I just might have to check out the Ladies.
Printable View
I just might have to check out the Ladies.
I am impressed. They also played very strong against South Alabama. Maybe, just maybe the Ragin' and Lady Cajuns will go dancing.
<blockquote><p align=justify><b>Louisiana hopes to beat third straight team for the first time ever</b>
LOUISIANA La. — With each step Louisiana’s Lady Cajuns take, the more confident they become.
How could they help it?
In the last week, Coach J. Kelley Hall’s Cajuns have back-to-back victories over two teams — Florida International and Western Kentucky — that the school had never beaten before.
“First, we had to teach them how not to lose,” Hall said. “And now, once you teach them how to win, it’s contagious.”
The Cajuns’ latest victory, Thursday’s 80-72 conquest of defending Sun Belt Conference champion WKU, will be followed at 2 p.m. today by a visit from Middle Tennessee, the team WKU beat in the SBC finals a year ago.
It’s the latest challenge for a team that’s getting used to slaying dragons of their past.
“We’re just not going to give up, even when we’re down,” said senior guard Sharee Glenn, who had 15 points on Thursday.
The Cajuns (10-7, 4-2) shot 52.8 percent against the Lady Toppers, including 56.5 percent in the second half, and won despite being harassed into 23 turnovers by the defensive-minded visitors.
They won even after WKU overcame a 51-43 second-half deficit and ran to a 57-52 lead.
They won because they’re starting to believe they can, and more importantly, that they should.
“Down the stretch,” Hall said, “the kids just hung in there and played tough. And, they hit the big baskets when they had to.”
None was bigger than the 3-pointer from Morgan Mayon, beating a shot clock buzzer, to extend a UL lead from 72-68 to 75-68 with 1:01 to play.
Mayon saw 15 minutes of action largely because starting point guard Ashley Blanche continues to have back spasms, and Mayon eventually dealt with WKU’s swarming defense.
“There’s not a lot of pressure on me because Ashley believes in me,” Mayon said. “She talks to me and helps me do what I have to do.”
The Cajun upset sent up warning flags in the Sun Belt, certainly visible in Las Cruces, New Mexico.
Coach Stephany Smith’s Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders are coming off a narrow 52-51 escape at New Mexico State on Thursday, and they now know the stop in Lafayette is no longer the get-well spot in the league.
<center><p><a href="http://www.theadvertiser.com/sports/html/32F2549A-776E-48A4-A031-26CA26045422.shtml">The rest of the story</a>
Bruce Brown
bbrown@theadvertiser.com <!--
Middle Tennessee’s Keisha McClinic hit a layup for a 52-48 lead with 1:28 to play on Thursday and the Blue Raiders held on.
MT (13-5, 3-2) hit 43 percent from the field (22-of-51) but just 1-of-11 from 3-point range. The Raiders out-rebounded NMSU 39-32 and held the Aggies to 33.9 percent (20-of-59) shooting.
Krystle Horton (18 points) and Jennifer Justice (10) led MT in the low-scoring win, while McClinic hit 4-of-5 shots and had 5 steals.
The Cajuns overcame 23 turnovers and 14 WKU steals and held their poise against the league champions.
“The key was playing defense and getting good shots,” Mayon said. “And, we knocked down our foul shots (15-of-22). We knew they would foul us.”
With each new step, the Cajuns are starting to know they belong.
Middle Tennessee (13-5, 3-2) at Cajun women (10-7, 4-2) 2 p.m., Today, Early K. Long Gym
RADIO: KPEL-AM (1420), 1:30 p.m. TELEVISION: None.
PROBABLE STARTERS
UL Lafayette — G Ashley Blanche (5-4, So., 6.4 ,1.9), G Sharee Glenn (5-6, Sr., 8.8, 4.5), G Bernette Tolston (5-9, Jr., 8,5, 4.9), F Tiffany Washington (6-1, Sr., 9.7, 8.4), C Anna Petrakova (6-3, Jr., 19.6, 10.6).
Middle Tennessee — G Ciara Gray (5-9, Jr., 5.7, 2.3), G Keisha McClinic (5-10, Sr., 9.3, 4.9), G Patrice Holmes (5-9, Jr., 16.2, 7.0), F Krystle Horton (6-2, Fr., 13.9, 6.3), F Jennifer Justice (6-0, Sr., 6.5, 2.7).
