UL Lafayette at New Orleans

Sometimes streaks work in funny ways.? Louisiana's Ragin' Cajuns women's basketball team hadn't beat New Orleans in seven straight games and hadn't won a road game in the Sun Belt conference in their last 11 chances.

Saturday night in New Orleans, both streaks would come to an end as the Cajuns defeated UNO 70-64.

Louisiana-Lafayette improves to 5-9 (1-3), while UNO falls to 3-11 (0-3).

Head coach Gay Nix quest to take sole possession of second place all-time in school history was finally recognized.? Nix's 38th career win passes Mary Jo Castell into the record books.

“There was no doubt about tonight's effort,” said Nix.? “Everyone played all out.? It was an excellent forty minutes.”

After a red-hot first half, the Cajuns fortunes turned for the worst.? Several questionable calls, added with a few turnovers, flustered Louisiana-Lafayette in the beginning of the second half.? A ten-point lead evaporated to just two, five minutes into the frame.

The Cajuns battled adversity to bring the lead back to six, at 41-35, with 13 minutes to play.

UNO retaliated to take their first lead, 45-43, with 8:30 left to play.

Bernette Tolston would hit one of her three big three-pointers to give the Cajuns back the lead.? UNO came back to tie the game at 52 apiece, but Tolston buried another three to put the Cajuns up 55-52.? UL Lafayette would never look back with the help of Tolston's career best 11 points.

Breanna Evans led the Cajuns with 13 points.? Camie Ford added a career high 12 points in a career best 19 minutes.? Sarah Richey tied the Cajuns' single season record with her 47th block of the season before fouling out with 6:49 to play.

“We had multiple players step-up and hit big shots and make big defensive plays,” Nix added.? “It feels great to come back after a poor performance.? I'm pleased with the total team effort.”

UNO's streak of 210 consecutive games with a 3-pointer came to an end.? The Privateers went 0-15 to snap the streak.? Ironically, the last time UNO didn't hit a three-point basket was March 5, 1994 against the Cajuns.

The Cajuns started the game nothing like the team that was blown out two nights prior at South Alabama.? A few quick jumpers and a couple of rebounds helped Louisiana-Lafayette establish a 10-2 lead five minutes into the contest.

The Cajuns led 19-6 midway through the first half.? Carrie Fincher had a career high five rebounds in just her first four minutes of action.? Fincher finished the night with ten points and eight boards in 17 minutes.

UL Lafayette led 32-22 at the end of the first half, paced by nine points from Ford.

UL Lafayette (70) EVANS 5-10 0-0 13; FORD 4-7 2-2 12; TOLSTON 3-4 2-2 11; FINCHER 2-6 6-10 10; GREEN 2-8 3-4 9; RICHEY 4-11 0-0 8; QUALLS 1-8 4-6 7; PETRAKOVA 0-1 0-0 0; WILLIAMS 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 21-56 17-24 70.

New Orleans (64) WHITE 7-17 13-17 27; SMIRI 3-11 4-6 10; RUDDY 2-6 4-6 8; MARKEY 3-8 1-1 7; DUNHAM 2-8 2-2 6; ADAMS 1-4 1-2 3; GRIFFEE 1-3 1-4 3; CORE 0-1 0-0 0; CAMPBELL 0-1 0-0 0;

TYLER 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 19-60 26-38 64.

Halftime- ULL 32, UNO 22. 3-point goals- ULL 11-22 (TOLSTON 3-4; EVANS 3-7; FORD 2-3; GREEN, 2-5; QUALLS 1-2; FINCHER 0-1), UNO 0-15 (WHITE 0-1; SMIRI 0-7; DUNHAM 0-4; ADAMS 0-1; GRIFFEE 0-1; TYLER 0-1). Fouled out--ULL-EVANS; RICHEY, UNO-RUDDY. Rebounds-ULL 41

(FINCHER 8), UNO 45 (MARKEY 11; RUDDY 11). Assists-ULL 16 (GREEN 6), UNO 8 (GRIFFEE 3). Total fouls-ULL 26, UNO 20. A-154

University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics

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