STARKVILLE, Miss.-Louisiana's Ragin' Cajuns women's basketball team dropped their third straight road game as they fell to Mississippi State, 80-55 on Sunday afternoon at the Humphrey Coliseum in Starkville, Miss.
Leading the way for the Cajuns (4-8) was Mississippi native Courtney Ratliff (Canton, Miss.) In her return to the Magnolia State, Ratliff netted a team-high 15 points and pulled down six rebounds, while adding five steals.
Following Ratliff was Alicia McDaniel (Houston, Texas) who scored 11 points on the day. Her 11 points marked the fourth consecutive double-digit effort by McDaniel and the seventh time this season.
Sonora Edwards (Snook, Texas) led all Cajuns with eight rebounds.
In the opening minutes of the first half, the two teams played even matching each other basket for basket. Neither team held a lead larger than two points throughout the first four-minutes of the contest.
The Cajuns held a 10-9 lead thanks to an Elaine McCants (Boston, Mass.) triple with 16:15 to play in the first half.
A pair of free throws gave the hosts a one-point edge, and a triple from the top of the key with 15:12 on the clock gave Mississippi State their biggest lead to that point. The four-point edge didn't last long as Edwards cut the lead to 14-12 with 14:54 remaining in the half.
Trailing 17-12, Ratliff drained a three pointer to cut the MSU lead to just a pair.
The Lady Bulldogs went on a 12-0 run to take a 29-15 lead with 9:04 remaining in the first half.
Whitney Dunlap (Baton Rouge, La.) ended the Cajuns' five minute scoring drought with a triple to cut the Mississippi State advantage to 11 with 8:34 to play in the half.
The Cajuns were held scoreless in the final 6:32 of the first half and allowed the Lady Bulldogs to extend their lead to as many as 21.
Mississippi State took a 41-20 edge into the locker room at halftime as they closed out the final 7:45 on a 12-2 run.
In the second half, Mississippi State continued to roll. They slowly built their lead up to as many as 31 points.
The Cajuns cut the deficit to as little as 18 points early in the second half, but could get no closer and fell by a final score of 80-55.
Louisiana's Ragin' Cajuns women's basketball team returns home for a doubleheader with the men's team. The Cajuns will square off with Arkansas State at 4:30 p.m. at the CAJUNDOME with the men's game to follow at 7:05 p.m.
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