SERIES: UL Lafayette has never beaten Middle Tennessee, losing all five meetings since MTSU joined the Sun Belt for the 2000-01 season (closest 75-63 in 2002).
LAGNIAPPE: Today’s game will be UL Lafayette’s third straight against a team it has never beaten. The Cajuns won the first two over Fla. International (58-48) and Western Kentucky (80-72) ... The Cajuns have already locked up their first double-digit win season since the 1999-2000 season, which is the only other team in the last 13 years to record twin-digit wins ... UL Lafayette’s 80 points in Thursday’s win matched a season high.
NEXT: UL hosts North Texas Thursday, 4:45 p.m., Cajundome; MTSU hosts Western Kentucky Thursday, 7 p.m., Murphy Center
-->
What happened with the Girls today?
They had a letdown but don't underestimate this team.Quote:
Originally posted by RaginCager
What happened with the Girls today?
They are turning a HUGE corner
<blockquote><p align=justify>LOUISIANA La. – Teams who face the University of Louisiana Lady Cajuns basketball squad have two defensive options.
Squads can defend the perimeter and leave their postmen with one-on-one assignments inside. Or they can sag in on Sun Belt leading scorer and rebounder Anna Petrakova, and leave themselves vulnerable on the perimeter.
North Texas chose the latter here Thursday night, and the Lady Cajun perimeter players took advantage.
In all, the ALdy Cajuns hit five-of-six three-point baskets in one streak, finished the game with eight treys, and hung on down the stretch for a key 53-50 Sun Belt victory over the Lady Eagles.
“It’s frustrating for Anna,” said Cajun head coach J. Kelley Hall, “but that’s how teams are going to play us. They’re going to make someone else beat them.”
Thursday, the someone else was junior Bernette Tolston, who banged in five treys on the way to a team-high 15 points. Two of those came in the game’s first 10 minutes when University ofLouisiana (11-8, 5-3) got out to a quick early lead, and the last two came in a four-minute stretch midway through the final half as part of a 10-0 Cajun run that built a 48-40 lead.
“That’s the reason we won,” said Petrakova of the three-point shots. “Teams are focused on me and they underestimate everybody else. Even after we were making all the threes, they kept sagging in.”
<center><p><a href="http://www.theadvertiser.com/sports/html/281554AD-70AA-47F7-AB52-4D874FB300C1.shtml">The rest of the story</a>
Dan McDonald
dmcdonald@lafayette.gannett.com <!--
Petrakova had 10 of her 12 points in the second half, the last two coming with 4:11 left when her layup gave the Cajuns a 50-42 lead. However, over the next four minutes, the hosts went 1-for-4 from the free throw line, missed a layup and had two turnovers.
Two 3-pointers by UNT sharpshooter Jill Medlock (5-of-9 treys) and Kim Blanton’s free throw with 24 seconds left sliced the margin to 51-50, and point guard Ashley Blanche was whistled for a push-off on the following inbounds pass.
Hall inserted Alexandra Kotta for defensive purposes, and Kotta promptly stole the inbounds lob pass. Sharee Glenn hit two free throws seven seconds later for a three-point lead, and Medlock’s forced three-pointer at the horn was off line.
“Alex is athletic enough that I knew if they tried anything around her, she had a chance to get a hand on the ball,” Hall said. “That was a huge steal.”
“This was a tough loss,” said UNT coach Tina Slinker, whose 8-12, 4-4 team fell out of a three-way first-place tie with UL Lafayette and South Alabama in the Sun Belt’s West Division. “They (UL) hadn’t been shooting that well, but when they made those early shots we didn’t adjust well.”
The Cajuns made five of their first eight three-point attempts and led by as many as eight points at 21-13 on Blanche’s jumper 9:14 before halftime, but UNT battled back with a 7-0 run late in the half. Blanton’s back-to-back baskets gave the Eagles a 26-25 lead before Morgan Mayon’s driving layup put UL ahead 27-26 at intermission.
The Cajuns only hit five of their first 15 shots after halftime and Dorota Klat’s inside basket with 9:46 left gave UNT a 40-38 lead. Tolston, though, hit a 3-pointer 30 seconds later to spark the 10-0 run and the Cajuns never trailed again.
