Women’s Basketball: Doucet Scores 23, But Louisiana Falls, 83-60, At South Alabama

MOBILE, Ala. – Sophomore center Ty’Reona Doucet finished with a game-high 23 points, but the strong effort was not enough as Louisiana Women’s Basketball (5-12, 3-3 SBC) fell to the South Alabama Jaguars (15-3, 4-3 SBC), 83-60, in a Sun Belt Conference matchup at the Mitchell Center on Thursday morning.
 
Docuet’s 23 points was the fifth time this season that Doucet has scored at least 20 points in a game, and second time she has done so in conference play, finishing 9-for-13 from the field in the game.  Doucet added six rebounds, while sophomore guard Skyler Goodwin added six rebounds of her own to lead Louisiana on the boards in the game.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED (First Half): Over the first six minutes of the first quarter, Louisiana and South Alabama traded baskets and the lead, with Doucet coming out on fire scoring six points over the stretch.  With four minutes to go in the period, South Alabama held a slight two-point lead, with the score sitting at 12-10.
 
The Jaguars then went on a 13-0 run over the next four minutes to pull away from Louisiana, a lead that the Jaguars would not relinquish for the remainder of the game.  Freshman Jazmyn Womack hit a three-point basket with 21 seconds left in the quarter to end the run and get Louisiana within 10 points heading into the second quarter, with the score at 23-13.
 
Freshman guard Andrea Cournoyer began the second quarter with a three-point basket, hitting the shot at the 9:01 mark of the period, and it put the score at 23-16 with South Alabama still in the lead.  But over the remainder of the quarter, any attempt by Louisiana to cut into South Alabama’s lead was met with a basket from South Alabama and with 2:03 left in the half, South Alabama led 32-22.
 
A quick 5-0 run from South Alabama over the final two minutes, allowed the Jaguars to extend the lead to 14 points and they took a 36-22 lead into the break.

HOW IT HAPPENED (Second Half): Over the first four minutes of the third quarter, South Alabama twice pushed its lead to 20 points, with Doucet’s two baskets spread out during the stretch, representing the only thing keeping Louisiana from falling more then 20 points behind South Alabama.  Both teams traded baskets for handful of minutes, with South Alabama eventually stretching its lead to 21 points on a Shaforia Kines basket with 2:27 left in the period.

With the score sitting at 53-32, Louisiana cut into the lead over the final 2:30, scoring eight out of the last 10 points scored by either team during that stretch.  Doucet ended the quarter with an old fashioned three-point play when she hit a layup, drawing the foul, and her made free-throw put the score at 55-40, in favor of South Alabama heading into the final period.

Over the first three-plus minutes of the fourth quarter, Louisiana twice cut South Alabama’s lead to 11 points and with a Doucet layup at 6:29, Louisiana was behind South Alabama, 63-52.  That would be the closest that Louisiana would get to South Alabama, as a 16-2 run over the next four minutes put the game out of reach for Louisiana and when the final whistle blew, South Alabama had come away with an 83-60 win.

UP NEXT FOR THE CAJUNS: Louisiana stays on the road, heading next to Troy, Ala., to face the Troy Trojans on Saturday, Jan. 26.  That game is scheduled to get going at 2 p.m. and will be carried on ESPN 1420.

TICKETS ARE AVAILABLE: Both season tickets and individual game tickets for Louisiana Women’s Basketball are available for purchase by either heading to ragincajuns.com/tickets or by calling the Louisiana Athletics Ticket Office at the CAJUNDOME, (337) 265-2357, or by visiting the office in person.

FOLLOWING THE RAGIN’ CAJUNS: Follow the Ragin’ Cajuns on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook (@RaginCajunsWBB) to stay up-to-date with Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns Women’s Basketball.