First Half Cold Spell Sends Cajuns to Tough Loss at NT

Box Score

A 13-minute scoring drought in the first half turned a promising start for the Ragin' Cajuns women's basketball team into a tough defeat Saturday afternoon at The Super Pit in Denton, Texas, as North Texas scored 31 unanswered to open a comfortable halftime lead and pull away for a 78-40 victory.

Behind seven points from Krystal Motley in the first five minutes of play the Ragin' Cajuns (5-22, 0-15 Sun Belt) carried a 9-6 lead into the first media timeout. If not for four Mean Green free throws UL's lead would have been larger.

The Mean Green (14-13, 7-7 Sun Belt) took the lead 11-10 following a Tamara Torru trey at 13:42, but it didn't last as Motley continued her hot start by hitting a triple in the right corner at 13:27 for her fourth made basket in five attempts.

The teams played to a 13-all stalemate for nearly three minutes until three straight field goal makes by Sara Stanley vaulted NT into a 19-13 lead. UL had cooled off from the floor, missing six consecutive shots since the Motley three-pointer at 13:27.

Following the seven minute media timeout the Cajuns continued to inflict damage upon themselves, committing a turnover on four straight possessions. The Mean Green received a pair of three-pointers from Laura McCoy at 5:43 and 5:12 to move the lead into double figures at 25-13.

Louisiana's scoreless drought lasted until Jean-Marie Allen made two free throws with 10 seconds remaining before halftime. By that point the Mean Green had extended the lead to 42-13.

After starting the contest 5-of-8 from the field the Cajuns faltered in the final 13 minutes of the opening stanza missing their final 12 attempts and the halftime deficit was too large to overcome.

Motley led the Cajuns with 15 points. The senior from Houston notched her 15^th double-figure scoring game of the season (ninth in 15 SBC games).

Stanley led a quartet of North Texas players in double figures with 17 points on 5-of-6 shooting from the field and 7-of-8 at the charity stripe.

The Ragin' Cajuns, who played their final road game of the 2011-12 regular season, return home next week for a pair of games. UL hosts Nebraska-Omaha on Monday at Earl K. Long Gym in the non-conference finale, then meets in-state rival La.-Monroe at the Cajundome on Saturday for the regular season finale.

Michelle Brunker converted a three-pointer at 16:04 of the second half to register the Cajuns first field goal make in nearly 17 minutes of game action and lower the deficit to 49-18. Robbie Brown made it back-to-back possessions with a triple for UL when she buried one at 15:25.

The Cajuns found an offensive rhythm over the next three minutes, getting a Brunker basket at 14:16 and makes from Brown on consecutive possessions at 13:06 and 12:15 to make it 53-27.

Motley's third triple of the contest came at 10:38 and cut the NT lead to 55-30. The Mean Green then turned up the tempo getting baskets in transition from Stanley, Braylah Blakeley and Torru to spark a 6-0 run that brought the lead back over 30 points, 61-30, with 9:33 remaining.

North Texas ended the contest shooting 50 percent (26-of-51) compared to 30 percent (14-of-46) for Louisiana. The Cajuns committed 24 turnovers which the Mean Green converted into 30 points.

-- Ragin' Cajuns --

First Half Cold Spell Sends Cajuns to Tough Loss at NT

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