After eliminating the Arkansas State Red Wolves on Wednesday night, the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns women’s basketball team matched up in the quarterfinals against the Troy Trojans. Louisiana was down for the majority of the game but claimed their first lead late in the third quarter and eventually came out on top 67-65 to move on to the semi-finals of the Sun Belt Tournament.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
The Trojans got an early lead as Ja’Mia Hollings knocked down a three-pointer after Tai’Sheka Porchia got the offensive rebound. A jumper by Uniyah Franklin, a couple of free throws by Tamiah Robinson, and a three from Jaylyn James gave Louisiana the 7-5 lead two minutes into the game.
Over the next seven minutes, Troy went on a 19-5 run. Hollings and Nia Daniel knocked down mid-range shots, and then Shaulana Wagner and Zay Dyer continued to attack the mid-range and the paint.
Daniel later in the run stole Tamera Johnson’s pass and went coast-to-coast for the layup. Johnson had the ball stolen again on the next possession and Leilani Guion’s three put the Trojans up 10. By the end of the run, the Trojans were up 24-12 with 44 seconds left in the first quarter.
Louisiana went on a 10-4 run in those final moments of the opening quarter and the first couple of minutes in the second. Brandi Williams made the layup, and then Johnson and Jaylyn James scored within 20 seconds of each other. James’ layup was the first of four straight made shots as Hollings scored again, Ashlyn Jones hit a mid-range shot, but Makayia Hallmon knocked down the first of back-to-back three-point shots.
In the last five minutes of the first half, the Cajuns went on an 11-3 run to make it a four-point game. Johnson, James, and Alicia Blanton scored on the first three possessions. James’ three ended a two-minute scoring drought. Leilani Augmon hit from downtown but Blanton’s layup late sent us to the locker rooms as Louisiana was down 37-33.
Hollings extended the Trojans lead early in the second half with a couple of jumpers. Johnson however made two of her own and Robinson’s shot made it a two-point game three and a half minutes in.
It was back and forth for most of the third quarter as neither team had more than a two-point lead over the other. James gave the Cajuns their first lead of the game late in the third quarter with an and-one layup. Daniel knocked down another three but Destiny Rice tied the game at 50 with a layup at the 1:20 mark of the third quarter.
Louisiana entered the fourth quarter with a four-point advantage after James assisted Robinson’s layup and Jones knocked down both her free throws. Robinson extended the to seven with a three-pointer in the opening possession but Troy immediately tied the game with shots by Hollings, Dyer, and Hallmon. Johnson broke the tie with a layup but Hollings scored again from deep with under six and a half minutes to play.
The Cajuns reclaimed the lead as Robinson made back-to-back threes to give her team the three-point lead with two minutes to go. Hollings cut the lead in half with a floater from the free-throw line but the Trojans missed their last three shots as the Cajuns moved onto the semifinals of the Sun Belt Tournament with the 67-65 win.
BIG NUMBER: 17
The Cajun defense forced 17 turnovers against Troy which led to 14 points off those turnovers. Louisiana only gave the ball away eight times in the two-point win.
PLAYER OF THE GAME: Tamia Robinson
Robinson was one of two Cajuns to spark the offense on Friday night as she finished the game with 15 points on 5-10 shooting (3-5 from three), two rebounds, three assists, a steal, and a block in the 67-65 win over the Trojans.
UP NEXT: The Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns women’s basketball team will be back on Sunday, March 10th when they take on the number three-seeded James Madison Dukes in the semifinals of the Sun Belt Tournament. Tip-off in the Pensacola Bay Center is set for 2:00 p.m.