Petrakova was held well below her 19.5 scoring and 10.5 rebound averages, but front-line mate Tiffany Washington grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds to help UL Lafayette take a 39-33 board advantage and helping the Cajuns wrap up a 3-1 homestand.
“This kept us in first place,” said Hall, whose team plays four in a row and seven of its next eight on the road, “and that gives you confidence when you can wake up and you’re still in first place. We still think it’s going to take eight conference wins to get into the (Sun Belt postseason) tournament, and that means we have to get at least two on the road.”
-->
<blockquote><p align=justify><b>To achieve goals, Cajun women must win on the road.</b>
Louisiana's Lady Cajuns basketball squad pretty much held service in the first half of the Sun Belt Conference season.
Five wins in seven home games has the surprising Ragin’ Cajuns tied for first in the league’s West Division with a 5-3 mark, along with an 11-8 overall record that is one of only two twin-digit win totals since 1990.
The Cajuns haven’t won five league games since 1998.
Now comes the hard part — winning on the road. And it’s a long and winding road that leads to the Sun Belt’s postseason tournament.
The road begins today at 4 p.m. when the Cajuns, winners of eight of 11 games since mid-December, travel to meet Denver (10-10, 3-5 Sun Belt). Between today and the end of February, coach J. Kelley Hall’s squad will play seven of its eight games away from home.
“We know it’s going to be tough,” Hall said Thursday after his squad survived in a 53-50 win over North Texas. “We’ve felt all along like it’s going to take eight conference wins to get into the tournament, and that means we have to win at least twice on the road.”
That might be a tough task in a parity-dominated league. Except for 6-2 Arkansas State, every other team in the league has between three and seven conference losses, and only two have less than three wins.
Only the top four teams in each division advance to the league’s postseason meet at Western Kentucky in March, so the Cajuns have to finish ahead of at least two West rivals to earn a slot.
That might not be easy with the unbalanced road schedule, and with league teams changing their defensive game plans to slow down postman Anna Petrakova. The 6-foot-3 junior leads the Sun Belt in scoring (19.1) and rebounding (10.3), but was limited to 12 points and six rebounds, mostly in the second half, in Thursday’s win.
<center><p><a href="http://www.theadvertiser.com/sports/html/C23D6A5D-DC74-45E3-8E78-E6A8C9306D3D.shtml">The rest of the story</a>
Dan McDonald
dmcdonald@lafayette.gannett.com <!--
“It’s getting frustrating for Anna,” Hall said, “but teams are going to play us like that and make someone else beat them.”
The Cajuns used solid long-range shooting to battle UNT’s sagging defense Thursday, hitting 8-of-18 three-pointers. Junior Bernette Tolston was 5-of-9 for a game-high 15 points.
“That was a big win for us,” said Petrakova, who had 28 points on 9-of-10 shooting, 8-of-8 free throws and 12 rebounds in UL’s earlier 80-57 win over DU in Lafayette. “Coach talked about separating ourselves from them a little in the West, and now we’ve got to get some road wins.”
The Cajuns have as good a chance to grab their first conference road win at Denver as anywhere else. The Pioneers are coming off a 21-point 66-45 home loss to New Mexico State on Thursday, their lowest point production of the season. DU shot only 35.6 percent.
from the field in the loss.
Cajuns (11-8, 5-3) at Denver (10-10, 3-5)
Today, 4 p.m., Magness Arena, Denver
RADIO: none. TELEVISION: Fox Sports Net Rocky Mountain, 4 p.m.
PROBABLE STARTING LINEUPS
UL Lafayette — G Ashley Blanche (5-4, So., 6.1 ,1.8), G Sharee Glenn (5-6, Sr., 9.0, 4.6), G Bernette Tolston (5-9, Jr., 8.3, 4.7), F Tiffany Washington (6-1, Sr., 9.5, 8.3), C Anna Petrakova (6-3, Jr., 19.5, 10.3).
Denver — G Tasha Jones (5-9, Jr., 12.0, 3.3), G Kaitlyn King (5-8, Fr., 5.9, 2.4), F Ragan Neblett (6-2, Sr., 11.3, 4.0), F Stephanie Hart (6-0, Sr., 7.3, 6.6), C Sarah Cyran (6-3, Jr., 6.5, 3.7).
