Turnovers Prove Costly in Season Opener

HOUSTON, Texas-Louisiana's Ragin' Cajuns women's basketball team tipped-off the 2008-09 season with a 51-39 loss against Texas Southern at the Delmar Fieldhouse in Houston.

The game was moved from TSU's H&PE Arena due to electrical issues following a fire on campus earlier in the week.

The Ragin' Cajuns were led by a pair of Texas natives.

Alexis Green, a Dallas resident, led all Cajuns players with 11 points and chipped in eight rebounds in her UL debut. Houston native Mercedes Johnson led Louisiana with 10 rebounds, while contributing seven points.

Sophomore D'Mya Clay added a solid night for the Cajuns with eight points and six boards, while senior Whitney Dunlap drained a pair of triples for six points.

The Cajuns failed to find a consistent rhythm on the night shooting just 29-percent from the floor. UL held Texas Southern to 33-percent shooting, but were hampered by 28 turnovers that lead directly to 20 TSU points.

The two teams played even for the majority of the contest before Texas Southern started pulling away with five minutes remaining.

In the first half, the two teams battled back and forth exchanging baskets. Neither team led by more than four points in a half that featured six ties and eight lead changes.

Trailing by four points with 7:16 to go in the first half, Johnson hit a jumper in the paint to cut the UL deficit to just a pair at 15-13. Three minutes passed without a basket until Krystal Motley broke the scoring drought with a jumper to knot the score at 15-15 with 4:17 on the clock.

The two teams exchanged free throws over the next three minutes until TSU's Jasmine Greer drove to the basket and made a layup with just over a minute to go in the first half to put the host Tigers ahead 19-18.

Dunlap made her first basket of the season count as she drained a triple with 12-seconds remaining in the half to put the Cajuns in front 21-19 ? a lead UL would take into halftime.

The Cajuns opened up the second half with a basket by Green to push the lead up to four points, but six straight points by The Lady Tigers saw the Cajuns on the wrong end of a 25-23 score.

Clay's fast break lay-up with 13:27 on the clock knotted the score at 25-25, but Jasmine Cannon was fouled as she made the go-ahead lay-up.

Cannon proceeded to make the ensuing free throw to increase the TSU lead to 28-25. Cannon made the front end of two free throws to push the Lady Tigers advantage to four points, before Bronson Rodgers made a lay-up under the basket to trim the lead to 29-27.

Texas Southern went on an 8-to-1 run to claim a 37-28 advantage with eight minutes remaining in the game.

Dunlap once again came up big for the Cajuns, halting the Lady Tigers' run with a three-pointer from the corner to cut the TSU advantage to 37-31 with 7:31 left to play.

Just 30-seconds later, Johnson took a pass from Clay on a fast break to move the Cajuns to within four points.

A six-to-two run by Texas Southern pushed the host's advantage to 43-35 with two minutes to play.

A free throw by Johnson cut the deficit to seven points, but a basket by TSU's Cannon made the score 45-36 with 90-seconds to play. A pair of free throws by Cannon gave Texas Southern an 11-point advantage with 51 ticks on the clock, a deficit the Cajuns would not overcome.

The Ragin' Cajuns women's basketball team will tip-off their home schedule on Wednesday, Nov. 19 as they play host to Ole Miss. The game will be played at historic Earl K. Long Gym and tip at 7:00 p.m.

-www.RaginCajuns.com-

Turnovers Prove Costly in Season Opener

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Turnovers Prove Costly in Season Opener

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