Golden Gophers dial up key scores after Ragin’ Cajuns make push to start second half

WESTWEGO, La. – The Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns Women’s Basketball team’s comeback bid was turned away by Minnesota’s three-point shooting which allowed the Golden Gophers to pull away for a 68-48 win on Saturday, November 30 in the Big Easy Classic at the Alario Center in Westwego, Louisiana.

Minnesota (9-0), which finished with a 10-0 advantage in three-point makes in the contest, made seven three-point baskets after Louisiana (3-3) sliced its deficit to 33-29 at the 7:51 mark of the third quarter.

After trailing by 14 points through one quarter of play the Ragin’ Cajuns received a spark from Nubia Benedith and Tamiah Robinson who combined for 12 points in the second quarter. Benedith hit a driving layup at the 2:04 mark capping off her personal seven-point contribution and moving UL within striking distance at 29-22.

The Ragin’ Cajuns attacked the basket early on in the third quarter, a combined three layups from Kamryn Jones and Jaylyn James in the first two-plus minutes dropping the Minnesota lead to four points. Jones scored on the break at 7:51 to make it 33-29 and prompt a Golden Gophers timeout.

Minnesota responded with a pair of triples in the next minute to extend the margin to 40-29 and the third triple of the frame had the Cajuns chasing at 45-29.

The Golden Gophers went back to the three-point well to lock up the victory, starting the fourth quarter with a three-point make on each of their first three possessions to advance the lead to 59-33 by the 8:41 mark.

Louisiana kept battling despite the fourth triple of the quarter upping Minnesota’s lead to 62-34. Robinson’s layup at 7:49 triggered a 10-0 run that was completed with a putback layup from Jones at 3:04 making it 62-44.

The Ragin’ Cajuns improved their shooting percentage to 33 percent (17-of-52) and limited Minnesota to 39 percent (26-of-66), but were outdistanced in the defeat by the Golden Gophers’ 30-point edge from beyond the arc. UL was unsuccessful on all seven of its three-point attempts.

Minnesota established the lead from the start, reeling off a 9-0 run in the game’s first three minutes. After Robinson’s second-chance layup at 5:35 cut UL’s deficit to 9-4, the Golden Gophers produced an 8-0 run over the next three minutes to move ahead comfortably at 17-4.

Jones paced UL’s scoring efforts with 11 points on 4-of-7 shooting while Benedith and Robinson finished with nine points apiece sparked by their second quarter output.

Louisiana completed play in the Big Easy Classic with its second straight defeat after entering on a three-game win streak.

Saturday’s contest marked the first-ever matchup in program history between Louisiana and Minnesota.

UP NEXT FOR LOUISIANA
Louisiana returns to the Cajundome on Saturday, December 7 to face Rice in a 2:00 p.m. contest.

The matchup with the Owls begins the final three-game stretch of non-conference games ahead of the December 29 Sun Belt opener at Georgia Southern.

Rice visits the city of Lafayette for the first time since December 1997 and makes its first-ever appearance in the Cajundome. The two programs last met in November 2021 in Houston, a 73-69 win for Louisiana.

Live television coverage is available on ESPN+, radio coverage on the Ragin’ Cajuns Radio Network and live stats available at CajunStats.com.

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