Women’s Basketball: Louisiana Staves Off Little Rock, 49-46, to Advance to Tourn Semis + photo gall

Ragin’ Cajuns will play No. 1 Troy on Saturday afternoon in the Smoothie King Center

Click here for photo gallery by Daily Advertiser website, Mar. 11, 2020

Next Game:

vs. Troy

3/14/2020 | 5 p.m.

ESPN?

LAFAYETTE – Little Rock’s Sydney Chastain had an opportunity to force overtime with a 3-pointer at the buzzer, but it did not fall as Louisiana secured a spot in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament Semifinals with a gritty 49-46 win over the Trojans on Wednesday night in the Cajundome.

No. 4 Louisiana, which has now won back-to-back conference tournament games for the first time since the 2017-18 season, will travel to New Orleans for a rematch with No. 1 Troy on Saturday, March 14, at 5 p.m. The two teams split the season series, with the Ragin’ Cajuns winning in Troy, 79-73, on Jan. 11 and the Trojans winning, 67-64, in Lafayette on Feb. 8.

In a game dominated by defense, the Ragin’ Cajuns (19-12, 10-8 SBC) went the final 17:29 of the contest with just one made field goal, but used a 24-for-32 effort from the free throw line to never relinquish their lead.

Wednesday’s win was the team’s first over Little Rock since the last time the two teams met in the Sun Belt Tournament on March 11, 2017, while it was only the second victory over the Trojans in Lafayette under head coach Garry Brodhead, the other a 56-54 overtime victory on Dec. 29, 2012.

Junior Ty’Reona Doucet was a huge factor all night, scoring a season-high 24 points to lead all scorers with the help of a career-high 14 made free throws. Doucet also pulled down eight rebounds and swatted two shots, tying her for third on the school’s career blocks list and seventh on the single-season list.

Fellow junior Skyler Goodwin was the only other Cajun in double figures with 11 points, while Jasmine Thomas pulled down a game-high nine boards.

It was a relatively tight first quarter until the 3:38 mark when Doucet scored on a layup to open up a 13-6 advantage. Junior Kimberly Burton then added her only field goal of the evening to push the lead to 17-8 before Little Rock trimmed it down to 19-13 at the end of the quarter.

Doucet scored the only two field goals ahead of the second quarter media timeout to put Louisiana up 23-13, a margin that would hold until the end of the half when Goodwin’s shot beat out the buzzer to send the game to halftime with the Cajuns ahead, 28-18.

After trading buckets to open the second half, Doucet knocked down a jumper with 7:29 showing on the clock, a field goal that ended up being Louisiana’s last until late in the fourth period. However, the Ragin’ Cajuns were able to score 13 of their 17 points in the third quarter at the free throw line to take a 45-32 advantage.

The drought began to take its toll in the final stanza as Little Rock (12-19, 9-9 SBC) stormed back and pulled within 47-46 with 1:27 to play following a three-point play by Kyra Collier. Sophomore Brandi Williams came up huge 33 seconds later when she drained a jumper to not only snap the field goal drought, but give Louisiana a 49-46 advantage with 54 seconds left.

Louisiana had its chances in the final moments to pull away, but four missed free throws afforded Little Rock the opportunity to tie the game with four seconds on the clock. With one chance to force overtime, Chastain launched a desperation 3-pointer at the horn, but to no avail as the Cajuns escaped with the 49-46 triumph to advance to the semifinals.