On Jan. 20 the Ragin’ Cajuns women’s basketball team took on Troy University in the Cajundome and celebrated their alumni and former players.
The Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns Women’s Basketball, missing eight of their players with either illness or injury, led the entire first half against Troy but fell short, ending with the visiting team taking home the win with a final score of 65–57 at the Cajundome.
Sparked by three treys from Brandi Williams and a combined 13 points from Tamia Robinson and Aasia Sam, the Cajuns (6–10, 2–5 SBC) built a 33–26 halftime advantage.
Even though the Trojans (9–8, 6–1 SBC) came out with nine points in less than two minutes to draw even at 35-all by the 8:24 mark of the third, Louisiana stayed in step.
The Cajuns hit five field goals every time a tie was created over the next five minutes, closing with Nubia Benedith’s layup at 2:49 that made it 45–43.
During halftime, the team brought back their former players and gave them recognition for their time as Ragin Cajuns.
The game was made to celebrate the women who put in their time and effort while they were students at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette.
Troy’s first true scoring run of the contest followed, Nia Daniel hitting a triple at 2:40 to start a 7–0 run for a 50–45 lead just inside of a minute left in the third.
The Cajuns battled back to avenge last week’s loss, a Uniyah Franklin layup and Sam’s buzzer beater trimming the deficit to 50–49.
Williams drove to the hoop for a layup at 8:48 of the fourth quarter to forge a 51-all tie, the Cajuns drew hard luck on the offensive end the next six minutes— the next goal wouldn’t come until 2:05 remained and the Trojans took over.
Despite the adversity of a second straight game, the Cajuns played with the outcome hanging in the balance late in the fourth quarter.
The Cajuns saw seven players convert multiple field goals and shot 45% (23-of-51), marking the fifth time in seven SBC games shooting 40-plus. Louisiana connected on six-three pointers and limited the Trojans to only one make from beyond the arc.
Williams produced a team-high 16 points on 6-of-12 shooting which included a 4-of-5 showing from three-point range.
Alicia Blanton contributed a season-high nine points, Sam, and Robinson each delivered eight points and Franklin scored seven.
Despite the loss against Troy, the team played with everything they had. They recently announced their player of the week, which is Alicia Blanton. This game, Alicia had nine points, 4FGM, 1–3FGM, and 0 FTM, and notched her season-high total in points twice!
With the team leader board for this game, Brandi Williams came out on top with 16pts, 6 FGM, 4–3FGM, and 0 FTM. Following her was Alicia Blanton, Aasia Sam and Tamiah Robinson.
Louisiana moves to the back half of its January ending. The Ragin’ Cajuns still have a lot of seasons left for 2024, and we know they are hungry and ready to make a comeback from this recent game.
The Ragin’ Cajuns have been doing excellent this season, and we believe they will continue to grow and end their season off right.
For their next game we were going to manifest a win, but what we really want is to see that same fight and energy come to life through all four quarters and not just the first half. I want to see the rest of the team shine through.
As of the time of writing, the Ragin’ Cajun women’s basketball team hasn’t yet played their next games. They have a four-homestand welcoming Coastal Carolina and Texas State to the Cajundome from Jan. 25-27.
The second stage of the homestand starts with a 5:00 p.m. tip off against Coastal Carolina on Thursday, Jan. 25 followed by a 2:00 p.m. contest against Texas State on Saturday, Jan. 27.