Women’s Basketball: Louisiana Overwhelms Loyola, Offensively and Defensively, in Season Opener

LAFAYETTE – The continued trend of balanced scoring, which saw 10 total players score a basket and seven score at least five points, combined with stingy defense resulted in a 67-51 win for Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns Women’s Basketball over Loyola (N.O.) in the 2019-20 season opener at the Cajundome.
 
Louisiana (1-0) improved to 7-1 in season openers in the Garry Brodhead era.
 
Skyler Goodwin produced a team-high 12 points and Andrea Cournoyer joined her in double digits with 11 points. Cournoyer paced the Ragin’ Cajuns first-half efforts with nine points, while Goodwin led the charge in the second half with seven points.
 
Ty’Reona Doucet made all of her team-leading four field goals inside the arc, totaling nine points. Makayia Hallmon generated eight points in joining forces with Doucet to lead Louisiana to a 34-3 edge in bench points.
 
Caira Wren’s three assists led the 11 Ragin’ Cajuns who had at least one assist. The squad had an assist on 15 of its 24 made baskets.
 
Louisiana’s defense held Loyola to less than 40 percent shooting every quarter, and to 34 percent overall for the contest. The Wolf Pack was limited to only eight makes inside the three-point arc.
 
After an 8-all stalemate through the first 10 minutes, the Ragin’ Cajuns shot 71 percent (10-of-14) in the second quarter to begin pulling away from the Wolf Pack. After a Doucet bucket provided a 12-11 lead at 9:03, back-to-back three-pointers from Goodwin and Cournoyer made it 18-11 by the 6:16 mark.
 
Louisiana closed the opening stanza with a heavy dose of inside baskets which triggered a 13-7 run that allowed the hosts to break open a 20-16 lead.
 
The Ragin’ Cajuns offense kept rolling after the intermission, converting each of the first five field goal attempts and outscoring the Wolf Pack 13-3 over the first five minutes to extend the lead into double figures for good at 45-26.
 
From that point forward the lead was 15 points or greater until a short three-second span in the last minute of the contest.
 
Louisiana travels to Huntsville, Texas for a Sunday meeting with Sam Houston State. The rematch of last season’s 68-62 SHSU win at the Cajundome is set for 3 p.m. at Bernard G. Johnson Coliseum.
 
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