SERIES: UL Lafayette has beaten Denver only twice in nine all-time meetings, but those Cajun wins have come in the last two games. UL won at Denver 65-61 in last year’s regular season finale and took an 80-57 home win earlier this season. DU holds an all-time 7-2 lead in the series.
LAGNIAPPE: A Cajun win today would match their highest win total since 1990. UL was 12-16 in the 1999-2000 season ... Denver had won three of its last four before its 66-45 home loss to New Mexico State Thursday ... UL ranks sixth nationally in field goal defense, holding opponents to a 34.0 mark, and 15th in scoring defense (55.1) ... Petrakova is 29th nationally in scoring, 18th in rebounding, 35th in field goal percentage (55.6) and 31st in blocked shots (2.3).
NEXT: UL Lafayette at South Alabama Thursday, 5 p.m., Mitchell Center (doubleheader with men’s squad); Denver at Western Kentucky Thursday, 6 p.m., Diddle Arena.
-->
<blockquote><p align=justify>LOUISIANA La. — University of Louisiana coach J. Kelley Hall sent his Lady Cajuns on the road for 10 straight games to start the 2003-2004 season.
Now it’s time for that challenge to pay dividends.
Hall’s Cajuns visit South Alabama today in Mobile in a crucial Sun Belt Conference Western Division contest, hoping to reverse negative impressions left by last Saturday’s 73-49 defeat at Denver.
That loss began a season-finishing streak that puts the Lady Cajuns on the road for seven of their last eight games.
USA is coming off a loss of its own. The Jaguars fell 57-54 at Arkansas State on Monday night to drop into a three-way tie atop the division at 5-4 with UL and North Texas.
Denver and New Mexico State are just a game behind at 4-5 and even New Orleans (3-6) remains in the chase for spots in the March 6-9 Sun Belt Tournament at Western Kentucky.
If the tournament began today, Hall’s squad would be the No. 5 seed, but any such position remains precarious until the Cajuns can overcome a history of Sun Belt road woes.
South Alabama, which won 14 straight games earlier this season, edged the Cajuns 57-54 in the Cajundome on Jan. 15 to snap a four-game UL streak.
As usual, Cajun hopes rest with junior center Anna Petrakova, who paces the Sun Belt Conference in scoring (19.1 points per game), rebounds (10.2) and blocked shots (2.55). She had 23 points, eight rebounds and two blocked shots in the first meeting with USA.
<center><p><a href="http://www.theadvertiser.com/sports/html/F0D42171-273E-490A-8B92-308613FB4E64.shtml">The rest of the story</a>
Bruce Brown
bbrown@theadvertiser.com <!--
“This is a pivotal game for us, playing against a player (Petrakova) who might be the conference player of the year if the season ended today,” USA coach Rick Pietri said.
“We’re both in first place, along with North Texas, so there is a lot riding on this game. Ultimately, the team that brings the most passion and heart to it is going to be successful.”
UL Lafayette (11-9, 5-4) at South Alabama (16-4, 5-4)
Time: 5 p.m.
Site: Mitchell Center (10,000).
Team Leaders
UL — No. 13 Anna Petrakova (Sun Belt-best 19,1 ppg., SBC-best 10.2 reb., 43 assists, SBC-best 2.55 (51 total) blocked shots, 20 steals, 53.1 pct. FG, 81.8 pct. FT), No. 22 Tiffany Washington (9.6 ppg., 8.6 reb., 23 blk.), No. 5 Sharee Glenn (8.6 ppg., 4.5 reb., 57 assists, 15 steals, No. 32 Bernette Tolston (8.4 ppg., 45-of-130 3-point FG), No. 3 Ashley Blanche (5.7 ppg., 65 assists, 15 steals).
USA — Whitney Woodard (15.3 ppg., 8.1 reb., 51.3 pct. FG, SBC-best 45.7 3-point FG, 72.9 pct. FT), Donyel Wheeler (11.0 ppg., 39.3 pct. 3-point FG, 87.3 pct. FT), Genevieve Delk (6.7 reb., 1.95 blk.), Sara Carter (3.35 assists, 1.80 steals, 1.91 assists-turnover ratio), Qiana Mitchell (35.6 pct. 3-point FG).
