MONROE, La. – A slow start hampered the ULM women's basketball team early, but it was a late run that allowed the Ragin' Cajuns to pull away from the Warhawks, 62-49, Saturday afternoon at Fant-Ewing Coliseum.
"I thought we came out slow to start the game," ULM head coach Brooks Donald Williams said. "It really hurt us. Hats off to the Cajuns. I thought they were a really tough team."
The Cajuns opened the game with 10 straight points while forcing turnovers on ULM's first five possessions. After a timeout by Williams, ULM responded. After trading buckets with the Cajuns, ULM buckled down for the remainder of the first quarter. ULM went on an 11-2 run, which included 3-pointers from Whitney Goins and Gara Beth Self. Diamond Brooks and Maddi Gatte combined to knock down four free throws in the final 43 seconds of the first quarter, as Gatte's free throws tied the game at 16 at the end of the frame.
The only two lead changes of the afternoon came early in the second quarter. Self knocked down a runner in the lane to put ULM on top 18-16, but the Cajuns answered with eight straight points to lead 24-18 after a 3-pointer by Jomyra Mathis and a traditional 3-point play by Kimberly Burton. Both teams struggled to score in the final five minutes of the first half, as the Cajuns took a 26-20 lead to the locker room.
The Cajuns opened the third quarter strong. The Cajuns went on a 10-3 run, working around Goins' second trey of the day, to go up 13 points at 36-23. However, ULM answered with an 8-0 run of their own, capped on free throws by Jamie Means, to cut the gap back to five at 36-31. The Cajuns led 42-35 after three quarters.
In the final frame, ULM pulled within five on three different occasions, the last time coming on free throws by Brooks with 6:15 to play. However, the Cajuns had another run in them, going on a 15-0 spurt to put the game away for good.
Amber Thompson led ULM with 16 points, while Brooks nearly had her second double-double of the season against the Cajuns, going for 10 points and nine rebounds.
Burton tallied a career-high 19 points for the Cajuns, while Mathis matched a career-high with 18 points. Ty'reona Doucet picked up 14 points and seven rebounds for the Cajuns. Brandi Williams, the Cajuns second-leading scorer on the season at 12 points per game, was shut out on Saturday.
"They have a lot of weapons," Williams said. "We did a really good job defending their big two in Doucet and Brandi Williams. They did a very good job of having role players step up and have some offensive power."
Williams was pleased with the post play of Brooks on Saturday.
"I thought Diamond (Brooks) played really well today," Williams said. "I thought defensively, she did a great job. She was a great matchup for Doucet. Offensively, I thought we missed her again. We're just not doing a good job of getting the ball to her. We have to continue to work on that these next two weeks."
ULM opens its final road trip of the season at 5 p.m. Thursday at Coastal Carolina. Links to live video, audio and stats are available at ULMWarhawks.com.
