The Sports Inquirer

Release from Georgia State Athletics:

Georgia State suffered through a poor shooting day, while visiting University of Louisiana at Lafayette knocked down 25 of 35 free throws to claim a 63-56 Sun Belt win Saturday.

The host Panthers (8-10, 3-5) fired a blank outside the 3-point arc, going 0 for 15, and missing 10 of its 22 free throws. Overall, GSU was just 22 of 60 from the field, a 36.7 percent rate. Looking for a spark, Georgia State substituted freely and played 13 players as 12 of them got into the books with points or rebounds. GSU held a 44-35 rebound advantage and made 11 steals.

The visiting Ragin’ Cajuns (13-5, 5-4) won for the fifth time in its last six games by forcing 20 turnovers and making 11 steals. They shot 18 of 25 from the charity stripe (72 percent) in the second half to secure the victory.

The see-saw game was still a one-point game at 35-34 UL Lafayette with 12:29 to play, but a quick 8-0 burst put them up 43-34 at 10:52. Georgia State clawed its way back to trail just 51-47 with 2:55 to play. Jaylyn Gordon hit four free throw and a jumped to edge the Ragin’ Cajuns back up 57-49 with 1:44 to go and the free throw shooting parade finished out the game.

Georgia State got 13 points from Kayla Nolan in 21 minutes off the bench and Brittany Logan came in to add 10 points and seven rebounds in 18 minutes after missing the start with illness. Freshman forward Kennesha Nichols added nine rebounds and eight points.

UL Lafayette saw Jaylyn lead with 18 points, but just 3 of 10 from the field. Keke Veal added 14 points, but shot just 4 of 13 from the field, while Robbie Brown added 14 points on her 4 of 12 shooting. The Ragin’ Cajuns shot just 32.7 percent, but the 25 free throw points saved the day.

“We got a lot of good looks and missed a lot of easy shots, while uncharacteristically missing a ton of free throws, so it is hard to win when you score just 56 points,” head coach Sharon Baldwin-Tener said. “It was deflating when we missed point blank shots and didn’t reward our efforts with the baskets. We helped them by committing too many fouls and giving them free points.”