Series
USA leads the series 21-7, including a 57-54 decision on Jan. 15 in the Cajundome and a 55-51 win last season in the Mitchell Center.
Notebook
The Cajuns are winless on the road in Sun Belt Conference play at 0-2 and are 12-79 (.132) all-time in SBC games away from Lafayette ... the Cajuns are 8-4 in their last 12 games.
-->
<blockquote><p align=justify>NEW ORLEANS — For one UL Lafayette basketball team, today’s contest against New Orleans could be for a share of a Sun Belt Conference title.
For the other, it could mean survival.
Both the Ragin’ Cajun men and women take on their Privateer counterparts today in televised contests at UNO’s Lakefront Arena, with the women’s squad playing at 3:35 p.m. and the men following at 6:05 p.m.
The women’s game airs live over the ESPN FullCourt package and over COX Sports (cable channel 27 in Lafayette). The men’s game is also live to ESPN FullCourt subscribers, but will be tape-delayed at 11 p.m. over COX Sports.
The Cajun men (14-5, 9-1) carry an eight-game win streak into their second meeting of the year with the Privateers (12-11, 6-4), who stand tied for second place behind UL Lafayette in the Sun Belt’s West Division. A UNO win would pull the Privateers within two games of the lead with four games to play.
However, a Cajun win, coupled with a Western Kentucky home victory over North Texas (also 6-4), would lock up no worse than a share of the West crown by the end of Valentine’s Day — with more than two weeks left in the regular season.
“Our guys have stepped up,” said Cajun head coach Jessie Evans. “They’ve answered every challenge, and teams have played hard against them. South Alabama played very hard, so give them a lot of credit.”
USA played the Cajuns closer Thursday night than any team has in almost a month, with UL Lafayette winning 79-73 in Mobile after trailing by nine points with 6:54 left. Orien Greene hit four three-pointers in the final seven minutes including three in a row to spark the comeback and give the Cajuns their fifth straight Sun Belt road win.
The Cajun squad hit 11 three-pointers and forced 23 UNO turnovers in an 85-64 Cajundome win on Jan. 17, a victory that began the current eight-game win streak that is the second-longest ever under Evans.
That game also marked Greene’s first appearance in a UL Lafayette uniform, a 28-minute effort in which he had seven points, three rebounds, three assists and three steals. Since then, he’s scored in double figures in five of six games including his career-high 28 on Thursday at USA.
“It’s good to come on the road and win,” said Greene, who hit 11-of-15 shots and also had four assists and four steals. “We still haven’t played a complete game on the road yet.”
The Privateers have apparently righted their ship thanks to a homecourt boost, and did it in widely-varying style. UNO, which plays six of its last seven league games at Lakefront Arena, topped Arkansas-Little Rock 100-95 in two overtimes last Saturday, and then put on the defensive clamps in a 51-37 win over New Mexico State Thursday night.
The 37 points allowed is the lowest given up by a UNO club in six seasons.
“That was one of the best defensive efforts a team of mine has ever had,” said UNO coach Monte Towe after the visiting Aggies shot less than 28 percent from the floor and returning Sun Belt Player of the Year James Moore had only 10 points. “Victor Brown did a good job on defense against Moore. We were trapping down on him with the big guys and our weak side did a great job getting in front of people that were open.”
<b>Lady Cajuns vs. UNO </b>
The Cajun women are still looking for their first Sun Belt road win, and that’s important since Louisiana (11-10, 5-5) plays four of its last five league games away from home beginning today against the Privateers (9-13, 4-6).
“We haven’t shot the ball consistently,” said Lady Cajun coach J. Kelley Hall, “and on Thursday it wasn’t just from the perimeter. We didn’t shoot it well inside, outside, anywhere.”
<center><p><a href="http://www.theadvertiser.com/sports/html/D5F609F7-E791-4477-8202-BAD7BD509E2E.shtml">The rest of the story</a>
Dan McDonald
dmcdonald@lafayette.gannett.com <!--
The Cajuns dropped a 52-49 Thursday decision to West Division leader South Alabama in Mobile, mostly due to a 28.6 percent shooting effort. That’s a far cry from the 51 percent shooting that UL Lafayette managed in its 68-49 romp over the Privateers back on Jan. 17 in the Cajundome.
