Lady Bengals win rough-and-tumble home opener

The LSU Eunice women's basketball team improved to 3-0 on the young season with a 76-62 victory over visiting Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College in their 'White Out' home opener on Wednesday night.

In a game with 55 combined fouls between both sides (30 MGCCC-25 LSUE), the Lady Bengals finished the night shooting 69 percent (25-for-36) from the free throw line, while Mississippi Gulf Coast finished 47 percent (14-30) from the line on the night.

The two teams' overall shooting percentages nearly mirrored each other, with LSU Eunice finishing the night shooting 36 percent from the floor (24-for-66) and MGCCC shooting at a 35 percent (23-66) rate.

"We were at a disadvantage height-wise, but we were able to play to our strengths and focus on the basic fundamentals of the game," Lady Bengal head coach Yolanda Moore said.

"I think in the second half we did a better job of attacking the rim; we were able to get to the basket and get to the foul line, which is something we didn't do at the beginning of the game," Moore added.

Sophomore Reagan Maricle finished with a game-high 29 points, with 23 coming in the second half of action. She added 13 points at the free throw line on the night. Fellow sophomores Taylor Maricle and Baylie Lee each notched 10 points for the Lady Bengals as well.

Sophomore Meghan Cross finished the night with nine points, while fellow second-year player Taylor Hurd notched eight points of her own in the win.

Brooke Richard added four points while Kelsey Thibodeaux finished with three points and Taylor Holzmeier contributed two points to round out the Lady Bengal scoring.

Mississippi Gulf Coast saw two players finish in double-figures, with Christa Owen scoring a team-high 18 and DeNesha Dillard adding 13 points.

Wednesday's meeting was the first of three matchups between the Lady Bengals and Mississippi Gulf Coast this season.

The Lady Bengals have a short turnaround, turning their attention now to their game against Victoria College at home on Friday night. The game is slated for a 6 p.m. tipoff.