University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics
Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns
UALR
UL Rally Falls Short in 57-52 Loss to UALR
2/5/2011 8:01:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Trailing by one point with 48 seconds remaining in the game, the University of Louisiana women's basketball team couldn't find the go-ahead basket as UALR held on to a 57-52 victory at Earl K. Long Gym on Saturday afternoon.
The Ragin' Cajuns (10-13, 3-7 Sun Belt) trailed by 13 points to the Trojans (16-5, 10-0 Sun Belt) with 7:41 left in the second half. UL then proceeded on an 18-to-6 run to make it a 53-52 contest with 48.6 seconds left.
UL missed a pair of shots, allowing the Trojans to clinch their 13th consecutive victory, while remaining undefeated in SBC action.
Mercedes Johnson earned her second double-double of the season, scoring 17 points and reeling in 15 rebounds. Johnson was 7-of-14 from the floor as she tallied her 19th double-digit contest of the year.
Senior D'Mya Clay reached double-figures for the third consecutive game. The Columbus, Ohio native scored a season-best 14 points with two rebounds. Clay drained eight of her 14 points in the final three minutes.
Louisiana shot 39 percent for the game (22-of-56), while UALR was 40 percent from the floor (18-of-45). The Ragin' Cajuns dominated the boards, 36-29, over the Trojans.
Three Trojans reached double-digits with Asriel Rolfe leading the way with 18 points, including four three-point makes.
In the first half, UALR used an 11-0 run to take a 26-21 lead at the half. Lyndra Bell led the Cajuns with eight points, making four of her five attempts. Janette Merriex led the Trojans with eight points.
Bell and Merriex each finished the game with nine points.
Louisiana jumped out to a five point lead with 12:06 remaining in the first half. A three-pointer by Clay put UL up 11-8 at 13:06. On the next possession, Bell picked up a rebound and drained the layup to give UL their largest lead in the half.
Marian Kursh knocked down a triple for the Trojans to tie the contest at 13.
The Trojans proceeded on an 11 point run to take a 24-17 lead with 3:33 left in the first half.
Louisiana closed out the half on a 4-0 run as Kemi Rotibi and Jasmine Barnes drained a pair of jumpers to cut UALR's lead to 26-21 at the break.
Rotibi, a native of Chicago, inked eight points and seven rebounds.
In the first half, UL shot 39 percent (10-of-26) from the floor, while the Trojans also shot 39 percent (9-of-23). The Cajuns controlled the boards, edging UALR, 18-12.
Starting the second half, Louisiana charged back to cut the Trojans lead to 27-25 with 18:30 on the clock.
Clay laid in a basket to cut the Cajuns' deficit to 32-31 with 14:57 left in the contest. However, Rolfe followed the next UALR possession with a triple to put the Trojans up by four.
Chastity Reed's jumper at 11:06 put the Trojans up by 10, 42-32. UALR stretched their lead to 47-34 with less than 10 minutes remaining.
UL proceeded to rally as they cut the lead to seven with 3:55 remaining.
Clay drove down the lane and was fouled after making a two-point basket. She made the plus-one to pull within six with 3:15 left. On the next possession, Clay drained a three-pointer to make it a 3-point contest with 2:22 left.
Clay continued to answer with a layup to make it a one-point UALR advantage with 48.6 seconds left.
Louisiana missed a three-point opportunity and committed a turnover. The Trojans then clinched the game with four consecutive made free throws to remain unblemished in Sun Belt play.
The Ragin' Cajuns travel to the Sunshine State next week with a pair of matchups at FIU and Florida Atlantic. UL will tip-off against the FIU Golden Panthers in a 5 pm CT contest on Thursday, Feb. 9 at the US Century Bank Arena.
-- Ragin' Cajuns--
