Rough Second Quarter Dooms Louisiana in 70-41 Loss To LSU
The Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns women's basketball team could not overcome a poor first half performance in their 70-41 loss to the LSU Tigers.
The Cajuns are now 2-1 this season, but Louisiana head coach Garry Brodhead thanked both fan bases for coming out to the Cajundome for the game.
"Thanks to the Cajun fans that did come out," Brodhead said. "I wanted to thank the Cajun fans and LSU fans for coming out and supporting women's basketball. Supporting women's sports is extremely important and they showed up tonight."
Neither team started well from the field in the first quarter. LSU only hit one of their first nine shots, but Louisiana's offense was even worse, starting 0-5 with three early turnovers.
LSU had an early 3-1 lead, but a three-pointer by sophomore guard Makayia Hallmon, the first made bucket of the game for the Cajuns, gave them a 4-3 lead midway through the first quarter.
The Tigers went on a quick four-point spurt thanks to the fifth and sixth turnovers by the Cajuns in the first quarter. Freshman forward Tamera Johnson tied it with a three and junior guard Brandi Williams gave them the lead with a layup. The 9-7 score was the last lead that Louisiana would have.
Louisiana had 10 turnovers in the first quarter, which prevented them from taking advantage of their solid defense. The two teams were tied at 10 through the first frame.
Four minutes into the second quarter, the Cajuns continued struggling on offense with turnovers. They were 4-14 from the field and had 14 turnovers, but they trailed only by two points at 14-12.
Louisiana went on an extended scoring drought that lasted nearly six minutes in the second quarter. During the stretch, LSU went on a 8-0 run to open up their largest lead of the first half, 20-12. Finally, Hallmon broke through with a bucket, but LSU answered with 10 straight before halftime. The 18-2 run broke the game open, and the Tigers led 30-14 at the half.
The Cajuns scored only four points in the second quarter. They went into halftime shooting 5-22 from the field with 17 turnovers.
Louisiana's offense started to wake up to start the third quarter, and they scored 11 points in the first five minutes, but LSU also started to get hot, scoring 15 points in that stretch. At the official timeout six minutes into the third, the Tigers had stretched their lead to 20 points at 45-25.
Led by Williams, the Cajuns scored 19 points in the third quarter after only managing four in the second. However, LSU's 21 in the quarter still kept them at a comfortable 51-33 lead entering the fourth.
Louisiana needed a huge comeback in the final quarter to avoid their first loss of the season.
Instead, the offense went on another scoreless stretch that lasted five minutes. LSU took advantage, using a 11-0 run to put the game out of reach at 64-35 with three minutes left in the game.
LSU ran out the clock and won 70-41, handing Louisiana their first loss of the season.
Brodhead said that the turnovers played a big part in the loss.
"I think we were probably top 10 in the country in turnovers going into this game, and it just kind of fell apart," Brodhead said. I thought in the first quarter we handled ourselves pretty well, but as the game went on there were just too many turnovers."
Williams and sophomore guard Destiny Rice each had 10 points for Louisiana. They were the only players in double figures.
Up next, the Cajuns look to bounce back with another home game against New Orleans on Saturday, Nov. 20 at 2:00 p.m.