Lady Bengals grab win over Southern-Shreveport

EUNICE – The LSU Eunice Lady Bengals finished with just five available players but held on for a 87-76 win over Southern University of Shreveport Saturday night.
The two teams battled early as LSU Eunice grabbed an 11-6 lead on a three pointer by Amber Richard and a drive in the lane by Katie Lemieux.
Taylor Holzmeier and India Marbs scored underneath to push the Lady Bengals up 16-8 with 12:44 left in the first half.
Two free throws by Maggie Miller, a three-point play by Lemieux as well as two free throws from Holzmeier and Meghan Knight gave LSU Eunice a 25-13 advantage midway through the opening half.
After Southern's Chaterra Cade hit a trey to pull the Jaguars closer, Amber Richard answered with back-to-back treys of her own to give the Lady Bengals a 31-16 margin.
Southern hit three long range shots to close the gap to 35-25, but Richard and Lemieux scored in the lane to push LSU Eunice ahead 39-29 with 1:34 left in the half.
The Lady Bengals continued to forge ahead as Lemieux added bucket, Amber Braxton scored in the lane and Richard hit a trey at the buzzer to give LSU Eunice a 46-33 lead at the break.
The Lady Bengals opened the second half with an 8-2 run, sparked by buckets from Miller, Marbs and Braxton.
Southern answered with its own 8-2 surge to pull closer, 56-44 with 14:50 left.
After Knight scored on a put-back for the Lady Bengals, the Lady Jags exploded for a 11-0 run including treys from LaParis Robinson and Shondria Scruggs.
Richard hit a three-pointer at the 12:23 mark to push the Lady Bengals ahead, 61-55 but Southern answered with a 7-0 run to grab a 62-61 advantage.
The two teams exchanged leads as Holzmeier hit a two free throws and a trey before Lemieux (19 points) and Braxton (10 points) both fouled out.
Southern pulled closer, 77-73 with 3:26 left before Marbs scored in the lane, Knight hit a free throw and Richard drained a trey for an eight point lead.
LSU Eunice closed the game with a 6-5 run including a lay-up by Marbs to go with free throws by Richard, Holzmeier and Knight to seal 11-point win.
LSU Eunice hit 22-of-29 free throws, while Southern struggled hitting just 15-of-32 at the charity stripe.
Richard led the Lady Bengals with 21 points, while Knight chipped in 12 and Holzmeier added 12 points.
Marbs had 10 points for LSU Eunice, while Miller added four points.
Cage led Southern with 22 points, while Robinson contributed 17 points.
LSU Eunice will entertain Delgado Community College at 6 p.m. on Wednesday before a rematch with Baton Rouge Community College next Saturday.