The Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns women’s basketball team fell the Troy Trojans 81-73 on Saturday evening in Troy, Alabama. The loss moves the Cajuns to 4-3 in Sun Belt Conference play.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
The game started with the Cajuns starting off on a nice run, largely thanks to Ashlyn Jones. Jones would make her first five field goals and surpass her season-high point total before the end of the first quarter. With help from Jones, the Cajuns held a 21-13 lead after the first quarter.
In the second, Troy began to recapture some of the momentum. The Cajuns led 27-19, but Troy rattled off a 14-1 run to take the lead at 33-28. Down the stretch in the half, the Cajuns got the lead down to one and entered the break down just 36-35.
The third quarter began with disaster for Louisiana. Nine straight points as part of a 17-2 run got Troy a 53-37 lead before the under five media timeout.
Down the stretch in the third, the Cajuns battled but just could not get anything to fall from the outside. For Troy, Fortuna Ngnawo led the way off the bench, scoring 13 points and securing 10 rebounds by the end of the third. Louisiana entered the final quarter down 57-44.
The Cajuns fought behind Tamiah Robinson in the fourth quarter. They got the lead down to single digits, but were never able to fully close the gap. Robinson finished with 21 points, but the Cajuns fell 71-63.
BIG NUMBER: 46
Troy is the nation’s leading rebounding team for a reason. They pulled down 46 of them, including 15 offensive boards. That helped them build their lead in the middle quarters.
PLAYER OF THE GAME: Fortuna Ngnawo
Ngnawo paced the Trojans both offensively and on the glass. She ended up with 13 points and 12 rebounds for a double-double effort to lead Troy to the win.
UP NEXT: The Cajuns will return home to host Arkansas State on Thursday, January 23rd at 6:00 PM inside the Cajundome.