The Book: Lady Cajuns 2006-07 basketball

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One year after struggling without a back up point guard to Ashley Blanche, the Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns women's basketball team expected it that to be a problem of the past. Things were supposed to be different this year with the return of senior guard Jeanenne Colbert and redshirt freshman Blair Brodhead. But the Cajuns received news Brodhead will miss the upcoming basketball season for medical reasons, leaving coach J. Kelley Hall scrambling. "We found out that we wouldn't have Blair in the last week of July," Hall said. "It's a big blow for us, because she was going to be the back up point guard to Jeanenne Colbert. She didn't have anyone to beat out." Brodhead redshirted in her first year with the Cajuns program because of knee and foot injuries sustained as a Teurlings Catholic senior. The rest of the story Eric Narcisse enarcisse@theadvertiser.com

[Clutch0364]

I heard about this over the weekend, Coach Hall will figure out something that works just like he did last year and lead us to another winning season.

[CajunAmos]

With Vanity Ledet leaving Southern Mississippi, its a shame she didn't sign/enroll at UL after high school as she looked like someone who would have fit Coach Halls type of game and would probably have seen a lot of playing time as a freshman.

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Anyone want to play point guard? J. Kelley Hall is almost ready to put word on the street, advertising for someone to run the point for his UL women's basketball squad. The Lady Cajun women are a matter of hours away from the "official" start to fall practice, with most of the main cogs back from last year's 18-10 squad. The situation at point appeared to be just as solid right after last season, but since then three prospects have gone off the radar screen. Elaine McCants, who missed all of last season with injuries suffered in an auto accident, will have even more arm surgery in the near future - her fifth time under the knife since that wreck. Redshirt freshman Blair Brodhead of Lafayette-Teurlings Catholic will take a medical redshirt this season, and returnee Jeanenne Colbert, who split time last year, was suspended by Hall this week for "conduct detrimental to the team." "We're going to be so inexperienced at the point," Hall said. "That's the big unknown." The rest of the story Dan McDonald dmcdonald@theadvertiser.com

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Yolanda Jones was named to a Sun Belt Conference all-league basketball team Monday - a few months too late, according to UL women's coach J. Kelley Hall. Jones, the Ragin' Cajuns' senior forward who led the Sun Belt in rebounding and ranked third in scoring last season, was one of the first-team selections on the league's preseason squad announced during Monday's Media Day activities. Jones was relegated to the coaches' second team at the end of last season. "Those numbers should have been good enough," Hall said. "She was pretty upset about it last year, and she's taking it kind of personal this year. It's a challenge to her to prove that the coaches were wrong." Jones' squad was tabbed to finish third in the league's West Division, although second and third were separated by only one point between North Texas and UL. The Cajuns actually had more first-place votes (two) than runner-up UNT (one), both well behind heavy favorite Arkansas State. The rest of the story Dan McDonald dmcdonald@theadvertiser.com

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When UL's women's basketball squad takes the Cajundome floor today for its exhibition opener against Arkansas Tech, it will mark a milestone in the program. For the first time since he took over the program prior to the 2002-03 season, the 4:30 p.m. contest will be the first in which every player wearing a Cajun jersey was recruited by coach J. Kelley Hall. And Hall likes what he sees from his squad. "This is probably the best group we've had as far as work ethic and soaking it all in," Hall said. "They've worked hard in practice, and for the first time we've got 12 on our roster and all 12 are healthy and will play." The UL team is also quite likely the most experienced under Hall, who has guided the women's squad from 8-19 and 13-15 records his first two years to a 22-9 mark and a Sun Belt West title two years ago and an 18-10 mark and a runner-up West finish last year. The rest of the story Dan McDonald dmcdonald@theadvertiser.com

