LAFAYETTE, LA. -Georgia State turned the ball over 24 times, leading to 28 points for UL Lafayette, as the host Ragin' Cajuns won 68-52 in a Sun Belt game.
The Panthers (7-6, 2-2) did not have a player score in double figures as the five starters were pulled from the game at 18:45 and sat for the next 14 minutes. Six-foot-two starter Haley Gerrin was injured and didn't make the trip. Six-foot-four center Brittany Logan had two fouls in the first seven minutes and didn't play the remainder of the first half and just 12 minutes overall.
UL Lafayette (9-4, 1-3) got 20 points from Jaylyn Gordon, including six of nine 3-point baskets. The Cajuns allowed just 57 points per game entering tonight to rank in the top 50 and averaged forcing 21 turnoves per game before the 24 tonight.
Visiting GSU jumped out to a quick 11-4 lead five minutes into the game and were still leading at 15-12 with 8:30 in the half when the host Ragin' Cajuns made their big run. UL Lafayette scored 14 straight points to make it 26-15 with 4:56 in the half. GSU closed back to 28-23, but UL Lafayette went back up 38-26 at halftime.
In the second half, Gordon hit her fifth trey at 18:45 to make it 41-28 and coach Baldwin-Tener pulled all five starters and put five new players in the game.The Cajuns took full advantage and built the lead to 20 points at 52-32 at 13:32.
"We weren't paying attention to what we were doing tonight," coach Baldwin-Tener said. "Our players had a frustrating night against their pressure, but that is what they do and that is what we had worked on, so we weren't surprised at the pressure, but surprised at how we didn't handle it."
"We were rushing our shots and we fouled too much, so all we can do is look ahead to the next game on Saturday and try to get another win," coach added.
Georgia State did have a 39-37 rebound advantage with a career-high seven rebounds from sophomore reserve forward Ashanti Groover and seven rebounds from freshman Kennesha Nichols.
Nichols had nine points, Groover eight points and Ashley Watson eight points to top the offense. The Panthers shot just 36.7 percent for the game. GSU made just 3 of 14 3-point shots (21.4%) after coming in leading the Sun Belt in 3-point shooting percentage.
GSU committed 24 fouls with UL Lafayette cashing in with 27 free throws and 14 more points. The Ragin' Cajuns had just 11 turnovers (+13).
The starters played 84 minutes of the 200 possible, leaving 116 minutes to be played by the GSU bench players. Of the possible 40 minutes, the most minutes logged tonight were 22 by freshman guard Makeba Ponder (seven points), 21 minutes by Kayla Nolan (five points, six turnovers), 20 by Morgan Jackson (four points, three rebounds) and 20 by Alisha Andrews (two points).
Georgia State plays host to rival Troy on Saturday at noon in Atlanta in the GSU Sports Arena with the men's game to follow at 2 p.m. ET.
