University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics
Thursday, February 25
Troy, Ala.
5:15 p.m.
Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns
18-8, 11-6
83
at
90
Troy
14-12, 9-8
1
2
3
4
F
UL Lafayette
20
16
26
21
83
Troy
28
19
17
26
90
Cajuns Late Surge Comes Up Short at Troy
2/26/2016 12:31:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Trailing by as many as 11 points in the second quarter, the Cajuns fell 90-83 to Troy at Trojan Arena
TROY, AL – Facing an 11-point halftime deficit, the Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns women's basketball team came storming back to take a fourth quarter lead, but ultimately fell, 90-83 to Troy at Trojan Arena on Thursday night.
The loss dropped the Cajuns to 18-8 and 11-6 in Sun Belt Conference play.
Senior guard Keke Veal netted a career-high 34 points, the highest scoring output by a Cajun since Krystal Motley back on Jan. 11, 2012 (36 points against South Alabama).
"I was very pleased with the effort, especially in the second half," Ragin' Cajuns head coach Garry Brodhead said. "Keke Veal did a tremendous job on both the offensive and defensive side. Kia played the whole 40 minutes pressuring the ball and doing all the things offensively with the ball in her hands [with a near triple-double].
"We got a couple nice buckets along the way and we had an opportunity to come back from 11 down at half and take the lead with a few minutes left in the fourth," Brodhead added. "We can build off of this and continue to get better."
Troy jumped out to a 28-20 lead in the first quarter. After an early 11-7 advantage by the Cajuns just 4:25 into the game, the Trojans went on a 21-9 scoring surge to end the quarter. Fifteen of Troy's 28 points came from their bench.
Troy's Claresa Banks netted 11 points in the opening quarter, while 10 of Veal's 34 points came in the opening stanza.
Junior Taylor Washington stroked a three-pointer to open the second quarter, which cut the deficit to five at 28-23, but four straight points from Troy put UL in a nine-point hole.
Back-to-back buckets by Washington and senior forward Adrienne Prejean pulled UL to within 39-34 with 2:37 left in the second quarter, but Troy scored eight of the game's next 10 points to go into halftime with a 47-36 lead.
Wilridge (7) and Washington (5) combined to score 12 of the team's 16 points in the second quarter.
Trailing by eight points in the third quarter, Veal finished a three-point play with 7:34 on the clock to make it 49-44 in favor of Troy.
After slicing the lead to 51-45, Kelley A. Beverly dropped a three-pointer to jump ahead by nine, but four straight free throws from sophomore Simone Fields kept it a five-point game.
Troy worked to build their lead back to 11 at 62-51 with 2:13 left in the third quarter. The Cajuns scored seven of the final nine points of the quarter to close the gap to two points at 64-62.
In the third quarter alone, the Cajuns made 11 free throws in 14 attempts and shot 43.8% (7-of-16) from the floor.
Veal nailed a jumper to tie dthe game at 64-64 to open the fourth quarter and proceeded to hit the team's next two buckets to put UL ahead, 68-66 with 8:34 left to play.
Claresa Banks hit a three with the game tied at 68 at the 6:34 mark. A layup by senior Brooklyn Arceneaux, a pair of free throws by Wilridge and a jumper by sophomore Jodi Quinn gave the Cajuns a 74-71 lead with 3:11 remaining in the game.
Troy's Caitlyn Ramirez scored five straight points to give Troy the lead for good at 76-74 with 2:15 to play.
Amanda Mendoza's jumper with 1:48 to go made it a two-possession game, which helped preserve the victory for the Trojans.
The Cajuns netted 14 points off Troy turnovers and added 13 second chance points. Louisiana sank 8-of-14 shots from three-point range (57.1%).
The Cajuns return to action this Saturday, Feb. 27 for a 2 p.m. tip-off at South Alabama.
The loss dropped the Cajuns to 18-8 and 11-6 in Sun Belt Conference play.
Senior guard Keke Veal netted a career-high 34 points, the highest scoring output by a Cajun since Krystal Motley back on Jan. 11, 2012 (36 points against South Alabama).
"I was very pleased with the effort, especially in the second half," Ragin' Cajuns head coach Garry Brodhead said. "Keke Veal did a tremendous job on both the offensive and defensive side. Kia played the whole 40 minutes pressuring the ball and doing all the things offensively with the ball in her hands [with a near triple-double].
"We got a couple nice buckets along the way and we had an opportunity to come back from 11 down at half and take the lead with a few minutes left in the fourth," Brodhead added. "We can build off of this and continue to get better."
Troy jumped out to a 28-20 lead in the first quarter. After an early 11-7 advantage by the Cajuns just 4:25 into the game, the Trojans went on a 21-9 scoring surge to end the quarter. Fifteen of Troy's 28 points came from their bench.
Troy's Claresa Banks netted 11 points in the opening quarter, while 10 of Veal's 34 points came in the opening stanza.
Junior Taylor Washington stroked a three-pointer to open the second quarter, which cut the deficit to five at 28-23, but four straight points from Troy put UL in a nine-point hole.
Back-to-back buckets by Washington and senior forward Adrienne Prejean pulled UL to within 39-34 with 2:37 left in the second quarter, but Troy scored eight of the game's next 10 points to go into halftime with a 47-36 lead.
Wilridge (7) and Washington (5) combined to score 12 of the team's 16 points in the second quarter.
Trailing by eight points in the third quarter, Veal finished a three-point play with 7:34 on the clock to make it 49-44 in favor of Troy.
After slicing the lead to 51-45, Kelley A. Beverly dropped a three-pointer to jump ahead by nine, but four straight free throws from sophomore Simone Fields kept it a five-point game.
Troy worked to build their lead back to 11 at 62-51 with 2:13 left in the third quarter. The Cajuns scored seven of the final nine points of the quarter to close the gap to two points at 64-62.
In the third quarter alone, the Cajuns made 11 free throws in 14 attempts and shot 43.8% (7-of-16) from the floor.
Veal nailed a jumper to tie dthe game at 64-64 to open the fourth quarter and proceeded to hit the team's next two buckets to put UL ahead, 68-66 with 8:34 left to play.
Claresa Banks hit a three with the game tied at 68 at the 6:34 mark. A layup by senior Brooklyn Arceneaux, a pair of free throws by Wilridge and a jumper by sophomore Jodi Quinn gave the Cajuns a 74-71 lead with 3:11 remaining in the game.
Troy's Caitlyn Ramirez scored five straight points to give Troy the lead for good at 76-74 with 2:15 to play.
Amanda Mendoza's jumper with 1:48 to go made it a two-possession game, which helped preserve the victory for the Trojans.
The Cajuns netted 14 points off Troy turnovers and added 13 second chance points. Louisiana sank 8-of-14 shots from three-point range (57.1%).
The Cajuns return to action this Saturday, Feb. 27 for a 2 p.m. tip-off at South Alabama.
Team Stats
ULL
TROY
FG%
.412
.435
3FG%
.571
.429
FT%
.760
.677
RB
37
49
TO
15
16
STL
8
7
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
14
FGM
5
3FGM
4
FTM
0
Pts
11
FGM
4
3FGM
0
FTM
3
Pts
10
FGM
2
3FGM
0
FTM
6
Players Mentioned
G/F
/ Women's BasketballF
/ Women's Basketball
F
/ Women's Basketball
G/F
/ Women's BasketballG
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