By Tom Dodge

sportsenews@bellsouth.net

It was a homecoming for 11 former LSU at Eunice players, but the present Lady Bengals handed them a 101-43 loss as a memento of their visit.

“It was great to see the former players,” LSUE head coach Michael Bari said of the contest that pitted his present team against girls he had coached in the past. “There is quite a collection of talent on the court.”

The Louisiana Ladies included Amanda Romero (2004-06), Ainsley Stoma (2006-08), Casey Primeaux (2007-08), Casey Broussard (2003-05), Katelyn Gary (2006-07), Kayla Gums (2003-05), Natalie Engler (2006-08), Julie Dubois (2001-03), Katie Broussard (2002-04), Quineisha Perkins (2006-07) and Jessica Pipkins (2005-08).

The Ladies scored first on a jumper by Katie Broussard, but the Lady Bengals responded with a 11-0 run sparked by a trey from Candace LaCombe.

Wide-open buckets from Gary and Pipkins helped the Ladies close the gap to 11-6 with 13:33 left in the first half.

A trey from Jennifer Hicks and two free throws by LaCombe pushed LSUE ahead by 10 points, but a long-range three-pointer by Romero combined with a jumper from Dubois closed the lead to 16-11, the closest the Ladies would get in the game.

The Lady Bengals expanded their lead to 27-15 with an 11-2 run aided by treys from Mallory Thornton and Amanda Fontenot.

Katie Broussard scored on an inbounds pass as the Ladies interrupted the Lady Bengals’ run, but LSUE quickly forged ahead with a 19-1 run to close out the half sparked by a strong inside game from Sierra Goldwire and treys from Nicolette Calvin, LaCombe and Hicks.

The Ladies began the second half with a 6-2 run with back-to-back three-pointers from Romero before LSUE exploded with a 20-2 run to extend their lead to 68-26 including treys from LaCombe and Amelia Brousard.

The Ladies mounted a 8-4 run with treys from Casey Broussard and Romero as the alumni team attempted a comeback midway through the second half.

LSUE slammed the door on that idea with a 11-3 explosion that included an inside presence from Goldwire and a trey from LaCombe.

Katie Broussard scored on a steal for the Ladies at the 5:00 mark, but LSUE answered with a 18-4 surge to close the game aided by another trey from LaCombe along with a pair of steals and lay-ups from Quanessa Batiste.

Calvin converted a three-point play with 45 seconds remaining to push the Lady Bengals over the century mark for the sixth time this season.

Romero led the Ladies with 15 points including five three-pointers, while Pipkins and Katie Broussard each chipped in six points for Louisiana.

Casey Broussard hauled in 11 rebounds for the Ladies, while Pipkins grabbed 10.

“When I was here it wasn’t so much run-and-gun,” Broussard said of her time at LSUE as she is the only player to have her jersey retired at LSUE. “We focused more in the inside game, but we still had shooters.

“This is a great athletic group,” she said of the LSUE team. “I kept up with them as much as a I can. I think what he (Bari) is doing here is great.”

“When I first got here it was Casey’s last year,” Bari said. “She was quite a player so we ran the offense through her.”

Three Lady Bengals scored in double figures as Goldwire exploded for 26, LaCombe poured in 24 and Hicks chipped in 12 points in the win.

Hicks also recorded 10 rebounds and two blocked shots for the Lady Bengals.

LSUE (14-9) will take on the Louisiana Ladies again this Saturday with the game set to tip-off at 2 p.m.