AUBURN, Ala. – A late fourth quarter run from Louisiana Women’s Basketball (2-3, 0-0 SBC), was almost enough to come away with a big road win, but despite the strong finish the Ragin’ Cajuns fell 71-59 to the Auburn Tigers (4-1, 0-0 SEC) Saturday afternoon at Auburn Arena.
Sophomore Ty’Reona Doucet recorded her fifth-straight double-double, finishing with 13 points and 13 rebounds leading Louisiana on the boards. In scoring freshman Brandi Williams finished with a team-high 15 points and fellow freshman Andrea Cournoyer added 10 points on 4-for-8 shooting.
Louisiana’s defensive pressure allowed the Ragin’ Cajuns to stay close throughout the game, causing 22 Auburn turnovers and taking four charges throughout the game. But the main story was that Louisiana’s shot did not fall, and Auburn’s did as Louisiana shot 33 percent from the field and Auburn shot 44 percent.
HOW IT HAPPENED (First Half): Auburn came out and looked to take control of the game from the start, going on a 7-0 run to jump on Louisiana early in the first quarter. But Louisiana would not let the Tigers run away with the game from the start, and kept things close, powered by a late charge by the Ragin’ Cajuns that was sparked by Cournoyer’s three-point basket with 3:36 to go in the quarter.
Louisiana followed that up with a charge taken by sophomore Jomyra Mathis and another turnover by Auburn kept the score at 15-8. Louisiana then went on an 8-2 run over the final three plus minutes, capping off the quarter with a three-point basket from Williams and a charge from Williams on the next Auburn possession.
Auburn took a 17-13 lead into the second quarter, where Louisiana once again was strong defensively, but Auburn started the quarter on an 8-2 run to generate separation between the two teams. But powered by Louisiana’s strong defensive presence, Auburn hit a minute and a half scoring drought during the later parts of the period.
The Tigers’ drought allowed for Louisiana to stay in the game, and a Cournoyer jumper with 59 seconds left, followed by a pair of free throws with less than a second left by Womack kept Louisiana close, with Auburn leading 34-26.
HOW IT HAPPENED (Second Half): In the best overall quarter that Louisiana played during the game, the Ragin’ Cajuns came out during the third quarter and matched Auburn’s 14 points scored. Doucet hit a layup with 7:33 to go in the period, which sparked a quick 5-2 Louisiana run, which was capped off by Doucet’s free throw at 6:52 with the score sitting at 38-31 Auburn.
Auburn jumped on Louisiana with an 8-0 run to start the fourth quarter, and by the 6:20 mark Auburn pushed its lead to 16 points, leading 59-43. But the Ragin’ Cajuns made the final three minutes of the game exciting with a 9-0 run that was started by Doucet’s layup at 2:44 and finished with a pull-up jumper by freshman Diamond Morrison.
With 1:25 Louisiana had cut things to 64-59, but Auburn went on one final run, finishing the game on a 7-0 run to finally pull away from Louisiana to come away with a 71-59 win.
GAME NOTES: Doucet finishing with her fifth-straight and seventh career double-double scoring 13 points and grabbing 13 rebounds; Williams scored a team-high 15 points and Cournoyer tied a career-high with 10 points to give Louisiana three scorers in double-figures; Louisiana caused 22 Auburn turnovers which is a season-high; The Ragin’ Cajuns caused those turnovers by grabbing a season-high 12 steals.
UP NEXT FOR THE CAJUNS: Louisiana stays on the road when it heads to Edinburg, Texas to take part in the Texas Rio Grande Valley: Battle On the Border, which runs over the weekend of Nov. 30-Dec. 1. During the tournament Louisiana will open up with Texas A&M – Corpus Christi on Nov. 30, with a 4:30 p.m. tip and the Ragin’ Cajuns wrap up the weekend taking on hosting UT-Rio Grande Valley on Dec. 1, with that game tipping at 7 p.m.
TICKETS ARE AVAILABLE: Both season tickets and individual tickets for Louisiana Women’s Basketball are available for purchase by either heading to ragincajuns.com/tickets or by calling the Louisiana Athletics Ticket Office at the CAJUNDOME, (337) 265-2357, or by visiting the office in person.
FOLLOWING THE RAGIN’ CAJUNS: Follow the Ragin’ Cajuns on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook (@RaginCajunsWBB) to stay up-to-date with Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns Women’s Basketball.