Women’s Basketball: Cajuns Struggle Defensively, Lose To South Alabama – 1/27 Reunion Information

The Jaguars shot 46 percent from three-point range to come away with the 72-57 win over the Cajuns, here at the Cajundome.

LAFAYETTE – The Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns women’s basketball team couldn’t stop the South Alabama Jaguars as the Jags shot 46 percent from three-point range to come away with the 72-57 win over the Cajuns here at the Cajundome.
           
The loss drops the Cajuns record to 10-10 (5-3 SBC) and it improved the Jaguars record to 14-5 (7-1 SBC).  It’s the first loss at the Cajundome for the Cajuns since losing to Auburn on Dec. 8, 2017.
           
Senior Nekia Jones was 6-11 from the field (4-9 three-pointers) and she finished with a team high 16 points, while freshman Ty’Reonne Doucet finished with 12 points.  Sophomore Kimberly Burton led the team on the boards finishing with eight rebounds and seven points.

HOW IT HAPPENED (First Quarter): Both teams came out and traded baskets for the first five minutes of the quarter, and after back-to-back baskets from the Cajuns, the score sat at 5-4.  But South Alabama began to hit their shots, and they jumped ahead by nine points thanks to a 10-2 run through the heart of the quarter.  Throughout the quarter, Burton crashed the boards hard grabbing four rebounds in the quarter, including two in the final two minutes of the period.  A layup from sophomore Jasmine Thomas, that she nailed with 40 seconds left, put the score at 15-8 in favor of South Alabama as the period finished up.

HOW IT HAPPENED (Second Quarter): South Alabama came out strong, as they looked to take control of the game.  A 7-0 run through the middle portion of the period almost allowed them to do just that, and they extended their lead to a game high 16-point lead when they hit a basket at the 4:33 mark to put the score at 29-13. 

Thomas hit a layup at the 2:32 mark of the quarter that sent the Cajuns on a 6-0 run that they carried through the remainder of the quarter.  Doucet made a big play down the stretch to help the Cajuns keep the pressure on the Jaguars as she grabbed a steal, chasing down the loose ball, and on the other end she hit the layup.  Louisiana had cut into the lead and trailed only by 10 at the half with the score sitting at 29-19.
           
HOW IT HAPPENED (Third Quarter): South Alabama came out of the locker room and began to extend their lead to a point of no return.  A 10-0 run that was extended to a 15-1 run gave them a 44-20 lead halfway through the period.  They pushed that to a game high 31-point lead at the 1:10 minute mark of the quarter and when the period came to an end they had outscored the Cajuns 25-9 in the quarter to enter the final period up 54-28.

HOW IT HAPPENED (Fourth Quarter): South Alabama again pushed their lead back to 31 points within the first minute of the period.  But the Cajuns began to hit some shots and a 10-0 run slightly closed the gap to 59-38.  But South Alabama maintained their 20-point gap and the Cajuns couldn’t get under that mark until the final minute of the period, when they finished the game on a 12-2 run, but it wasn’t enough as the Cajuns lost the game by 15 points with the final score sitting at 72-57 with South Alabama coming away with the win.

NOTEWORTHY: The 12 points for Doucet is a career high; The Cajuns scored 29 points in the fourth quarter and that’s the most they’ve had in any quarter this season; For the fifth straight game home game the Cajuns caused their opponents to have more turnovers.

UP NEXT FOR THE CAJUNS: Louisiana returns to the Cajundome on Saturday, Jan. 27 at 4 p.m., when the Troy Trojans come into Lafayette, for the 2018 Reunion Game.  Any ex-players who still hasn’t had a chance to register for the event can visit ragincajuns.com/wbbreunion or contact Melissa Minton, the Director of Events and Premium Seating, via email at mminton@louisiana.edy or by phone at (337) 851-2906.

FOLLOWING THE RAGIN’ CAJUNS: Follow the Cajuns on twitter @RaginCajunsWBB for updates during the game and links to live stats, the live stream and recaps from the games.
 
Click here for the Cajuns vs. South Alabama Photo Gallery by the Advertiser.