Ragin’ Cajuns Women’s Basketball

Ragin' Cajuns Women's Basketball Lose Season Opener to Wofford

The Ragin' Cajuns' women's basketball team lost a heartbreaker to Wofford 74-71 on Friday afternoon.? Poor shooting from both the field and the free throw line was a major factor in the Cajuns' setback.

??????????? The Cajuns only managed to shoot 37 percent from the floor (26-70), but still could have won the game if they managed to hit their free throws.? UL Lafayette shot a dismal 16 of 33 (48.5%) from the stripe, not capitalizing on a potential 17 points.

??????????? The Cajuns trailed by eight with only 2:11 remaining in the game.? Louisiana-Lafayette went on a 4-0 run to cut the Terriers lead to 73-69 with 1:21 left to play.? Down three with 0:14 left to play the Cajuns had two chances to tie the game.? Brooke Williams missed from behind the arc, but an offensive rebound helped Alana Simon get off one last chance to tie the game.? Her shot rang of the rim as time expired.

??????????? The teams fought through an exciting first half, in which first Wofford, then the Ragin' Cajuns jumped out ahead. The Terriers took the largest lead of the half, holding a 21-15 edge with 12:45 remaining in the period, but a three-pointer by Charlotte Green cut the lead to three, and Louisiana-Lafayette tied the score a few plays later at 24-24. The Ragin' Cajuns took a slight lead, edging Wofford by as much as four points, but could not hold the advantage, and the teams went into the locker room deadlocked, 37-37, at the half.

After the break, the score see-sawed again, as there were no fewer than five ties in the first six minutes, the last a 48-48 deadlock with 14:24 remaining. From there the Terriers looked to take control, taking a pair of six-point leads at 56-50 and 58-52. The Ragin' Cajuns again battled back, tying the score at 61 and again at 63. Wofford surged ahead again, as Nancy Dubuisson scored six points in a span of 2:46 to give Wofford an eight-point lead, its largest of the game. Louisiana-Lafayette attempted one final comeback, and cut the lead to three after a pair of made free throws by Green with 38 seconds remaining.

"We didn't shoot the ball well," said Cajuns head coach Gay Nix. "It was an exciting game and we had our chances, but we just didn't make our free throws."

Charlotte Green led the Cajuns, posting a double-double of 15 points and 11 rebounds.? She was joined in double-digit scoring by Sarah Richey, Brooke Williams, and DeLesha Qualls, who each came up with 13 points. Richey also added an impressive three blocks on the evening.

The Cajuns lose their season-opener for the first time since 1998. The Cajuns and Terriers will meet again this season on Dec. 16 in Lafayette.?

UL Lafayette will travel to Columbia, S.C. on Sunday to face Southeastern Conference member South Carolina in the Carolina Coliseum at 1pm.

LOUISIANA-LAFAYETTE (71) GREEN 5-9 3-6 15; RICHEY 6-18 1-6 13; QUALLS 5-11 3-4 13; WILLIAMS 5-10 3-6 13; FORD 3-10 0-0 6; SIMON 1-4 3-6 5; TOLSTON 1-4 0-1 3;

EVANS? 0-4 3-4 3. Total 26-70 16-33 71.

WOFFORD (74) NETT 9-17 6-8 26; DUBUISSON 5-8 4-5 14; WALSH 3-13 2-7 9; RIPBERGER, 2-5 0-1 6; FRANKS 3-6 0-0 6; HARRIS 2-6 1-2 5; CLARK 2-6 0-2 4; ADELAINE 1-5 0-0 2; RIDGILL, 1-1 0-0 2; STASIE 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 28-68 13-26 74.

Halftime – ULL 37, WOF 37. 3-point goals-ULL 3-12 (GREEN 2-2; TOLSTON 1-3; QUALLS, 0-1; WILLIAMS 0-1; FORD 0-2; SIMON 0-2; EVANS 0-1), WOF 5-12 (RIPBERGER 2-2; NETT 2-3; WALSH 1-5; HARRIS 0-2). Fouled out--ULL-EVANS, WOF None. Rebounds-ULL 53 (GREEN 11), WOF 51

(DUBUISSON 11). Assists-ULL 14 (GREEN 3; FINCHER 3; WILLIAMS 3), WOF 11 (WALSH 4).

Total fouls-ULL 21, WOF 24. A-243

University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics

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