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LAFAYETTE – Louisiana’s Ragin’ Cajuns took a 64-46 exhibition victory over Arkansas Tech on Monday afternoon at the Cajundome. The Cajuns were tested despite the lopsided final score. UL never trailed, but the Golden Suns trailed by only five at half and made two different runs in each half to keep the game close. The Cajuns five-point halftime lead was cut to three early, but UL responded with an 8-0 run on baskets from Alicia McDaniel, Yolanda Jones and two from Kina Miller to build a 43-32 lead at the 12:03 mark. The Golden Suns again ripped into the Cajuns lead, cutting it to six, 47-41, with 7:31 remaining. Jones again answered for UL. She scored four of the Cajuns next five baskets to extend UL’s lead to 16 points. The game was put away after Onna Charles added five points, giving the Cajuns a 62-43 lead with 2:03 left. Jones led all players with 26 points and 12 rebounds, while adding four steals and an assist. Onna Charles finished with 11 points, Jeanenne Colbert had six points and a game-high seven assists and Alicia McDaniel totaled nine points, six boards, five steals and two assists. All five Cajuns starters had already scored en route to a game-starting 13-3 run. Tech’s Amanda Grappe then scored three straight baskets to trim the Cajuns lead to 14-9 at the 12:15 mark. The Golden Suns closed within 16-13, but Jones scored four straight baskets to up the hosts lead to 24-16 at the 5:13 mark. McDaniel added a basket and a free throw before two free throws by Sonora Edwards ended the Cajuns 13-6 run and gave the UL their biggest lead, 29-16, with 3:00 remaining. Tech ended the half on an 8-0 run to trail by five, 29-24. LOUISIANA SI

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She may not have scrimmaged a lot, but Yolanda Jones looked to be in mid-season form Monday night. UL's returning All-Sun Belt Conference pick had a 26-point, 12-rebound, four-steal performance and generally did things almost at will in leading the Ragin' Cajun women to an easy 64-46 victory over Arkansas Tech in Monday's exhibition contest at the Cajundome. Jones had a 10-point surge by herself midway through the first half, helping build a double-figure lead, and the Cajuns turned it over to defense after that in heading into the regular season on a high note despite its limited full-court work. "We haven't even scrimmaged a lot," Jones said. "We know we could have done some things a lot better, but we had a lot of new players that got in some time and it's going to take a while. Everybody's coming from different schools, and we're not on the same page yet." That may have been hard to tell. Except for a subpar shooting performance from the perimeter - 1-of-11 from three-point range and an inconsistent outside attack - it was what Cajun coach J. Kelley Hall called a typical UL women's effort. The rest of the story Dan McDonald dmcdonald@theadvertiser.com

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UL women's basketball coach J. Kelley Hall called Monday's 64-46 exhibition win over Arkansas Tech a stellar defensive effort. Whether or not the Ragin' Cajun defense was tested by the Golden Suns remains to be seen. It is more likely that UL will get four stiffer tests four times in the next five days when the season opens against a killer first-week schedule. The Cajun women begin regular-season play at 4 p.m. today against Texas State in the first round of the Texas Traveler's Classic at the Erwin Center in Austin, Texas. That will be followed by games against host Texas at 7:30 p.m. Monday and Maryland-Eastern Shore at 5 p.m. Tuesday. The rest of the story Dan McDonald dmcdonald@theadvertiser.com

