University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics
Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns
South Alabama
Cajuns Let Late Lead Slip, Fall to USA
3/5/2011 8:24:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Louisiana's Ragin' Cajuns dropped a tough 58-53 decision to South Alabama on Saturday afternoon during first round action of the Sun Belt Conference Tournament.
Louisiana (11-19) has now been eliminated by South Alabama (17-12) in the SBC Tournament three times in the last four seasons.
The Cajuns lost to USA 49-40 in 2008 and 82-76 in 2010.
In a hard fought game in which the Cajuns trailed most of the time, UL took the lead at the 3:48 mark and again with 2:09 remaining.
Unfortunately, the Cajuns did not score again in the game. The Jaguars won with six straight free throws over the final 1:44.
Mercedes Johnson and D'Mya Clay led all players with 17 and 15 points, respectively.
USA was led by 14 points from Sarda Peterson.
It was Peterson's big three-pointer that turned the momentum early in the second half when the Cajuns were closing on the Jaguars.
The Jaguars lead hit seven points on two different occasions before UL used a 6-2 burst to trim their deficit to just three points at the 10:55 mark.
Baskets by Clay and Johnson saw UL trail by only one point, 45-44, with 8:16 to play. One free throw by Kemi Rotibi tied the game with 6:30 remaining.
Johnson's turnaround jumper at the 3:48 mark gave the Cajuns their first lead since the opening minute of the game.
USA took back a one-point lead on an inside basket from Taylor Ammons with 2:22 remaining.
Jasmine Barnes picked a good time to register her first points of the contest, hitting a long jumper to shift the lead back to UL with 2:09 on the clock.
The Cajuns shot 42.9 percent from the floor to just 40.4 percent for the Jaguars. The different came at the free throw line (UL 2-of-7, USA 11-of-15) and behind the arc (UL 2-of-9, USA 5-of-15).
The Cajuns scored the game's first basket on a lay-up by Johnson, but it would prove to be UL's only lead of the first half. Peterson hit three long three-pointers in the first 8:40 to help the Jaguars build an 18-9 lead.
UL scored five quick points on a bucket from Clay and a triple from Krystal Motley to pull within four points at the midpoint of the first half.
The Cajuns struggled from the floor over the next seven minutes, hitting only two baskets, allowing USA to double their lead.
Clay scored five of her 11 first half points in the last two minutes, as the final 2:24 belonged to UL. The Cajuns used a 9-4 burst to close within three points at the break.
