University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics
Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns
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Mississippi State
Mississippi State Pulls Away in First Half
11/28/2008 6:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
The scoring spree opened a 35-13 lead with three minutes remaining in the first half. The deciding stretch of the game came from the 11-minute media timeout through three-minute media timeout. During the stretch, the Bulldogs (4-0) shot 10-of-14 while the Ragin' Cajuns (0-6) shot 3-of-14.
The game marked MSU's first trip to
The Cajuns scored on their first possession when Johnson hit a short-range jumper at
Free throws by Armelie Lumanu and Chanel Mokango at
A pair of Whitney Dunlap free throws at 14:29 offset a made basket by Govero and the score was tied again. The Bulldogs then cashed in a pair of steals into layups and the lead was 13-9 by the 12:16 mark ? a lead the visitors would not relinquish.
The Cajuns' scoreless drought after Dunlap's freebies continued through 9:34 when Alexis Green hit a jumper in the right wing. Before Green's jumper the Bulldogs had run off six more points and were up 19-9.
Eighteen seconds after Green's basket, MSU pushed the lead back into double figures when Donnisha Tate scored inside to make it 21-11.
MSU slowly began to pull away as the clock dropped under seven minutes. UL rebounded a MSU miss and Clay rushed up the floor for a layup. However, she misfired on the attempt and a long outlet pass from Rima Kalonda to Tysheka Grimes led to a layup at 6:42 and it was 27-13.
Govero stole the ball from Johnson on the ensuing possession and made a layup at 6:09 upping the advantage to 29-13. After a Cajuns miss on the return trip, Kalonda hit a turnaround jumper at 5:32 to increase the lead to 31-13. The Bulldogs later turned another steal into a layup at the 4:09 mark to move the lead to 20 points (33-13).
MSU's lead grew to 38-14 after a three-pointer by Lauren Roberts at 2:47. Louisiana then rattled off its best scoring run of the half to get the deficit under 20 points.
Morris answered Roberts' triple with a make of her own at 2:22. Alexis Rack missed back-to-back three-point attempts for MSU which led to back-to-back layups by Jasmine Barnes. Barnes' layups capped off a 7-0 run which trimmed the MSU lead to 38-21 by the 1:19 mark.
A pair of turnovers in the final minute of the half prevented UL from getting any closer before the break. A buzzer beater by Rack upped the MSU edge to 40-21 heading into halftime.
MSU scored the first three points of the second half to push the lead back over 20 points at 43-21. A Dunlap triple at 15:26 helped Louisiana cut the MSU lead to 45-26.
Both teams struggled shooting the ball after Dunlap's trey and a combined four points were scored. UL started the second half shooting 2-of-12 while MSU was 3-of-13 through the 11:50 mark.
The Cajuns defense held the Bulldogs scoreless from 13:06 through 10:06. A pair of free throws by Johnson with 10:17 left in the game closed the lead to 47-30. MSU ended its scoreless drought with three-point makes from Govero and Robin Porter on the next two possessions and it was 53-30 by the 9:34 mark.
Louisiana was held scoreless until a Morris basket with 6:23 on the clock. That field goal make cut the deficit to 23 points (55-32) which is the closest the Cajuns would get the rest of the second stanza.
Louisiana will next play in the CAJUNDOME on Tuesday, Dec. 2 against McNeese State at 5 p.m. The game is the first of seven regular season games for the Ragin' Cajuns in the facility. It's also the first half of a doubleheader with the UL-McNeese men.
