Cajuns Run Away From Georgia Southern, 56-39

The Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns blew things open with a 15-0 run over the final 5:39 and turned a tight game into a 56-39 win over the Georgia Southern Eagles Thursday evening at the Hanner Field House in Statesboro, GA.

The Cajuns defense forced five turnovers and a half dozen missed shots down the stretch as Louisiana increased its record to 11-3, 4-1 in the Sun Belt Conference.

The win was the 58th in Garry Brodhead’s career, moving him past Ross Cook into second place on the all-time victories list in Cajuns’ history.

“I thought we started slow, almost like our feet were stuck in the mud,” Brodhead said, “but we gave them time to weather the storm, and they did.”

The Cajuns led by only two, 41-39 after a bucket by the Eagles' Sierra Butler with 5:36 left. But Kia Wilridge scored on a layup seven seconds later and Georgia Southern never scored again. Wilridge scored ten of the Cajuns’ final 17 points to lead all scorers with 17 points, while Jaylyn Gordon added 15.

Freshman Brionne Cooper scored eight points and hauled in a career-high 13 rebounds. “I thought she just got better as the game went on,” said Brodhead. “She got some really big rebounds for us.". The Cajuns outrebounded the Eagles 38-28.

The Cajuns’ defense held Georgia Southern (4-10, 1-4) to just 7-26 from the field in the second half and outscored them 20-6 in the fourth quarter. Louisiana, meanwhile, hit 14-23 in the second half after shooting just 10-33 in the first two quarters.

The Cajuns got the first bucket of the game, but Georgia Southern then went on a 12-0 run as Patrice and Sierra Butler combined for ten points. The Cajuns came back with an 8-2 run of their own and cut the lead to four points on a Jaylyn Gordon three pointer. But Angel McGowan answered with a triple of her own and the Eagles led at the end of one quarter, 17-10.

It took most of the second quarter to catch up, but the Cajuns tied the game at 22-22 on a Brooklyn Arceneaux basket. Keke Veal then hit a free throw to put the Cajuns ahead for good, and Gordon hit a jumper to give the Cajuns a 15-5 edge in the second quarter and a 25-22 lead at the break.

Veal hit a three point basket to extend the Cajuns’ lead to six early in the third quarter and the Cajuns’ lead stayed between four and six points for most of the quarter. But Alexis Sams hit from near midcourt as the third quarter came to an end and Louisiana had to settle for a 36-33 lead at the end of the period.

Sams was the only player in double figures for Georgia Southern. She scored 12 points.

The Cajuns will look for the road sweep Saturday when they stop in Atlanta to play Georgia State at the GSU Sports Arena.