TROY, Ala.-Louisiana's Ragin' Cajuns women's basketball team played for 40 minutes in their opening round Sun Belt Conference Tournament game against Troy and when the dust settled their effort fell just short as the No. 13 seeded Cajuns fell 68-65 to the No. 4 seeded Trojans on Wednesday night.
After dropping a 93-52 decision to the Trojans a little more than a week ago at home, the Cajuns went on the road and put together one of their best performances of the season in their final game of the season and almost pulled off one of the biggest upsets of the season in the conference.
Mercedes Johnson led Louisiana (3-27) with 16 points and 13 rebounds, while Alexis Green posted 19 points and Jasmine Barnes 10 in the loss. The double-double for Johnson was the first of the true freshman's career and the third for the Cajuns this season. Green scored in double digits for the 26th time on the year, finishing the year in double figures in every game against Sun Belt Conference opponents.
Alyce Shearing led the way for Troy (16-13) with 18 points on 9-of-14 shooting, also grabbing a team-high eight rebounds in the victory. Brittnie Davis added 17, while Kylie Morrissy added 13 for the Trojans.
As the shot clock was winding down, and the game clock at 21 seconds, Kristen Smith took a pass from Morrissy on the wing and drained a three pointer to give Troy a 65-59 lead. Louisiana came right back down the floor and drained a three of their own, when Green forced a shot from the right wing and found the bottom of the net with just 15 seconds remaining.
Davis came down the offensive end for the Trojans and was fouled, hitting both free throws with 11 seconds remaining to give Troy a 67-62 lead, which they would need as Green hit another three over two defenders as she was falling to the floor to trim the lead to 67-65 with just four seconds remaining.
Morrissy hit one of two free throws with just 1.6 seconds remaining, and Davis was able to knock the ball away as the clock expired to send the Trojans to Hot Springs.
Troy shot 46.3 (25-of-54) percent from the floor and 36.8 (7-of-19) from beyond the arc. They also shot a blistering 84.6 (11-of-13) percent from the charity stripe, while outrebounding the Cajuns 38-36 for the game.
Meanwhile, the Ragin' Cajuns shot 39.1 (25-of-64) percent from the floor and 46.2 (6-of-13) percent from beyond the arc. They also shot 56.3 (9-of-16) percent from the free throw line in the loss.
The Trojans were one of just two higher seeded to wins in the first round of the conference tournament.
-www.RaginCajuns.com-
