Florida Atlantic University Athletics
Florida Atlantic
4-18 (0-10SBC)
Louisiana-Lafayette
17-5 (9-2SBC)
Ragin Cajuns Outmuscle Owls 79-61
1/25/2007 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Jan. 25, 2007
Boca Raton, FL - Strong post play and a 27 rebound advantage catapulted the University of Louisiana-Lafayette (17-5) (9-2 SBC) past Florida Atlantic University (4-18) (0-10 SBC), 79-61, on Thursday night.
"When you let a team control the boards like Louisiana-Lafayette did it becomes frustrating," said Head Coach Chancellor Dugan. "We let them be more physical and never got ourselves into the bonus on free-throws. Our intensity level needs to pick up."
Neither squad was particularly dominating in the first-frame, as both sides shot an identical 32.4 percent mark from the field. The score seesawed with six different ties, including a 24-24 score with 2:38 left. Alicia Mcdonald put in four of the last six points for the Ragin Cajuns, who headed to the break up 30-26.
Mistoria Brown had eight points for the Owls in the opening half, while Breana Cox in her first start since the Georgetown game on 12/09/06 had seven points on three-of-five shooting.
Louisiana-Lafayette was 0-of-8 from the three-point land and had 11 first half-turnovers, yet still had the lead thanks in part to 10 second chance points off of 11 offensive rebounds. ULL controlled the rebounding battle 31-18 in the first.
The second period began much like the first, with both teams exchanging baskets. Brown's lay-up with 15:45 left cut ULL's lead to 36-32. The Ragin Cajuns began burning the nylon and went on a 12-0 run from the 11:57 mark to the 9:00 mark that saw their lead swell to 58-39. Florida Atlantic would be unable to cut their deficit to any less than 15 the rest of the night.
Trailing by 24 under a minute left the Owls successfully implemented their full-court press, tallying six points to truncate the final score to 79-61.
On the evening, FAU created 23 turnovers, but were only able to cash in on 10 points off of them. ULL hit 22-of-31 free throws compared to Florida Atlantic's 4-of-8 effort from the charity stripe.
For the 14th time this season, Mistoria Brown led the Owls in scoring with 13 points and five rebounds. Brittney Crenshaw had nine points, eight boards, and six steals in her third consecutive start. Shuteamia Brayboy finished the outing with eight points and five assists. The junior point guard is four assists shy of becoming third all-time in assists at FAU.
Four Louisiana-Lafayette players finished with a game-high 14 points. They included: Sonoroa Edwards, Yolanda Jones, Alicia McDaniel and Jeanne Colbert. ULL shot 57.1 percent from the field in the second half.
This Saturday Florida Atlantic leads off a double-header at 5 p.m. against Arkansas-Little Rock (13-8) (5-5) at FAU Arena. A live broadcast can be heard on fausports.com.