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AUSTIN, Texas – A relentless defensive effort and commanding rebounding edge were the keys as Louisiana’s Lady Cajuns basketball team collected a 59-39 victory over Texas State here Sunday afternoon in the Basketball Traveler’s Classic at the Frank Erwin Center. The game marked the 2006-07 season opener for the Lady Cajuns (1-0). Louisiana won its season opener for the third time in the past four seasons and improved to 3-2 in openers under J. Kelley Hall. Louisiana held Texas State to 22 percent (14-for-63) shooting for the game – below 24 percent in each half – and held a commanding 63-34 edge in rebounds. UL was able to stretch its lead into double figures at halftime after cutting down on its turnovers. The Lady Cajuns, who were guilty of 12 miscues in the first 13 minutes would commit only one in the final seven minutes of the opening half. The Cajuns hit 6-of-12 shots after the seven-minute media timeout and outscored the Bobcats (0-1) 13-7 to post a 29-19 edge at the break. Taking care of the basketball was the key to the Ragin’ Cajuns pulling away in the second half. UL would go 6:10 without a turnover to start the second half and it resulted in a 13-4 run which increased the UL lead to 42-23 with 15:08 remaining. The Bobcats would close the gap down the stretch as UL went scoreless from the 12:06 mark until the 4:44 mark. TSU made three triples during the stretch to trim the Cajuns lead to 45-34 with 6:56 remaining. Louisiana-Lafayette went back to its rebound edge to start the final surge which closed out the victory and the defense pressured the Bobcats into missing eight of their final nine shot attempts. The Cajuns grabbed three offensive rebounds on a possession as the clock ticked under five minutes. Sonora Edwards collected the final rebound and converted the putback at 4:44 to make it 47-34. The defense forced a stop on the ensuing possession and Alicia McDaniel fed Yolanda Jones who scored inside to up the lead to 49-34 with 4:15 left in the game. A long-range, three-point basket by Whitney Dunlap with 2:12 on the clock pushed the advantage to 52-34 and sealed the victory. Jones led the Cajuns with a game-high 21 points and completed a double-double by tallying 16 rebounds. The double-double was the 16th for Jones in a Cajuns uniform. Edwards scored 11 points and was the leading force behind the UL rebounding attack. Edwards grabbed a career-high 17 boards and along with Jones had a team-best seven offensive rebounds. Six of the eight UL players that took the court collected at least four rebounds. The 63 team rebounds were the most since the 2004-05 squad grabbed 74 rebounds against Prairie View A&M. Texas State was led by 11 points from Joyce Ekworomadu on five made field goals. She was one of only two TSU players to make more than three field goals. It was a slow beginning for the Ragin’ Cajuns. UL committed turnovers on its first three possessions and had five by the first media timeout. Jones scored the Cajuns’ first points of the game on a fastbreak layup after a TSU turnover to even the score 2-2 at 16:46. The Bobcats answered and regained the lead after Ashley Leffingwell hit a three-pointer at 16:27. A 5-0 run after the media timeout vaulted the Ragin’ Cajuns into their first lead of the contest. At the 12:18 mark Edwards grabbed the loose ball off a missed three-pointer by Dunalp and converted the putback giving UL a 7-5 edge. The Bobcats got a basket from Riley on the ensuing possession to create a 7-7 tie at the 12:03 mark. TSU broke the tie with a Riley free throw at 11:36. The Cajuns continued to hurt themselves with turnovers as the squad committed turnovers on three straight possessions keeping the score 8-7 at 9:30 of the opening stanza. The Bobcats matched their largest lead when Ekworomadu drove through the lane and converted a layup at 9:06 which put TSU up 10-7. The Cajuns best offensive series of the half resulted in a 9-2 run which put UL in front 16-12 with 7:12 on the clock – a lead the team would not relinquish. Beginning with a Dunlap jumper on the right wing at 8:36 the Ragin’ Cajuns would score baskets on four consecutive possessions. An Edwards three-pointer at the top of the key as the eight-minute mark approached returned the lead to UL at 12-10. The Cajuns run would reach seven points when Jones grabbed a rebound on the defensive end and raced coast-to-coast for a layup pushing the lead to 14-10 at 7:46. UL’s second 7-0 run of the first stanza broke open a 20-16 contest. Onna Charles began the run with a three-pointer at the 3:10 mark. Rebounding and the Cajuns relentless defense were the story of the opening half. UL outboarded TSU 34-14 (11 offensive boards) and held the Bobcats to 24 percent shooting (8-of-34). Lady Cajuns continue play in the Basketball Traveler’s Classic in Austin on Monday, Nov. 13 as they face the host-Texas Longhorns at 7:30 p.m., in the Frank Erwin Center. The game will be televised on Fox Sports Southwest (cable channel 36 in Lafayette). LOUISIANA SI

[RustyR]

After all of the turmoil about the football team and the mens basketball team even though I think they will suprise some people this year. This lady's team is going to be special. And I dont think enough is said about how special of a job the Hall's have done. They have turned this program around and good lord willing will be hear for years to come.

[Zeebart21]

After all of the turmoil about the football team and the mens basketball team even though I think they will suprise some people this year. This lady's team is going to be special. And I dont think enough is said about how special of a job the Hall's have done. They have turned this program around and good lord willing will be hear for years to come.

Rusty, its human nature. Cajun fans arent happy if they cant complain about something.

lsu fans arent happy if they cant come here to this board and remind us "how much they dont care about us"!!! LOL!

Z.