LAFAYETTE – Louisiana Women’s Basketball (5-14, 3-5 SBC) were done in by a late fourth quarter run by the UT Arlington Lady Mavericks (15-5, 7-2 SBC), falling 76-61, at the CAJUNDOME, in a rare Tuesday evening Sun Belt Conference matchup.
Sophomore guard Skyler Goodwin recorded her first career double-double, finishing with 10 points and 10 rebounds, while freshman guard Brandi Williams added a team-high 13 points, but it was not enough for Louisiana to keep pace with the Lady Mavs.
During the final six minutes of the game UT Arlington scored 13 points, to Louisiana’s five points, including a 9-0 run around the six-minute mark of the final quarter, which was enough to give Louisiana its third straight Sun Belt Conference loss.
HOW IT HAPPENED (First Half): Louisiana started the game strong, trading baskets with UT Arlington over the entire period. Both sophomore center Ty’Reona Doucet and Williams had strong quarters, with Williams dropping six points and Doucet adding five of her own as both teams swapped leads, and the game was tied seven times during the first 10 minutes of action.
But over the final 40 seconds, Louisiana would force a UT Arlington turnover and set up a buzzer beating basket, that came from the floating jumper of freshman Diamond Morrison, who hit her basket as time expired to give Louisiana a 20-19 lead heading into the second quarter.
Louisiana came out and jumped on the Lady Mavs to start the quarter, going on a 7-0 run, after UT Arlington’s Claire Chastain hit a basket to open the period. But the run only last for two minutes, and Louisiana could not pad its lead past a six-point lead, 27-21, that Louisiana held at the 8:38 point of the quarter.
Over the next eight minutes, UT Arlington worked its way back into the game, and when the clock hit 4:36, the game was tied for the eighth time at 28-28. UT Arlington then went on 10-3 run over the final four minutes of the half, building a seven-point lead in the process, giving the Lady Mavs a 38-31 lead heading into the break.
HOW IT HAPPENED (Second Half): Within the first minute and a half, UT Arlington pushed its lead to 10 points, but Louisiana was not ready to fold up and leave, as its defense began to work hard and created a stretch over the next four minutes where UT Arlington would not score another point. During that stretch, Louisiana went on a 7-0 run to cut the UT Arlington lead to three points, with the score sitting at 42-39 and 4:51 remaining on the clock in the quarter.
Unfortunately for Louisiana that would be the closest that the Ragin’ Cajuns would get to UT Arlington over the remainder of the game, with the Lady Mavs pushing the lead back over double digits with a 13-4 run that ended Louisiana’s 7-0 run and gave them an 11-point lead with two minutes remaining in the period. A strong finish over the final 1:48 of the quarter, led by Morrison and Goodwin, allowed Louisiana to get within six points heading into the final period with the score at 55-49 in favor of UT Arlington.
Louisiana hung with the Lady Mavs over the first five minutes of the fourth quarter, once again getting within seven points as the clock ticked past 5:30 in the period. But a 9-0 run, started with a three-point basket from Chastian, bled into a 13-5 finishing stretch for UT Arlington and it gave the Lady Mavs a 76-61 win when the final buzzer rang.
GAME NOTES: Goodwin’s double-double (10 points, 10 rebounds) was her first career double-double; The 10 rebounds for Goodwin ties a career-high; This was the 10th game this season that Williams has scored at least points, which puts her right behind Doucet (12 games with at least 10+ points) for most games with at least 10 points scored this season.
UP NEXT FOR THE CAJUNS: Louisiana continues its busy week, with a quick turnaround when the Appalachian State Mountaineers come to the CAJUNDOME on Thursday, Jan. 31, with tip for that game scheduled for 6:30 p.m. The week wraps up with a 2 p.m. game against Coastal Carolina at the CAJUNDOME on Saturday, Feb. 2.
TICKETS ARE AVAILABLE: Both season tickets and individual game 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.