University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics
Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns
* ARKANSAS STATE
Arkansas State Fights Off Cajuns Comeback Attempts
2/20/2003 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
LAFAYETTE - Louisiana-Lafayette returned home for the first time since Feb. 1, but could find an answer to Arkansas State, falling to the Indians by a final score of 68-57 on Thursday night.
Trailing by nine at the half, the Cajuns opened the first five minutes of the second half with a 9-2 run to pull within 38-36.
Casie Lowman's fourth three-pointer, on four attempts, started a 9-0 Indians run that propelled the visitors to a 49-38 edge.
UL Lafayette (5-18, 1-11) scratched their way back to within five points, 56-51, with the help of 7-0 spurt.
Tammie White started the run with a short jumper. Bernette Tolston then connected on a three-pointer, before a pair of free throws by Brooke Williams brought the Cajuns to within five with 5:08 remaining.
The Indians answered immediately. Lowman converted a three-point play seven seconds after Williams' free throws to jolt the ASU lead to eight points. Jolie McKeirnan converted on the next trip to further the Cajuns deficit.
ASU (10-15, 5-7) proved too strong down the stretch, as UL Lafayette, without the services of leading scorer Charlotte Green, could not find enough offense to counter the Indians.
Green missed her second game of the season because of injury.
Lowman led all scorers with 20 points. Catriece Webster added 15 points, 13 in the first half, and collected nine rebounds.
Williams led Louisiana-Lafayette with 14 points and six rebounds. Ashley Blanche added 12 points, while Tolston contributed 11 points.
The Cajuns led three times in the first 12 minutes, but each time ASU responded with three points to recapture the lead.
The two teams then traded baskets for the next six possessions, until a pair of free throws by Webster gave the Indians a 23-20 edge with 4:25 remaining in the half.
The Cajuns lost their scoring touch, allowing ASU a 12-2 run to extend their lead to 32-22.
Williams and Blanche helped UL Lafayette pull within 33-27, but a three-pointer by Lowman put ASU ahead 36-27 at the break.
Williams and Blanche accounted for nearly all of the Cajuns offense in the first half. The pair each made 4-of-5 shots and scored 10 points.
Most of the statistics in the opening frame were nearly identical. The difference came at the free throw line, where ASU hit 10-of-12 from the stripe, compared to 3-of-4 by the Cajuns.
The Cajuns will play their final home game of the season on Saturday against Arkansas-Little Rock. UL Lafayette will say good-bye to seniors Green, Williams and Sarah Rickey.
Arkansas State (68) Lowman 6-11 4-5 20; Webster 6-14 3-3 15; McKeirnan 4-9 3-4 11; Porter 3-8 2-3 10; Humphries 1-3 2-2 4; Abraham 1-3 2-2 4; Carter 1-1 0-0 2; Shelby 1-5 0-0 2; Caraway 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 23-55 16-19 68.
UL Lafayette (57) Williams 4-5 6-8 14; Blanche 5-6 0-0 12; Tolston 4-15 1-2 11; White 3-6 2-7 8; Richey 3-11 0-0 6; Glenn 1-8 2-2 4; Menter 1-3 0-0 2; Petrakova 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 21-56 11-19 57.
Halftime- ASU 36, ULL 27. 3-point goals-ASU 6-7 (Lowman 4-4; Porter 2-3), ULL 4-17 (Blanche 2-2; Tolston 2-11; Richey 0-3; Glenn 0-1). Fouled out--ASU-None, ULL-Menter. Rebounds-ASU 35 (Webster 9), ULL 37 (Williams 6). Assists-ASU 7 (Webster 3), ULL 9 (White 4). Total fouls-ASU 15, ULL 19. A-191
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