Toma Zaleckaite and a three-pointer from Amara Wainwright.
Okde hit her third triple of the game with 2:26 left to cut the deficit to 51-49. With 1:38 remaining, Wilridge splashed a jumper to knot the game at 51-51.
Veal forced a steal on the ensuing inbounds pass and found Fields who scored on a layup to put UL ahead, 53-51 with 1:28 to go.
After a steal by Veal, who was fouled by Lashanda Green, Veal hit a pair of free throws to give the Cajuns a 55-51 advantage with 1:07 to go in the game.
Senior Brooklyn Arceneaux came up with a steal with 42 seconds remaining and was fouled by UT Arlington. Veal knocked down both free throws with the Cajuns in the bonus, extending the lead to 57-51.
UT Arlington made it a 57-53 game with 26 seconds left, but the Cajuns preserved the win with two more free throws by sophomore Jodi Quinn with 20 seconds on the clock.
The No. 3 seeded Cajuns will face No. 2 seeded Little Rock this Friday, March 11 at Lakefront Arena in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament semifinals. Tip-off is set for 2 p.m. and can be watched on ESPN3.
"It's going to be tough, we are going to have to move the ball and be aggressive," Brodhead added. "It's going to be a difficult game, but it's a great challenge for us. We want to play these types of games in this setting."
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