Lady Cajuns Fall to Mercer

The Lady Cajuns fell to Mercer in the season opener 72-61. The Cajuns shot only 28.6 percent from the field for the game and were out rebounded 51-43.

The Mercer Lady Bears squad downed the Louisiana's Lady Cajuns, 72-61, in the season opener Saturday afternoon.

Mercer came out strong jumping out to an 18-10 lead highlighted by seven points from LaToya Jackson while Bell pitched in with five. Kourtney Carter came off the bench and provided a spark on the boards with seven first-half rebounds.

The back-and-forth first half saw six lead changes as Mercer headed into the locker room with a 31-28 advantage. Alicia McDaniel led the Ragin’ Cajuns with 10 first-half points.

Four quick points from Mercer junior TaShera Lewis pushed the Bears’ lead to seven early in the second stanza. Louisiana then began to make its run and took its first lead of the second half, 37-36, on a jumper from Sonora Edwards.

A lay up from Valanette Amie gave the Lady Cajuns its biggest advantage of the day at 47-40. The Bears received a boost when Cristin Seymour, who struggled going 2-for-12 from the field, hit a big three-pointer that helped swing momentum back to Mercer.

Mercer proceeded to reel off a 15-4 run and Shaquitia Bell knotted up the game at 51 with a jumper in the paint. Kourtney Carter then finished off a nice feed from senior Sarah Russell and Mercer never trailed the rest of the way out-scoring Louisiana 32-14 in the final 10 minutes.

Alicia McDaniel paced Lousiana (0-1) with a game-high 17 points and grabbed seven boards. Point guard Whitney Dunlap also finished in double figures with 15 points while adding eight assists and five rebounds.

The Lady Cajuns return to court on Wednesday, Nov. 14 as they host Arkansas-Monticello.