Women’s Basketball: Cajuns Defeat Louisiana Tech, 80-72

LAFAYETTE – Troi Swain scored 23 points and Simone Fields had 22 to lead the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns to an 80-72 win over Louisiana Tech on Thursday evening at the Cajundome.

 

 

 

 

The win for Louisiana (6-3) was only the second all-time against the Lady Techsters in a series that dates back to 1976.

Louisiana Tech (5-6) took an early 8-3 lead on a jumper by Daria McCutcheon with 5:48 left in the first quarter.

The Cajuns then went on a 15-0 run to take a 23-10 lead on a three-pointer by Swain with 2:15 left in the first period. Swain made four three-pointers on the night.

Louisiana led 27-13 at the end of the first quarter. The Cajuns extended their lead in the second frame to 36-19 when Jaylyn Gordon knocked down a jumper with 5:18 left in the period.

Fields made a layup with two seconds remaining in the second quarter and the Cajuns led 44-27 at halftime.

Louisiana led by as many as 22 points in the third quarter when Gordon connected on a trey to give the Cajuns a 56-34 lead with 5:08 left in the period.

The Lady Techsters cut the lead to 64-47 after Ashley Santos made a layup with two seconds left in the third frame.

Louisiana Tech kept went on a 13-0 run to start the fourth quarter and trimmed the lead to 64-60 when Santos made another layup with 5:41 left in the game.

The Cajuns fought back with a 7-2 run of their own that was capped off by a Swain layup that gave Louisiana a 73-62 lead with 2:35 remaining in the contest.

The Lady Techsters came as close as six points in the final minute, but a perfect 6-for-6 from the free throw line in the closing 39 seconds sealed the win for the Cajuns.

Louisiana Tech was led by Alexus Malone with 22 points while Kierra Anthony had 21 for the Lady Techsters.

Louisiana will begin Sun Belt Conference play when it travels to face Little Rock on Thursday, Dec. 29 in Little Rock, Ark. The Cajuns then travel to take on Arkansas State on Saturday, Dec. 31 in Jonesboro, Ark.