University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics
Saturday, February 7
Cajundome
3:15 p.m.
Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns
15-7, 7-6SBC
51
vs
57
UT Arlington
12-9, 6-6SBC
1
2
F
UT Arlington
18
39
57
Louisiana
32
19
51
Team Stats
UTA
UL
FG%
.468
.339
3FG%
.300
.280
FT%
.625
.500
RB
36
34
TO
10
6
STL
3
6
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
12
FGM
4
3FGM
3
FTM
1
Pts
11
FGM
4
3FGM
2
FTM
1
Pts
7
FGM
3
3FGM
1
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
G
/ Women's BasketballPG
/ Women's BasketballPG
/ Women's Basketball
Second Half Shooting Hurts Cajuns In 57-51 Loss To UTA
2/7/2015 9:01:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Mavs erase 14-point deficit behind inside tandem
LAFAYETTE – Keke Veal came off the bench to score a game-high 15 points to lead the Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns women's basketball team, but poor shooting in the second half combined with the inside presence of the UT Arlington tandem of Rebekah Van Dijk and Toma Zaleckaite was too much in a 57-51 loss in a Sun Belt Conference game Saturday at the Cajundome.
Van Dilk, a 6-foot-5 freshman, posted a double-double for UTA (12-9, 6-6 Sun Belt) scoring 14 points and grabbing a game-high 15 rebounds. Zaleckaite, a 6-3 junior, scored nine of her 13 points in the second half as the Mavs erased a 14-point deficit at halftime by shooting 15-for-24 (62.5 percent) from the floor while holding Louisiana (15-7, 7-6 Sun Belt) to 8-for-31 (25.8 percent) from the floor in the final 20 minutes.
"The first half, I thought we played a really good game, our game plan really worked," head coach Garry Brodhead said. "(In the second half) we let them (UTA) get into the game that they really wanted to play. We should have pressed the whole half … that's hindsight. We should have just kept it playing fast."
Louisiana used a 20-9 run over a 12-minute span in the first half that turned a 10-7 contest into a 30-16 game. A bucket by Van Dijk with 11:22 remaining in the first half cut the Louisiana lead to 12-9, but Veal and Kia Wilridge each sank 3-pointers and Wilridge added a layup for a 20-11 lead with 9:33 left.
A 3-pointer by Robbie Brown pushed Louisiana's lead to 23-13 at the 6:34 mark and the Ragin' Cajuns took their biggest lead (30-16) when Wilridge buried another 3-pointer at the 1:59 mark.
After trailing 32-18 at halftime, UTA stormed back behind the play of their inside tandem. The Mavs opened the second half with a 17-2 run that was capped by a free throw by Zaleckaite with 13:30 remaining that gave UTA a 35-34 lead. Both teams traded buckets before the Ragin' Cajuns built a 45-40 lead after a layup by Jaylyn Gordon with 6:10 remaining.
But UTA used a 7-2 run that tied the game at 47-47 before a 3-pointer by Amara Wainwright with 3:22 left gave the Mavs the lead for good at 50-47.
"The first half, they (UTA) played mostly man (defense), so we were able to score some," Brodhead said. "In the second half, they played mostly zone and I think it bothered us. We quit taking the ball to the goal."
The Ragin' Cajuns cut the lead to 52-49 on a layup by Gordon with 1:09 remaining, but Cierra Johnson scored on a layup and later added a free throw to push UTA's lead to 55-49 with 25 seconds remaining.
Brown scored 12 points for Louisiana with Wilridge adding 11 and a team-high seven rebounds. Gordon, the seventh-leading scorer in the Sun Belt Conference, was limited to seven points after being held to 3-for-15 shooting from the floor and 1-for-9 from long range.
UTA finished 22-for-47 (46.8 percent) from the floor in the game, held a 36-34 advantage on the glass and committed 10 turnovers – the fewest forced by Louisiana in a single game this season.
Louisiana will return to action beginning Thursday when it visits ULM in a Sun Belt Conference game at Fant-Ewing Coliseum. Tipoff is scheduled for 5:15 p.m.
Van Dilk, a 6-foot-5 freshman, posted a double-double for UTA (12-9, 6-6 Sun Belt) scoring 14 points and grabbing a game-high 15 rebounds. Zaleckaite, a 6-3 junior, scored nine of her 13 points in the second half as the Mavs erased a 14-point deficit at halftime by shooting 15-for-24 (62.5 percent) from the floor while holding Louisiana (15-7, 7-6 Sun Belt) to 8-for-31 (25.8 percent) from the floor in the final 20 minutes.
"The first half, I thought we played a really good game, our game plan really worked," head coach Garry Brodhead said. "(In the second half) we let them (UTA) get into the game that they really wanted to play. We should have pressed the whole half … that's hindsight. We should have just kept it playing fast."
Louisiana used a 20-9 run over a 12-minute span in the first half that turned a 10-7 contest into a 30-16 game. A bucket by Van Dijk with 11:22 remaining in the first half cut the Louisiana lead to 12-9, but Veal and Kia Wilridge each sank 3-pointers and Wilridge added a layup for a 20-11 lead with 9:33 left.
A 3-pointer by Robbie Brown pushed Louisiana's lead to 23-13 at the 6:34 mark and the Ragin' Cajuns took their biggest lead (30-16) when Wilridge buried another 3-pointer at the 1:59 mark.
After trailing 32-18 at halftime, UTA stormed back behind the play of their inside tandem. The Mavs opened the second half with a 17-2 run that was capped by a free throw by Zaleckaite with 13:30 remaining that gave UTA a 35-34 lead. Both teams traded buckets before the Ragin' Cajuns built a 45-40 lead after a layup by Jaylyn Gordon with 6:10 remaining.
But UTA used a 7-2 run that tied the game at 47-47 before a 3-pointer by Amara Wainwright with 3:22 left gave the Mavs the lead for good at 50-47.
"The first half, they (UTA) played mostly man (defense), so we were able to score some," Brodhead said. "In the second half, they played mostly zone and I think it bothered us. We quit taking the ball to the goal."
The Ragin' Cajuns cut the lead to 52-49 on a layup by Gordon with 1:09 remaining, but Cierra Johnson scored on a layup and later added a free throw to push UTA's lead to 55-49 with 25 seconds remaining.
Brown scored 12 points for Louisiana with Wilridge adding 11 and a team-high seven rebounds. Gordon, the seventh-leading scorer in the Sun Belt Conference, was limited to seven points after being held to 3-for-15 shooting from the floor and 1-for-9 from long range.
UTA finished 22-for-47 (46.8 percent) from the floor in the game, held a 36-34 advantage on the glass and committed 10 turnovers – the fewest forced by Louisiana in a single game this season.
Louisiana will return to action beginning Thursday when it visits ULM in a Sun Belt Conference game at Fant-Ewing Coliseum. Tipoff is scheduled for 5:15 p.m.
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