LAFAYETTE, La. – Tamiah Robinson hit the game-winner with 1.5 seconds remaining and head coach Garry Brodhead recorded his 200th career victory as the Louisiana women’s basketball team won an overtime thriller over Southern Miss, 58-57.
Trailing by as many as four in the overtime period with 21 seconds left, the Cajuns (15-13, 10-8 SBC) began the comeback as Brandi Williams made a pair of free throws to cut the lead to 57-55.
After forcing a five-second inbound violation with seven seconds left to play, Robinson took the inbound pass and drove to the free-throw line where she made the jumper to tie the game and drew a foul. With ice in her veins, the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, native converted from the charity stripe to give Louisiana the win.
Southern Miss (17-12, 10-8) led by as many as 12 in the fourth with 6:51 left before the Cajuns went on a 15-2 run to take a 43-42 advantage with 2:38 remaining. Williams sparked the run with a jumper and a 3-pointer before Tamera Johnson hit a pair of free throws.
Williams then hit another 3-pointer and converted the four-point play, trimming the lead to three. Destiny Rice closed out the run, making four-consecutive free throws.
Williams led the Cajun offense with a team-high 20 points as Rice finished with 11. Robinson added nine points to go along with a game-high eight rebounds.
With the win, Louisiana earned the No. 7 seed in the Sun Belt Tournament and will square off against 10th-seeded Arkansas State at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday.
POSTGAME QUOTES
Head Coach Garry Brodhead
“It’s one of those games that you rely on your players to lead you. You just could see at the end, especially I noticed her [Brandi Williams], with 18 seconds left and we're down by four she just comes to the time out and she says ‘hey, we got this. We're going to get this done.’ That, to me, that’s important. There is a lot of growth that you see in these young kids. It was fun to see us finish like that because that was a tough game. Both teams battled, they defended us well, I thought we defended them well. I guess that’s what we love. A game like that where you battle. I’m proud of all the kids. I’ve had a lot of great kids that have gotten a lot of those 200 wins. Especially [associate head coach] Deacon Jones. He’s been with me for what feels like 40 years. It's good people. I was telling them that you lose people in your family but then you have a job like this, and you gain more. You gain more family by working with these young kids, so I’m very blessed.”
Tamiah Robinson
On making the game-winning shot…
“To be honest, I’m just thinking ‘Go get a bucket.’ It wasn’t really for me. The play wasn’t really for me. It was just get it to Tamera Johnson and see if we could get something out of that or get it to Brandi Williams for a shot, but since they sagged off it left me wide open. I’m just thinking we got five seconds left, just go get a bucket.”
Brandi Williams
On making the run in the fourth quarter…
“I have to give majority of that to my teammates. They kept telling me to shoot the ball and to just keep shooting even though you’re missing. Just keep shooting the ball. I think I had that mentality on the court.”
FOLLOW THE RAGIN' CAJUNS
Follow the Ragin' Cajuns on Twitter (@RaginCajunsWBB), Facebook (Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns) or Instagram (@RaginCajunsWBB) to stay up-to-date on all that is happening with Louisiana Women's Basketball.
Fans are encouraged to stay engaged with the Ragin' Cajuns by downloading the #GeauxCajuns app. Click here for iOS/Apple platforms and here for Android platforms.
------------------------------------------------------------
Stay in touch with us anytime, anywhere.
To reach the newsroom or report a typo/correction, click HERE.
Sign up for newsletters emailed to your inbox. Select from these options: Breaking News, Evening News Headlines, Latest COVID-19 Headlines, Morning News Headlines, Special Offers