MONROE, La. ? The ULM women's basketball team
honored its cancer survivors Wednesday night during its Pink Zone Game with a barrage
of 3-pointers and a second half surge to defeat Louisiana-Lafayette 82-53
inside Fant-Ewing Coliseum.
ULM (13-11, 6-7) was on fire from all around
the 3-point line as it set a team record with 14 made 3-pointers in a game, dropping
the old record of 13 made 3s set back in Dec. of 1993. The Warhawks knocked
down 14-of-24 attempts in the contest, good for 58.3 percent.
Leading by just five at halftime, ULM used a
23-8 run including four 3-pointers during the first nine minutes of the second
frame to push the game wide open, 53-33. The Warhawks also crashed the boards
as they topped the Ragin' Cajuns 46-28 in rebounds and in the process grabbed 22
offensive rebounds.
“I thought our intensity was there and we
were making the extra pass to score,” ULM head coach Mona Martin said. “We have been settling for
ok shots as of late, but tonight we got a lot of good shots tonight. We got hot
from deep and I thought our flare screens were awesome. I thought we did a good
job of penetrating and kicking the ball out to the open shooter.”
The Warhawks' were led by a balanced scoring
attack as fours players scored in double-figures as they helped ULM lead by as
many as 32 points in the contest.
Jesse Carrier led the ULM attack from downtown
with 15 points including 5-for-10 from outside the 3-point line. Lottie Moore
was all over the court as she scored 13 points, grabbed eight rebounds,
assisted on five shots, and stole five passes. Sumar Leslie and Kassie Courtney
added 12 and 10 points, respectively.
“What a special night,” Martin said. “I thought our crowd was awesome and pink was everywhere. I think
that made it really special for our team, but we were desperate for a win. I
thought we let a couple of games slip by as we are fighting for a home
tournament game.”
Alexis Green led all scorers and
Louisiana-Lafayette (3-21, 0-13) with 20 points to go along with five rebounds,
while Mercedes Johnson added 17 points and five rebounds.
Throughout the first eight-plus minutes of
the contest there were three lead changes before ULM's Carrier knocked down a 3-pointer
to put the Warhawks ahead by two points, 14-12, with 10:41 remaining. The
Warhawks wouldn't trail from then on.
ULM would eventually take a 30-25 lead into
the locker rooms at intermission.
Carrier moved into sole possession of ninth
place all-time in ULM 3-point makes and now has 116 career deep balls. Lottie
Moore also moved into ninth place all-time in ULM steals as she has 169 in her
career.
ULM remains at home for a Sun Belt Conference
showdown Saturday against West Division leader UALR at 4:30 p.m. inside
Fant-Ewing Coliseum. The game is the first part of a double-header with the men's
team.
