Cajuns Upset Bid Falls Short Against No. 20 Mississippi State

Box Score (PDF)

LAFAYETTE, La. – The Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns women's basketball team played a strong first half, building a 12-point lead over No. 20 Mississippi State, but the Bulldogs switched to a zone defense and went on a 10-0 run in the final 4:11 of the first period to carry momentum into the second half before pulling out a 66-51 victory Wednesday afternoon in front of 1,656 fans at the Cajundome.

"I thought our kids played extremely hard. I was pleased with our effort," said head coach Garry Brodhead. "Coach (Vic) Schaefer told me at the end of the game that was probably the best three guards he had faced all year. It makes you proud of the fact that we're recruiting some kids that can really play and start to buy in the system."

Louisiana (6-1) held Mississippi State to their lowest scoring total of the season as the Bulldogs came into the game averaging 89.2 points, which ranked fifth in the country.

"I feel as a team we can play with anybody as long as you have the heart to go out and do it," Veal said. "We have to get in the gym and practice hard. We need to shoot a lot and learn how to attack the zone."

With 4:41 to play in the first half, the Cajuns saw a 34-22 lead slip away as Mississippi State (12-0) ended the period with a 10-0 run with six points coming from Morgan William. After a three-pointer from Victoria Vivians that gave the Bulldogs their first lead of the game with 18:47 to play, Mississippi State managed to stretch its lead to double figures late in the contest. A four-point play from Jaylyn Gordon pulled the Cajuns within eight but William scored eight points in the final 2:24 to help the Bulldogs record a 66-51 victory.

Keke Veal led the Cajuns with 17 points while adding three assists, two assists and two steals. Gordon added 13 points and five boards, while Kia Wilridge finished with 10 points and a team-high seven rebounds and four steals.

The Cajuns were held to a season-low 27.7 percent (18-of-65) shooting for the game including 18.8 percent in the second half. Mississippi State managed 50 percent on 23-of-46 from the floor.

"We knew once they went zone (defense), we were going to struggle because they're bigger than us so it's harder for us to get there (in the paint)," Wilridge said. "We struggled shooting."

The Cajuns built a 5-0 lead in the first three minutes of the game before the Bulldogs got on the board. Louisiana received contributions from four different Cajuns to hold a 13-4 advantage at the 13:19 mark in the first half.

Louisiana recorded a double-digit lead midway through the half after two free throws by Gordon to make it 19-9. However, the Bulldogs cut their deficit in half after a three-point play by Martha Alwal for a 21-16 game.

After William added two points at the charity stripe that made it 26-20, the Cajuns put together an 8-2 run over the next two minutes to stretch their advantage to 34-22. However, the Bulldogs regained momentum after switching from a man-to-man to a zone defense to begin a run of their own to end the half.

William led the Bulldogs with 21 points, shooting 11-of-14 from the free-throw line. Vivians added 17 points and 12 boards, while Alwal finished with 14 points, nine rebounds and four blocks.

Louisiana next heads to Alcorn State on Friday for a 1 p.m. contest against the Lady Braves.

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Team Stats

Keke Veal

Jaylyn Gordon

Kia Wilridge

Adrienne Prejean

Players Mentioned

Jaylyn Gordon

Keke Veal

Kia Wilridge