UNO goes into today’s game riding a two-game win streak, including a pulsating 76-73 double-overtime road victory at New Mexico State Thursday.
The postseason future of both teams could ride on today’s outcome. The Cajuns need to win a minimum of two of their last five league games and may need three wins to insure a berth in the Sun Belt Tournament. The Privateers would have to run the table to get into the tournament with a loss today.
Junior center Anna Petrakova had 23 points and 10 rebounds in the earlier win over UNO. She still leads the Sun Belt in scoring (18.9) and rebounding (10.1) overall, but collapsing defenses have slightly lowered her league-game averages to 18.6 and 8.6 respectively.
“She’s getting banged around and not getting a lot of calls,” Hall said, “but we can take care of that by making a few more shots.”
-->
<blockquote><p align=justify><b>Louisiana records key road victory to stay alive in Sun Belt West race.</b>
NEW ORLEANS — Twice this season, the LAdy Cajuns of Louisina have endured disappointing three-point losses to South Alabama, and both times they have responded with double-digit victories over New Orleans.
The Cajuns came back from a 23-21 halftime deficit for Saturday’s 61-51 win at Lakefront Arena, improving to 12-10 on the season and 6-5 in the Sun Belt Conference’s Western Division.
“I think that proves that, even if we go down, we’re going to come back up,” said junior post Anna Petrakova, whose 25 points and seven rebounds led the way. “We’re not giving up.
“The loss to South Alabama really hurt our feelings. UNO just happens to be the team we got back on.”
UL’s earlier 57-54 home loss to USA was followed two nights later by a 68-49 rout of UNO, and USA rallied in the second half to beat the Cajuns 52-49 last Thursday in Mobile.
“The kids realize they can play well on the road,” coach J. Kelley Hall said. “We did lead South Alabama for 39 minutes, and I think that gave the team a lot of confidence.”
The Cajuns quickly reversed Saturday’s halftime deficit with six straight points after intermission, before the Privateers (8-14, 4-7) put together a surge of their own and led 31-29 on two Monique Taylor free throws with 16:48 to play.
Petrakova then responded with a drive and a free throw to put her team ahead to stay at 32-31.
<center><p><a href="http://www.theadvertiser.com/sports/html/6169227B-C664-4BBE-8BA0-030989407C9B.shtml">The rest of the story</a>
Bruce Brown
bbrown@theadvertiser.com <!--
“At halftime, we talked about out-rebounding them, don’t give them the boards,” Petrakova said. “We wanted to take away their inside game. That’s what hurt us in the first half.”
“There was a sense of urgency on our part,” Hall said, “and in the second half the kids really stepped it up. We wanted to get the ball inside, stop the dribble-penetration and make them shoot the ‘three.’”
The Privateers finished 1-of-12 from behind the arc, making their only trey with 11 seconds left for the final points of the night.
Tiffany Washington (10 points, 11 rebounds) and Sharee Glenn (10 points, 6 rebounds) supported Petrakova, while Taylor had 16 points and Joevone Markey 12 for New Orleans.
The Cajuns overcame horrific 8-of-33 shooting in the first half, as well as 20 turnovers, for the season sweep of UNO.
Just as importantly, they maintained their poise and retained their preferred style of play when UNO tried to pick up the pace.
“They are a really fast team,” Petrakova said. “I’ll give them that. We had to remember to not give in to their tempo. We had to slow it down, and not be crazy with the ball.”
That’s especially crucial on the road in conference play, when the home team will try to set the tone.
“They controlled the tempo the entire game,” UNO coach Joey Favaloro said. “We never had control of it.”
“They tried to speed the game up,” Hall said. “But that’s not the way we play.”
Four Cajuns played the full 40 minutes and Hall played just six players, so remaining poised was critical.
The victory was a major boost for the Cajuns in the tightly-bunched Western Division.
“Their backs have been to the wall three times, and they came through twice,” Hall said of the Privateers. “This gives them their seventh (SBC) loss, and that’s a number you don’t want to have.”
“This was a must win tonight, in order for us to keep our standing,” Petrakova said.
-->