If the UL women’s basketball team wanted to give its coaching staff some film for teaching points for all the newcomers, Thursday’s 75-63 exhibition win over Mississippi Christian certainly checked that box.
The Ragin’ Cajuns led 39-9 at the half and then scored the first bucket of the second half to take a 41-9 lead.
Then everything seemed to fall apart.
The visiting Choctaws didn’t make a two-point basket in the first half, settling for a trio of 3-pointers on 18 attempts.
In the second half, Mississippi Christian drained 10 3-pointers out on 18 attempts to cut UL’s lead as low as nine points with 1:47 left.
“The way they were playing the second half, hitting 3s and stuff, so we went a bit smaller,” UL coach Garry Brodhead said. “It’s something we hadn’t worked on. I find that a lot of times for us, if we don’t work on certain things, we’re not very effective at it.
“So we had different lineups that we really got to try to work on this weekend, going into the Xavier game.”
It was a game filled with teaching points for both staffs with the Choctaws turning the ball over 25 times, while the Cajuns almost matched that number with 23 turnovers.
“I wanted to really focus on having pride in defense, especially having pride in rebounding, boxing out, and we can’t let a team want it more than us, especially not on our home floor,” senior guard Jazmyne Jackson said.
The other troubling stat line for UL came at the free throw line – only making nine in 17 tries – after missing 11 of 23 tries in the first exhibition game.
The Cajuns also struggled beyond the arc, shooting 2-of-11 for the game.
“We got sped up in the second half,” said Brodhead, whose Cajuns open the regular season against Xavier at 6 p.m. Tuesday. “It helped them to kind of get back in the game, and I don’t know if we understand that. It’s like, we were 2 for 11 from 3, and we shooting 3s with a 20-point lead. I don’t know, that’s not me.”
What did go well for the Cajuns for the second straight game, though, was rebounding with 56 after pulling down 60 in the first game.
With Ndioba Lo now out for the season with a knee injury, Imani Daniel led that charge with 15 rebounds in 29 minutes.
Jakeria Hawkins did much of the shooting damage for the Choctaws with 22 points, followed by Ole Miss transfer Jayla Alexander with 12 on four 3-pointers.
“We didn’t play with a lot of effort on the defensive side in the second half,” Brodhead said. “To me, that goes a long way. Defense is a lot about effort, and want to, and playing together.”
UL collected four double-digit scorers led by the senior Jackson and true freshman Bailey Timmons with 12 apiece.
“I was pleased the way Bailey’s playing, and Jaz played pretty good, too, but defensively, I thought the second half,” Brodhead said. “We didn’t guard.”
Timmons has displayed lots of composure in the two exhibition games for a true freshman. In addition to 13 points, she had four boards, an assist and two steals.
“It really just goes back to practice,” Timmons said. “All the hard work that I’ve been putting in on defense and on offense and it’s just carrying over into the games.”
For Jackson, getting back on the floor for the Cajuns has been nice after missing last season with an injury.
“It feels great – just not only being back on the court, but being back on the court with a new team,” Jackson said. “They really have given me the confidence this year to keep going. This is my last year, so I’m just trying my best.”
Malaya Jones scored 12 on 5-of-7 shooting with four rebounds while battling cramps in 19 minutes and Mikaylah Manley came off the bench to add 11 points and four rebounds on 5-of-12 shooting.
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