LAFAYETTE, La. – A long jumper from Jordan McLaughlin tied the game at 50-50 with 3:44 left in the fourth quarter, but Louisiana scored eight unanswered down the stretch as Old Dominion women's basketball fell 61-51 on Thursday night at the Cajundome.
Jada Duckett made 5-of-6 shots from the floor to lead ODU in the loss with 13 points. She was also 3-for-5 at the free-throw line and added six rebounds and three steals to her totals. Amari Young finished her night with 10 points, three boards, four assists and two steals. Jatyjia Jones tallied nine points while McLaughlin and Makayla Dickens scored seven points each.
"It was such an ugly game and it was smart on their behalf to slow everything down, be methodical on the offensive end and keep us on our heels defensively," said head coach DeLisha Milton-Jones. "They were able to win a scrappy, ugly game."
Down by five (43-38) at the end of the third quarter, a pair of layups from Jones and a jumper by Young put the Monarchs (12-8, 4-3 Sun Belt) back in front at 48-47. Louisiana's Destiny Rice then made her and-one opportunity before a long two from McLaughlin knotted the game at 50-50. All that momentum was snuffed out, though as ODU was on the wrong end of multiple foul calls. The Ragin' Cajuns (10-9, 4-3) took advantage to the tune of eight unanswered points in just under three minutes of play. Dickens earned a trip to the line with 42 seconds remaining, but by then the deficit was too much to overcome.
ODU quickly dug itself a 9-2 hole at the start of the first quarter. Jatyjia Jones followed up a Young jumper with a corner three-pointer to cut the UL lead to 11-8, but the hosts responded with two more scores for a 15-8 advantage after the opening stanza.
After the Ragin' Cajuns used a 6-0 push to go up 22-8 at the start of the second quarter, Young answered with six-straight points of her own before Brenda Fontana got her layup to fall. Down 25-16, the Monarchs put together an 8-0 run to close out the half and take a 26-25 lead at the break.
"We had to go to our zone because there were too many holes in our man-to-man defense," continued Milton-Jones. "They were getting into the paint at will and they were scoring at ease. So we had to change up our defensive philosophy and go to a zone and that got us back into the game."
In the third, Dickens made a pair of long-range shots to give ODU control at 33-32 and again at 38-36. However, Louisiana used a 7-0 response to wrap up the quarter.
Next up for the Monarchs is a 2 p.m. game at Georgia State this Saturday.
"Our passing was sloppy and I didn't like the rhythm that we started the game off with. One of the things that I wrote on the board was play with energy and take care of the ball. And those are two of the things that we did not start the game off with. But we need to remedy this and get a great road win against Georgia State. If we come in and play flat-footed and low on energy like that against Georgia State, it's going to be another dog fight."
Game Notes
- Louisiana had its best shooting game of the season as the Ragin' Cajuns went 24-for-39 (.615) from the field. Their previous best was a .537 (29-for-54) effort against LSU-Shreveport on Nov. 29.
- ODU took 12 more shots, but finished the game 21-for-51 (.412) from the floor.
- UL won the battle on the glass,26-22.
- The Monarchs scored more points off turnovers (24-20), more second-chance points (11-7), and more points off the bench (13-4). Both teams tallied 28 points in the paint.
- This was the second time this season Duckett has scored in double figures. The Chicago, Illinois native had a career-high 16 points in the team's Dec. 6 win over Lincoln (Pa.).
- This was the sixth time in the last seven games that Dickens has made multiple three-point attempts.
- The game featured two ties with 10 lead changes.
- UL led the game for 30:02.
- ODU trailed by as many as 14 points with 8:05 to play in the second quarter.
Turnovers, Late Fouls Lead to 61-51 Loss at Louisiana for Women’s Basketball
