University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics
Saturday, March 21
Lafayette
7 p.m.
Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns
21-12
63
vs
58
McNeese State
18-14
1
2
F
McNeese State
23
35
58
Louisiana
34
29
63
Team Stats
MCN
UL
FG%
.477
.481
3FG%
.125
.182
FT%
.833
.688
RB
29
26
TO
16
12
STL
2
8
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
13
FGM
6
3FGM
0
FTM
1
Pts
12
FGM
5
3FGM
1
FTM
1
Pts
5
FGM
1
3FGM
0
FTM
3
Players Mentioned
G
/ Women's BasketballF
/ Women's BasketballPG
/ Women's BasketballPG
/ Women's Basketball
Ragin' Cajuns Advance in Thriller Over McNeese, 63-58
3/21/2015 11:39:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Veal eclipses 1,000-point barrier in career-night from the floor
LAFAYETTE – Jaylyn Gordon hit a go-ahead 3-pointer with 51.8 seconds remaining and the Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns advanced to the Women's Basketball Invitational semifinals after defeating in-state rival McNeese State, 63-58, before a capacity crowd on Saturday at Earl K. Long Gym.
Keke Veal scored a career-high 29 points and became the 15th player in school history to eclipse the 1,000-point mark in her career as Louisiana (21-12), the No. 2 seed in the West Region, advance to face the winner on Monday's contest between top-seeded New Mexico and fifth-seeded Oral Roberts.
Louisiana, which led by as many as 15 points in the second half, led for over 39 minutes in the game before sixth-seeded McNeese State (18-14) trimmed a 10-point deficit with 9:14 left and took its first lead of the game when Talisa Boyd scored on a jumper with 1:26 left for a 56-55 advantage.
After Simone Fields sank a pair of free throws that put Louisiana ahead on the following possession, McNeese reclaimed the lead when Victoria Rachal rebounded a missed jumper by Allison Baggett and scored for a 58-57 lead with 1:00 remaining.
But Gordon, the Ragin' Cajuns top long-range shooter, buried her only 3-pointer of the night when her bucket from the right wing gave Louisiana a 60-58 lead it would not relinquish.
The Ragin' Cajuns defense then kept McNeese State off the board for its final two possessions as Jayln Johnson was called for an offensive foul with :28 seconds left and Robbie Brown later stepped in front of a Baggett pass and was fouled with 1.8 seconds remaining.
Louisiana built a 16-6 lead with 11:26 remaining in the first half on a jumper by Kia Wilridge and extended it to 25-12 when Wilridge buried a jumper in the lane. The Cowgirls chipped away at the lead, getting as close as 27-23 on a bucket by Jasmyn Carswell with 2:57 remaining in the first half, but the Ragin' Cajuns closed out the half with a 7-0 run that began with a three-point play from Simone Fields.
Gordon added a jumper for the Ragin' Cajuns and Wilridge drove the lane for a layup that gave Louisiana a 34-23 lead at the break.
Veal, who finished 12-for-21 from the floor and grabbed a game-high eight rebounds, increased her career scoring total to 1,011 points. The junior added three steals for the Ragin' Cajuns, who forced 16 turnovers and shot 25-for-52 (48.1 percent) from the floor.
Johnson scored 20 points, including a 12-for-14 performance from the free throw line, to lead McNeese State. Baggett added 11 points for the Cowgirls with Mercedes Rogers pulling down a team-high five rebounds. The Cowgirls finished 21-for-44 (47.7 percent) from the floor, 15-for-18 from the free throw line and held a 29-26 advantage on the glass.
Keke Veal scored a career-high 29 points and became the 15th player in school history to eclipse the 1,000-point mark in her career as Louisiana (21-12), the No. 2 seed in the West Region, advance to face the winner on Monday's contest between top-seeded New Mexico and fifth-seeded Oral Roberts.
Louisiana, which led by as many as 15 points in the second half, led for over 39 minutes in the game before sixth-seeded McNeese State (18-14) trimmed a 10-point deficit with 9:14 left and took its first lead of the game when Talisa Boyd scored on a jumper with 1:26 left for a 56-55 advantage.
After Simone Fields sank a pair of free throws that put Louisiana ahead on the following possession, McNeese reclaimed the lead when Victoria Rachal rebounded a missed jumper by Allison Baggett and scored for a 58-57 lead with 1:00 remaining.
But Gordon, the Ragin' Cajuns top long-range shooter, buried her only 3-pointer of the night when her bucket from the right wing gave Louisiana a 60-58 lead it would not relinquish.
The Ragin' Cajuns defense then kept McNeese State off the board for its final two possessions as Jayln Johnson was called for an offensive foul with :28 seconds left and Robbie Brown later stepped in front of a Baggett pass and was fouled with 1.8 seconds remaining.
Louisiana built a 16-6 lead with 11:26 remaining in the first half on a jumper by Kia Wilridge and extended it to 25-12 when Wilridge buried a jumper in the lane. The Cowgirls chipped away at the lead, getting as close as 27-23 on a bucket by Jasmyn Carswell with 2:57 remaining in the first half, but the Ragin' Cajuns closed out the half with a 7-0 run that began with a three-point play from Simone Fields.
Gordon added a jumper for the Ragin' Cajuns and Wilridge drove the lane for a layup that gave Louisiana a 34-23 lead at the break.
Veal, who finished 12-for-21 from the floor and grabbed a game-high eight rebounds, increased her career scoring total to 1,011 points. The junior added three steals for the Ragin' Cajuns, who forced 16 turnovers and shot 25-for-52 (48.1 percent) from the floor.
Johnson scored 20 points, including a 12-for-14 performance from the free throw line, to lead McNeese State. Baggett added 11 points for the Cowgirls with Mercedes Rogers pulling down a team-high five rebounds. The Cowgirls finished 21-for-44 (47.7 percent) from the floor, 15-for-18 from the free throw line and held a 29-26 advantage on the glass.
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