Women’s Basketball: Ragin’ Cajuns Earn Double OT Win At Texas State, 83-81

SAN MARCOS, Texas – Freshman Simone Fields scored five of her career-high 15 points in double overtime and the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns women’s basketball team used a 10-4 run to open the second overtime session to earn an 83-81 victory over Texas State in a Sun Belt Conference game on Saturday at Strahan Coliseum.
 
Jaylyn Gordon scored 22 points to lead five players in double figures for Louisiana (14-6, 6-4 SBC), which went 34-for-86 (39.5 percent) from the floor and held a 55-41 advantage on the glass. Robbie Brown added 18 points for the Ragin’ Cajuns with Kia Wilridge 13 and Keke Veal 10.
 
"The kids played well and deserved it (the win)," head coach Garry Brodhead said after the win. "We were very aggressive on the boards and we talked to the kids about that before the game, that we were going to have to keep them (Texas State) off the boards. We played together, we moved the ball and we were able to push it in transition.
 
"I have to give it to the kids, they listened to what we were saying and played really hard. You win games when you do things like that."
 
Fields, from nearby San Antonio, Texas, gave Louisiana the lead for good with 1:45 remaining after her three-point play gave the Ragin’ Cajuns a 76-73 lead. Following a jumper by Texas State’s Ericka May cut the lead to 76-75 with 1:35 remaining, Brown drained a 3-pointer with 1:10 left before Wilridge sank a pair of free throws with 31 seconds remaining.
 
The Ragin’ Cajuns sealed the win on a Fields bucket with eight seconds remaining before Texas State (12-8, 7-4 SBC) scored on a Taeler Deer layup and May 3-pointer in the final seconds.
 
Louisiana trailed 19-11 in the first half after a jumper by May with 10:15 remaining in the first half before the Ragin’ Cajuns answered with a 13-0 run to take their first lead of the game. Veal scored six points in the run, including a jumper with 4:36 remaining in the first half for a 20-19 lead. Gordon and Veal would add layups for a 24-19 lead before Texas State cut the lead to 26-24 at intermission.

A 3-pointer by Gordon with 14:22 remaining gave Louisiana a 40-32 advantage before the Bobcats gradually chipped away at the lead. Texas State used a 15-5 run to take the lead as a 3-pointer by Jacqueline Jeffcoat with 8:17 left gave the Bobcats a 47-45 lead.
 
Texas State led 54-49 after a pair of free throws by Erin Peoples with 5:04 remaining before Louisiana used a 9-2 run to take a 58-56 lead with 23 seconds left in regulation. The Cajuns scored eight straight points in the run as Wilridge converting on a layup, Brown adding two straight layups and Wilridge giving Louisiana a 57-54 lead with a layup at the 1:53 mark.
 
But the Ragin’ Cajuns missed three free throws down the stretch and Peoples scored a layup with three seconds remaining to tie the game at 58-58 and send the game to overtime.
 
In the first overtime, Peoples scored five straight points for a 63-58 lead before Gordon and Fields combined for all seven points in a 7-2 run that tied the game at 65-65 at the 1:26 mark. After a layup by Peoples gave Texas State a 67-65 lead, Brown responded for the Ragin’ Cajuns with a 3-pointer and a free throw for a 69-67 lead before Ayriel Anderson hit a jumper with seven seconds remaining to force a second overtime.
 
Peoples scored a game-high 23 points for Texas State, which went 28-for-65 (43.1 percent) from the floor, 8-for-19 (42.1 percent) from behind the 3-point line and 17-for-21 (81.0 percent) from the charity stripe. Anderson added 15 points for the Bobcats, Deer had 14, Jeffcoat 13 and May 10.
 
Wilridge grabbed a team-high nine rebounds for Louisiana with Gabby Alexander coming off the bench to pull down eight.
 
Louisiana will return to action on Thursday (Feb. 5) when it entertains Appalachian State in a 5 p.m. contest at the Cajundome.