Cajuns Struggle in Second Half, Fall to North Texas

Box Score

After keeping the game within striking distance in the first half, the Ragin' Cajuns women's basketball team was outscored by 15 points in the second half as they were bested by conference foe North Texas 66-45 on Wednesday evening at the Cajundome.

Louisiana (5-15, 0-8) was outrebounded by 12 in the second half, while committing 26 turnovers and shot just 30 percent from the field for the game.

Krystal Motley led the way for the Cajuns in scoring for the ninth time this season, tallying 14 points, while grabbing five rebounds and recording three steals. Brooklyn Arceneaux chipped in eight points and Josie West had a team-high nine rebounds

North Texas (12-9, 5-3) shot 42 percent from the floor and connected on seven three pointers in the game.

UNT had three players finish in double-figures in the contest. Desiree Nelson had 16 points on 4-of-6 shooting from beyond the arc. Tamara Torru scored 14 points and garnered eight rebounds, while Jasmine Godbolt recorded a double-double with 12 points and 10 boards.

The Mean Green began the contest on an early 9-1 run which included a three from the corner and a fastbreak layup by Tamara Torru at the 15:59 mark.

Michelle Brunker received a cross-court pass from Krystal Molty and knocked down a jumper from the elbow to cut the North Texas lead to 9-3.

Anther trey ball from UNT's Desiree Nelson extended the advantage to 11 points, until freshman Brooklyn Arceneaux made a drop step move to convert on a bucket in the paint making the score 14-5.

The Mean Green's Alyssa Hankins drilled the visitors third three of the half giving them a 19-7 lead.

Megan Whittaker responded for the Cajuns by drawing a foul and making a layup. Whittaker converted on the free throw to complete the three point play cutting the North Texas lead to nine.

Motley made a jump shot from the top of the key and Arceneaux completed another “and-1” for the Ragin' Cajuns making the score 22-17 in favor of UNT with 5:22 remaining in the first stanza.

Both squads traded buckets to end the half as the Mean Green went into the locker rooms with a 30-24 advantage.

Louisiana outrebounded North Texas 18-16 in the first 20 minutes but shot just 30 percent from the field and committed 13 turnovers.

Arceneaux and Motley led the way for the Cajuns in the first half with five points apiece. West added two points and eight rebounds.

Nelson scored 11 points including three trey balls to pace UNT. Torru chipped in seven points and three rebounds.

Brunker made the first score of the second half on a bank shot from the block bringing the Cajuns within four points. Motley scored on the next UL possession to cut the North Texas lead to 30-28, the closest the Cajuns had been since the opening minutes of the game.

Moltey keep the Cajuns right in the game with a bucket at the 13:50 mark making the score 37-34 in favor of the Mean Green.

North Texas would answer with a 9-1 scoring spurt over the next four and a half minutes upping their lead to 46-35 with 9:13 to play.

Two free throws from West brought Louisiana within nine but the visitors continued to knock down the outside jumpers as Nelson made her fourth three of the day to start anther scoring run for North Texas as they scored 10 straight points giving them a 56-37 lead.

The Cajuns continued to fight down the stretch as Bianca Davis made a deep three and Motley used a nice crossover dribble to get to the rim for a layup with 3:28 remaining, to cut the Mean Green lead to 58-45.

North Texas would go on to score the final eight points down the stretch to finish off the game.

The Ragin' Cajuns will hit the road as they travel to Monroe, La. to play in state and conference rival La.-Monroe on Saturday at 2:00 p.m.

-- Ragin' Cajuns --

Cajuns Struggle in Second Half, Fall to North Texas

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