Women’s Basketball: Gordon, Cajuns Defeat ULM In Double OT Battle, 68-65

MONROE – Jaylyn Gordon scored a career-high 29 points, including a career-best seven 3-pointers, and the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns women’s basketball team survived a second-half scoring drought and defeated ULM in double overtime, 68-65, in a Sun Belt Conference game on Thursday at Fant-Ewing Coliseum.
 
Keke Veal scored 19 points and Kia Wilridge added 10 as Louisiana (16-7, 8-6 Sun Belt) forced a season-high 31 turnovers while draining a season-high eight 3-pointers against ULM (10-13, 6-8 Sun Belt) for the second time this season.
 
Louisiana trailed, 61-57, in the second overtime session after a layup by ULM’s Daja Chase before Gordon responded with back-to-back 3-pointers for a 63-61 lead with 2:44 remaining. After a Sharnice Brooks layup on the Warhawks’ ensuing possession that tied the game, Veal was fouled and sank two free throws with 1:33 remaining that gave the Ragin’ Cajuns the lead for good.
 
Veal, who went 6-for-9 from the free throw line and dished out a game-high five assists, added another free throw with 40 seconds left for a 66-63 lead before Gordon helped seal the win with a pair of free throws with 24 seconds remaining.
 
"Our press was the key to keeping us in the game, and Jaylyn hit some big shots for us along the way," head coach Garry Brodhead said. "I liked our effort, we never quit and that’s kind of exciting to see kids that are going to play through all of the adversity that we had today … and to get a win with it is great."
 
Gordon, who recorded her seventh 20-point game this season, finished 8-of-19 from the floor and 7-for-13 from behind the 3-point line. The sophomore finished 6-for-6 from the free throw line and added three steals in a career-high tying 45 minutes of action.
 
Louisiana led, 29-23, at halftime and extended its lead to as many as 14 points in the second half before ULM rallied. The Warhawks held Louisiana to 5-for-22 (22.7 percent) from the floor in final 20 minutes of regulation while Brooks scored 19 of her career-high 29 points after intermission.
 
But the Cajuns pulled away late, forcing ULM into 19 turnovers after halftime and earning their second straight victory in Monroe while improving to 3-1 in overtime games in 2014-15.
 
"You should win," Brodhead said of the Cajuns defensive effort. "You’ve got to knock free throws down. We (the coaching staff) talked about it before … it’s getting them (opponents) to turn it over and make sure that we can knock down some free throws, and it’s something that we’ve got to work on. But, I liked our effort and the way we finished. We got in foul trouble and were able to get around it and continue to play."
 
Alayshia Hunter scored 12 points off the bench for the Warhawks, who made 24 of 29 free throws and held a 37-31 advantage on the glass.
 
Louisiana will return to action on Saturday when it travels to face Troy in a 2 p.m. matinee at Trojan Arena.