Louisiana kicked off a big day of basketball inside the Cajundome as Garry Brodhead’s team put their five-game win streak up against Troy. Trailing by 11 with less than two minutes remaining, Louisiana forced overtime. But the Trojans had the last laugh with a last-second bucket to win the game 81-80.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
Louisiana opened the contest with a 9-6 lead early on in the first quarter. Troy was caught making silly mistakes and the Cajuns were able to make them pay for a few of them. Tamera Johnson led the Cajuns with 4.
At the end of the first quarter, Louisiana found themselves down 17-16 to the Trojans, shooting 29% from the field. Jaylyn James led the Cajuns in scoring with eight in the opening frame.
Troy pushed the lead to 29-23 at the second quarter media timeout with five minutes to go until halftime. Nia Daniel and Jaylyn James each lead their teams with eight points.
Troy ended the half with a 37-29 after the Cajuns failed to make a shot from the field for the final 7:41 of the first half. However, a little momentum came Louisiana’s way following four straight makes at the free-throw line. Tamera Johnson led Louisiana with nine while former Cajuns Makayia Hallmon led Troy with 11 at the break.
It stayed at a nine-point advantage at the third-quarter media timeout, with Tamera Johnson getting the old-fashioned three-point play right out of the break. At the end of the quarter, Troy fouled Nubia Benedith on a last-second heave to put her at the charity stripe with .7 seconds remaining. She made all three, cutting the Troy lead to 8 at the break.
Louisiana outscored Troy 15-10 down the stretch of the fourth, closing the gap to 5 with less than 10 seconds left. After an inbounds play by Troy, Louisiana immediately fouls. However, a late push by a Trojan player forced a tech to be called, with Louisiana making both technical shots to cut it to three with eight seconds remaining. Sherry Porter then hit from downtown, her first field goal of the game, to tie it with 1.7 seconds remaining.
In overtime, the Cajuns held the lead for most of the period, but a pair of missed free throws in the final 15 seconds was the difference as Troy hit a last-second shot to win 81-80.
BIG NUMBER: 11
Louisiana trailed by 11 with 1:24 remaining in the contest. The Cajuns were able to rip off some points mixed with good defense and a technical foul to tie the game and force overtime, where they fell in OT 81-80.
PLAYER OF THE GAME: Tamera Johnson
Johnson led all scorers with 23 points as well as racking up seven rebounds and five steals.
UP NEXT: Louisiana will hit the road next, traveling to James Madison. Tip-off is Thursday at 6:00 p.m.