UL Women Capture Road Win Over Georgia St., 63-56

UL junior guard Kia Wilridge

Louisiana’s Ragin’ Cajun women’s basketball team recorded a big Sun Belt Conference road win on Saturday, defeating the Georgia St. Panthers, 63-56, in Atlanta, Georgia.

The victory, the fifth for Louisiana in their last six games, got them off to a good start to begin a three-game road swing.

The win also completes a two-game season sweep of the Panthers by the Cajuns, who defeated Georgia St., 68-52, in Lafayette, back on January 8.

Georgia St. led, 14-6, at the 9:21 mark of the first half, before Louisiana went on a 14-0 run over the next 3:49, to take a 20-14 lead with 5:32 left in the half.

The Cajuns went on to score 9 of the next 14 points to end the half, making it a 23-6 run over the final 9:21 of the first half, to take a 29-20 lead into the locker room at halftime.

Georgia St. out-shot Louisiana from the floor in the first half, 37%-35%, while holding down a 21-15 rebound advantage, but also committed 14 turnovers.

Jayline Gordon led the way for the Cajuns over the first 20 minutes, with 8 points, while Haley Gerrin had 6 points at the break for the Panthers.

Louisiana extended their lead to begin the second half to ten points, 33-23, at the 15:34 mark, before Georgia St. went on a 9-0 run over the next 1:57, to cut the UL lead to one, 33-23, at the 13:37 mark.

The Cajuns responded, going on a 10-1 run over their own over the next 3:45, to open up their lead to nine points, 43-34, with 10:52 remaining.

With the game tied, 42-42, at the 10:28 mark of the second half, Louisiana went on a 13-6 run over the next 4:51, to extend their lead to 55-48 with 5:37 remaining.

That proved to be the game-deciding run, as the Panthers were able to cut the UL lead to four points, 51-47, with 3:00 to go, but that's as close as they'd get as the Cajuns went on to the 7-point win.

Georgia St. out-shot Lousiana from the field, 37%-33%, while also finishing with a 44-35 rebounding edge, but the Cajuns forced 20 turnovers, and held Georgia St. to 0-15 shooting from beyond the three-point arc.

Gordon led the way for the Cajuns, scoring 18 points, while Keke Veal and Robbie Brown each added 14 apiece.

Kia Wilridge also provided 7 points, 8 rebounds, 2 assists, and 3 steals.

In a losing cause for the Panthers, Kayla Nolan had 13 points and 3 rebounds, while Brittany Logan finished with only 104 points and 7 rebounds.

View the game box score.

With the victory, Louisiana improved to 13-5, overall, and 5-4 in Sun Belt Conference play, while Georgia St. slipped to 8-10, and 3-5, respectively.

The Cajuns return to action, and continue the three-game road trip, on Saturday, when they travel to take on South Alabama in a Thursday morning match-up at 11 am.