The Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns women’s basketball team split their matches in a home stand last week, first clawing their way into an overtime victory against the Marshall Thundering Herd on Wednesday, Feb. 5, then losing in heartbreaking fashion in their MAC-Sun Belt Challenge matchup Saturday, Feb. 8, falling just short in overtime to the Miami (OH) RedHawks.
During a Feb. 3 press conference in preparation for the return to the Cajundome, Head Coach Garry Brodhead talked about what he saw in Marshall, as the originator of the high-pace, full-rotation style of play that has taken over the Sun Belt Conference.
“Going into the Marshall game, they created all this problem in the conference. I think everybody wants to play like they did last year, and everybody’s doing a pretty good job of it,” said Brodhead.
“I don’t see that as much this year, they’re a little bit slower and more half-court than they were last year.”
When asked about the health and availability of Ashlyn Jones, who saw reduced time in the previous game while nursing a shoulder injury, Brodhead reflected on the overall health of his squad.
“We’re playing with nine, but not nine healthy kids, so that makes it tough. No excuses, we’re gonna play and fight through it.”
Brodhead also touched on the recent late-game struggles of the team and how staying behind for stretches of game was hindering their ability to close out tough opposition.
“We just can’t quite finish it, and it’s because we’re having to make runs and trying to do some things that kinda wear our kids out,” said Brodhead.
“You’re playing right now to get better too. You wanna win games, but you wanna get better also for the tournament, and that’s what we always push, ‘Hey, let’s get better every day,’ whether it’s practice or games.”
“I think we have the team that once we’re healthy, we can compete with just about anybody in the conference, so we just gotta try to get that back.”
Brodhead also stressed the importance of the matchup with both Marshall, at the start of Black History Month, and Miami as the Cajuns’ Pink Game bringing awareness to women’s cancer.
“I think the Black History game is extremely important,” said Brodhead. “We are a team of African Americans that I’m very proud of, so I wanna make sure that they are seen or heard also.”
The matchup against Marshall on Wednesday featured that high pace Brodhead had mentioned. Both teams went basket-for-basket throughout, and the lead changed hands 10 times.
An incredible volume and pace was played: the Cajuns and the Herd both committed 21 turnovers, put up 44 and 32 paint points respectively, and put up a combined 126 shots. The teams entered the fourth quarter tied at 57–57.
With just 34 seconds left, it looked like the season-long tale was coming true again, as the Cajuns lagged behind four points in spite of inspired shooting.
Ashlyn Jones showed no quit, forcing the issue and making both her free throws after drawing contact. A Marshall player turned the ball over, and suddenly the Cajuns were gifted one last chance to tie.
Erica Lafayette, who finished with a career-high 26 points in the match, drained a three-pointer to get the game to overtime, where the Cajuns would go on to win 92–88.
Coming into Saturday’s game, the out-of-conference RedHawks matched a similar profile to the Cajuns, as each sported six conference wins and usually leaned on their defense to take over against tough opponents.
This match would play out much slower, with both teams completely unable to score for minutes at a time in both the second and fourth quarters.
A huge part of the Cajuns’ efforts in keeping the game close was ball security and generating turnovers. Senior Tamiah Robinson contributed to this gameplan exceptionally well, bringing in 10 rebounds (as a guard) and six steals.
This time it was the Cajuns who held a three-point lead with just 15 seconds remaining, but the Hawks’ Tamar Singer drained a step-back three-ball of her own to force overtime, where the Cajuns could only muster four points and lost, 60–59.
Brodhead talked post-game about the ending sequence of regulation and the thought he had to potentially foul while up three points.
“You could’ve fouled toward the end of regulation. The girl was so far out, my worry was [fouling] her on the shot. She shot it and actually made it. Tough game to lose, but I’d much rather lose that one than a conference game.”
Next up for the Cajuns is a matchup against the rival Louisiana-Monroe Warhawks on Saturday, Feb. 15, followed by a trip to San Marcos to face the Texas State Bobcats on Wednesday, Feb. 19.