Iota Lady Dogs hold off Iowa

IOTA – Meghann Lejeune has been waiting for Jillian Boone to return to form after struggling with a torn ACL.
Tuesday night, Boone finally did.
  The senior guard went 11-for-12  from the line, finished with a team-high 16 points and helped rally the Lady Bulldogs to a pivotal 56-47 victory over the Iowa Lady Jackets.
“It was a long time coming for her to have one of these games to get her confidence back,” said Lejeune.  “She doesn’t realize how much she has been helping us since she has been back because she hasn’t been on the stat sheet, but she’s keeping us from having 30 turnovers a game.
“We understand her worth and her value, but I don’t know that she does so she really needed this, and it came at a good point.”
Good, indeed.
The victory lifted the Lady Dogs to 13-11 overall and,more importantly, to 4-2 in District 4-3A, two games behind league-leading South Beauregard.
“This was a huge victory because a loss tonight would have taken us out of the running (for league title),” said Lejeune. “Now we get to fight another day.
“We sill have to take care of business with Westlake and Jennings and then we get another shot at South Beauregard, which should be interesting.”
The Lady Dogs led by double digits a number of times during the game, but sluggish second and third quarters gave the Lady Yellow Jackets an opening and they took advantage of it by claiming their first lead of the  game. Back-to-back buckets by Bethany Broussard put the visitors up 38-34 five minutes into the second half.
It was all Iota from there, however.
The Lady Dogs went on a 22-9 run in the final 11 minutes of the contest to escape with the victory.
“We were knocking down shots early in the game and then we just kind of relaxed,” said LeJeune,.  “I think we got tired for a little while there. They (Iowa) are a good team and they run the floor and play good defense. You’re working the whole time, offense and defense.
“We got a little winded there for a while, but when we got our second wind, we came through.”
Mallory Faul hit a jumper in the lane towards the end of the third quarter to cut the lead to 38-36 before a pair of free throws by Jillian Boone tied the game with just over a minute to go.
Taylor DeVille then made a leaping grab to save a ball from going out of bounds and passed it to Whitney Landry for a layup to give the Lady Dogs a 40-38 advantage heading into the final frame.
DeVille, who finished with four points, four rebounds and three assists, had a similar play in the fourth quarter.
“Taylor was saving balls that were going out of bounds, pulling down monster boards, hustling and getting deflections on the press,” said LeJeune. “We needed her to step up and she did tonight.”
Becca Fantroy and Boone also played  big roles in the Lady Dogs’ 16-9 run in the fourth quarter as each player scored six points in the final frame. Fantroy drove the lane three times and finished with baskets each time while Boone went a perfect 6-for-6 from the free throw line.
“We were running a kind of stall offense (in the fourth quarter) and Becca reads it well and knows when she can go for it,” said LeJeune of Fantroy, who finished with eight points. “She’s one of the ones that I trust the most, that off the dribble, that hard pull up layup, she knocks it down. Tonight, she was really confident in her game and she really impressed me tonight.”
Whitney Landry followed Boone with 14 points and also had five rebounds and four assists. Faul, despite playing sparingly due to foul trouble, scored five points and had seven rebounds. Madelyn Gatte and Cambri St. Andre each scored four points in the victory and Avery Wriborg had one.