MONROE, La. – A suffocating defensive effort allowed the ULM women's basketball team to race out to a big lead early and roll to a 95-40 exhibition win over Millsaps Monday night at Fant-Ewing Coliseum.
ULM forced 40 turnovers by Millsaps while limiting the Majors to 9-of-43 shooting (20.9%).
"I"m really proud of the way we played tonight from start to finish," ULM head coach
Brooks Donald Williams said. "Everybody available tonight got great minutes and valuable experience under the lights with our jerseys on and with fans in the stands. That is huge for this young team."
Millsaps struggled with turnovers right out of the gate, turning the ball over 17 times in the first quarter alone. ULM sprinted out to a 10-0 lead, thanks to seven points from senior
Kierra Crockett, with 8:25 left in the opening quarter. An 8-0 run, capped on a jumper by freshman
Amaya Ford, pushed the lead out to 18-3 at the 6:16 mark. The Warhawks led by as much as 22 points in the first quarter in taking a 33-13 lead after one. ULM scored 20 points off turnovers in the first quarter alone, including a 16-2 edge in points in the paint.
ULM continued to roll in the second quarter, scoring 16 more points off turnovers. The lead ballooned to 38 off a layup by freshman
Katlyn Manuel with 1:29 left before halftime. The Warhawks led 57-20 at the break.
ULM outscored Millsaps 16-6 in the third quarter and led by as much as 49 on a layup by Ford with 2:44 left in the quarter. ULM led 73-26 after three quarters.
The Warhawks pushed the lead over 50 at 79-28 on a 3-pointer by freshman
Chloe Wilbanks with 7:36 left. ULM led by as much as 58 on a layup by freshman
Bre Sutton before going on to the 95-40 win.
"I loved the tempo on both ends of the floor," Williams said. "We wanted to apply pressure defensively, and we did that in both the full and the half court. We wanted to push the basketball and we certainly did that. This is an exciting group. We look forward to getting back at it and just continue to get better daily."
Crockett and freshman
Aasia Sam led ULM with 16 points each, while Crockett and freshman Vici Woods tied for the team lead with seven rebounds. Sutton added nine points and seven steals, while junior
Linda van Schaik picked up three points and four assists.
ULM shot 34-of-80 from the field (42.5%) and 5-of-21 from 3-point range (23.8%). ULM collected 51 rebounds, including 21 offensive boards. The Warhawks had 24 steals as a team.
ULM begins the 2021-22 regular season Tuesday, Nov. 9, at 6:30 p.m. at Grambling State.
