Women’s Basketball: Cajuns Win Season Opener At McNeese, 77-70

Simone Fields Jaylyn Gordon

LAKE CHARLES – Simone Fields scored 28 points and Jaylyn Gordon added 26 to lead the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns to a 77-70 win over McNeese on Saturday in the season opener for both teams at Burton Coliseum.

McNeese (0-1) took an early 7-6 lead with 6:26 left in the first quarter when Victoria Rachal scored her first of five three-pointers in the game.

Louisiana (1-0) traded baskets with the Cowgirls until Gordon knocked down a jumper to cut the McNeese lead to 21-18 at the end of the first quarter.

Rachal knocked down another three-pointer to start the second quarter and spark a 13-0 run by the Cowgirls. Jasmyn Carswell connected on 1-of-2 free throws to give McNeese a 34-18 lead with 5:32 left in the second quarter.

"We played hard," head coach Garry Brodhead said. "I was very impressed with McNeese and how hard they played. They gave us everything they had."

The Cajuns responded with an 11-3 run of their own that was capped off by a layup from Fields to help trim the Cowgirls lead to 37-29 at halftime.

Fields, who had a double-double with 28 points and 13 rebounds, connected on a jumper to open the second half.

McNeese’s Mercedes Rogers scored a layup to give the Cowgirls a 49-39 lead with 4:54 left in the third quarter.

Louisiana kept trimming away at the McNeese lead and Jasmine Thomas made a layup with five seconds left in the third quarter to cut the Cowgirls lead to 57-55. Fields tied the game on a layup to start the fourth quarter and Gordon knocked down two free throws to give the Cajuns a 59-57 lead.

"Simone came up really big and scored at will," Brodhead said. "I thought Jaylyn stepped up in the second half and hit some shots that kept us in the game."

Troi Swain‘s layup gave Louisiana a 67-57 lead with 7:29 left in the game. McNeese would come as close as three points in the closing minutes, but solid free throw shooting from the Cajuns down the stretch helped Louisiana secure the win.

The Ragin’ Cajuns will return to action when they host Dillard (La.) in an exhibition game on Nov. 19 and travel to play No. 1 Notre Dame on Nov. 22 at the Campbell Center in Houston, Texas.