Women’s Basketball: Cardiac Cauns rally late for a win

Kevin Foote, The Advertiser, March 9, 2016

 

The Cajuns’ Keke Veal defends against UT-Arlington during Wednesday’s Sun Belt Tournament game in New Orleans.(Photo: Sun Belt Conference)

 

 

The UL Ragin’ Cajuns swept the Texas-Arlington Lady Mavericks during the regular season.

But with 2:52 left in Wednesday’s Sun Belt Conference Tournament opener at Lakefront Arena in New Orleans, it wasn’t looking like a sweep was in the cards.

An inspired UTA squad, which lost its 6-5 sophomore center Rebekah Van Dijk to an “urgent family matter” earlier Wednesday, led 51-46 and seemingly had all the momentum.

The cardiac Cajuns, though, had other ideas. UL amazingly caught fire in the final 2:23 of play, outscoring the Lady Mavs 13-2 in that stretch to pull out a dramatic 59-53 victory over UTA.

UL will now meet Little Rock at 2 p.m. Friday in the second round.

“At the end, the game came down to chaos,” UL coach Garry Brodhead said. “Kia (Wilridge) and Keke (Veal) do a great job of creating scores in those situations.”

Sylvana Okde began the critical final stretch with a 3-pointer with 2:23 left to cut it to 51-49. Kia Wilridge followed it with a jumper from the right wing to tie the game at 51-51 with 1:35 left.

“We needed some offense,” Okde said. “They (fourth-quarter 3s) gave us some momentum, but I couldn’t have done it without my teammates.”

Then the Cajuns’ defense stepped up. After forcing over 20 turnovers in each of the first two games, UTA had limited it to 10 after three quarters.

Veal stole the in-bounds pass after Wilridge’s jumper that led to a Simone Fields layup at 1:27 to regain the lead for good at 53-51.

“We forced almost 30 turnovers the last time we played them,” Brodhead said. “They did a great job of making adjustments quickly. It hurt us defensively and it hurt us offensively.”

Veal would then make six free throws in the final 1:07 to ice the win. She finished with 15 points with four rebounds and four assists.

“They did what they do best,” UTA coach Christa Gerlich said. “They’re very aggressive. It got physical and the ball came loose. I thought our lack of depth really showed up at the end.”

While Veal sealed it, it was actually Fields that kept the opening round from being a disaster for the Cajuns with 18 points and five rebounds.

“We were just kind of sluggish,” Fields said. “Somebody had to step up. They kept playing behind me and I was able to take advantage of that.

“We were kind of tired. It was a late game.”

It was a game of adjustments.

Eight hours before the game, Gerlich said the team got “upsetting news” and Van Dijk was forced to leave the team.

That obvious impacted UTA’s plan, but it also threw UL for a loop.

Brodhead explained that the Cajuns had prepared for Van Dijk’s role in the high post offense. UL “side-fronts” Van Dijk defensively, but that strategy didn’t work at all against UTA’s other post players.

“UTA did a great job of making adjustments,” Brodhead said. “The used more guards. We had a very difficult time guarding them.”

On the other side, “we tried every offense in the book, and maybe even a few out of the book.”

Still the Cajuns lacked offensive flow throughout the game … until Okde’s 3-pointer ignited the furious game-winning rally.

The Cajuns actually jumped out to a quick 7-0 lead, but if anyone thought that meant an easy night for UL, the Lady Mavs quickly showed otherwise. UTA answered with a 7-0 run of its down, and the seesaw battle was on.

After that early seven-point lead, the biggest lead the Cajuns enjoyed was 16-11 early in the second period.

Brooklyn Arceneaux tried to ignite the Cajuns midway through the second period with a three-point play at 4:57 for a 21-17 lead. Then UTA’s coach got a technical foul, but UL missed both free throws.

It was that kind of night for the Cajuns.

Fields was able to score a basket with 37 seconds left until halftime to give UL a 23-0 lead, but the sophomore post player only had two field-goal attempts in the first half and only three four minutes in the third period.

By the end of the third, Fields was 6-of-7 shooting from the field for a team-high 12 points.

Unfortunately for the Cajuns, as soon as Fields began getting involved, Amara Wainwright started getting heating up. She hit a 3-pointer at 3:55 of the third for a 32-31 Lady Mavs lead and then followed that up with two free throws and a free throw line jumper for a 38-35 lead at 1:54 of the third.

Toma Zaleckaite’s basket in the lane gave UTA a 40-35 lead entering the fourth period