LAFAYETTE – Mikaylah Manley scored a career-high 27 points to lead the charge for the Louisiana Women’s Basketball team but each time the Ragin’ Cajuns made a push in the second half the Monarchs found timely scoring spurts and collected a 72-61 victory on Wednesday, February 4 at the Cajundome.
With free throws and a made basket in just over one minute of play out of a third quarter media timeout, Manley produced six points for Louisiana as the ODU lead was trimmed down to 48-37 by the 4:13 mark.
The Monarchs (14-10, 6-6 SBC) made the first of key move of the second half, taking advantage of a pair of UL turnovers to extend the lead back out to 52-37 as the clock reached 2:53.
The Ragin’ Cajuns (2-21, 1-12 SBC) reeled off seven unanswered points capped off by Kahlen Norris’ triple at 2:03 and Amijah Price’s layup off an ODU turnover at 1:39 to close within 52-44 – the first time within single digits since the first quarter.
ODU had another quick response to push the Ragin’ Cajuns away again, scoring seven unanswered over the final 1:27 of the third quarter. The decisive blow to Louisiana’s comeback chances came when the Monarchs got two layups in the final 17 seconds to stretch the lead out to 59-44.
Lily Ba’s three-point make to open the scoring in the fourth quarter came at 9:15 and kept the Cajuns hanging around at 59-47. The Cajuns scored points on the next two possessions but each time Monarchs had an answer the latter a triple from Simaru Fields pushing the lead to 66-51 with 8:00 left to play.
A mere 37 seconds later Bianca Silva kept the Ragin’ Cajuns push going with a fastbreak layup making it 66-53. ODU clamped down defensively keeping UL off the board for over four minutes and ran off six consecutive points to put the game out of reach.
Manley’s march to a career-high performance started with a paint jumper at 7:06 of the first quarter and subsequent layup off an ODU turnover at 6:38 for four quick points that gave UL a 6-5 advantage. The Ragin’ Cajuns lead was short-lived as the Monarchs surged ahead with a 7-0 run over the next 3-1/2 minutes – the first appearance of timely scoring spurts.
ODU claimed a firm grasp on the lead with an 11-0 run that bridged the end of the first quarter and first two minutes of the second quarter, a stretch where the visitors lead increased to 29-13 by 8:09 in the second quarter.
The Ragin’ Cajuns held the Monarchs to two points for over the next four minutes but only produced four of their own, unable to put a dent into the double-digit margin.
Wednesday’s game marked the third all-time meeting between the two programs and first at the Cajundome since January 2023. The Monarchs collected their first win in the series.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
Manley delivered 12 of Louisiana’s 23 points in the first half and added an additional 15 in the second half in building a career-high scoring performance for the second time in the past two weeks.
It was the team-leading 16th double-figure scoring game for Manley who scored 20-plus for the fourth time in the past six games and topped the previous career-high 25 points scored vs. Coastal Carolina (Jan. 21).
Price was the second-leading scorer with the bulk of her nine points coming from 7-of-8 shooting at the free throw line.
Imani Daniel tied Manley for the team-lead with six rebounds. Daniel pulled down five rebounds in six minutes of play in the second half before fouling out.
The Ragin’ Cajuns collected nine steals out of the 14 turnovers forced. Silva and Ba each posted three steals.
The Monarchs’ depth paid dividends with 10 players coming off the bench to help generate a 32-12 advantage in bench points.
ODU shot 50 percent (14-of-28) and doubled up UL in paint points (20-10) in building a 39-23 halftime lead.
UP NEXT FOR LOUISIANA
Louisiana travels to Akron, Ohio for Round 2 of the MAC-SBC Challenge on Saturday, February 7. The matchup with the Zips is set for 11:00 a.m. (CST) from James A. Rhodes Arena.
Live television coverage of the first-ever meeting with Akron is available on ESPN+ and fans can listen to the radio broadcast on The GOAT 103.3 FM and 1420 AM in the Acadiana region and Varsity Sports worldwide.
Saturday’s game marks the final non-conference game of the season. Louisiana returns to SBC play from Thursday-Saturday, February 12-14 with road games at Troy and South Alabama.
FOLLOW THE RAGIN' CAJUNS
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Fans are also encouraged to stay engaged with the Ragin' Cajuns by downloading the #GeauxCajuns app. Click here [apps.apple.com] for iOS/Apple platforms and here [play.google.com] for Android platforms.
Fans can support the women's basketball student-athletes, and invest in the program's future, through The Cajuns Edge Fund (click here [ragincajuns.evenue.net]) to contribute directly to the Louisiana Athletics and Ragin' Cajuns Athletic Foundation's revenue-sharing initiative or by joining the Assist Club (click here [ragincajuns.evenue.net]).