Denver too Much as Cajuns Fall at Home

Box Score

Another slow start hurt the Ragin' Cajuns on Wednesday night as they fell victim to Denver 76-39 at Earl K. Long Gym.

Louisiana was able to cut the DU lead to 46-31 with just under 15 minutes to play, but the visitors used a 30-8 run to close out the game handing the Cajuns their 12^th straight loss.

UL (5-17, 0-10) was no match for Denver (16-8, 8-2) on the boards as they were outrebounded 44-31 and shot just 27 percent from the floor.

Josie West finished with six points and five rebounds while Michelle Brunker also scored six points and grabbed four rebounds. Krystal Motley and Megan Whittaker chipped in six points a piece to round out Louisiana's top scorers.

DU had four players in double-figures at the end of the night. Kaetlyn Murdoch led the charge with 23 points on 10-of-13 shooting and had six boards. Morgan Van Riper-Rose finished with 16 points including four three pointers and Jordan Johnston also had four triples in route to a 14 point night. Morgan Shell recorded 10 points and garnered eight rebounds.

The Pioneers scored first as Shell converted on a three-point play and Emiko Smith knocked down back-to-back triples to give Denver a 9-0 advantage.

Brunker got the Cajuns on the board hitting two free throws to cut the DU lead to 9-2 with 16:21 to play in the first half.

The visitors rolled off another scoring spurt by scoring 10 straight points including three-pointers from Johnston and Smith to up their lead to 19-2 within the first six minutes of the ballgame.

The Ragin' Cajuns responded by scoring the next six points on a driving basket by Bianca Davis, two free throws from Motley and a layup from Robbie Brown making the score 19-8 at the 11:12 mark.

After West connected on two free throws, the Pioneers hit their fifth and sixth threes of the half building their largest lead, 31-12.

Whittaker made her 21^st shot beyond the arc and Brooklyn Arceneaux made both of her free throw attempts cutting the Denver lead to 33-19 with 3:25 to play in the first stanza.

DU regained a 19 point advantage until the Cajuns ended the half on a 5-0 run resulting from baskets by Motley and Arceneaux making the score 38-24 after the first 20 minutes.

UL was led in scoring by Motley in the first stanza with five points, while three other Cajuns had four points.

Denver had two players in double-figures by halftime with Murdoch and Johnston each having 11 points apiece.

After visitors built a 21 point lead after an 8-1 run to begin the half, Davis banked in a three from the top of the key and Whittaker nailed a triple of her own from the corner to make the score 46-31.

Over the next nine-plus minutes the Pioneers embarked on a 20-2 scoring spurt, in which Murdoch was responsible for 10 of the 20 points as Denver expanded their second half lead to 66-33 with 6:55 remaining in the game.

Denver continued to extend their lead going up by as much as 76-37, until Samantha Roy scored her first basket of the season with 28 seconds to go to finish off the contest.

The Ragin' Cajuns will hit the road as they travel to Mobile, Ala. to face conference opponent Troy on Saturday at 5:15 p.m.

-- Ragin' Cajuns --

Next Event

Footer

University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics