The Book: Lady Cajuns 2006-07 basketball

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UL's women's basketball team found out how some of its previous opponents felt. The Cajuns had used stifling defense in recording its first two wins of the season. On Thursday night, they got a course in advanced defensive play from LSU's Lady Tigers. LSU locked down on the Cajuns in two impressive stretches and rolled to an easy 65-31 victory over a UL squad that missed most of its shots and looked intimidated on almost all of them. The Cajuns (2-2) went scoreless over a 9:10 period in the first half but was still in the contest with the 10th-ranked Tigers at 29-16 at halftime. But UL made only one field goal in the first 17 minutes of the second half. "For four games, we've played good defense," said LSU coach Pokey Chatman after her team held a fourth straight opponent under 45 points. "I was most happy with the fact that when we left the locker room, I saw a more concentrated effort." The rest of the story Dan McDonald dmcdonald@theadvertiser.com

[CajunTundra]

I know the game starts at 2pm. I was hoping it would be on the radio. Does KPEL still do internet streaming of their radio broadcasts ? Thanks

[Turbine]

I know the game starts at 2pm. I was hoping it would be on the radio. Does KPEL still do internet streaming of their radio broadcasts ? Thanks

With both Jay Walker and Steve Peloquin in Florida I would be very surprised (pleasantly so) if KPEL aired the game.

[CajunTundra]

With both Jay Walker and Steve Peloquin in Florida I would be very surprised (pleasantly so) if KPEL aired the game.

Ok Thanks Turbine

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EDINBURG, Texas - Louisiana’s Lady Cajuns basketball team used excellent second half defense to stifle Texas-Pan American’s offensive attack and come away with a 65-52 victory at the UTPA Field house in Edinburg, Texas. The Lady Cajuns trailed by as many as five in the second half, before going on a 22-4 run that spanned 9:27 to close out the game. During the stretch, the Cajuns allowed just one field goal, which came with just 29-ticks left on the game clock. For the game, UL’s defense held UTPA to just 35-percent shooting, including 23-percent in the second half. The Cajuns offense shot 51-percent for the game, going 50-percent or better each half. The Lady Cajuns out rebounded the Broncs 41-26. UL pulled down 28 defensive rebounds, twice as many as UTPA. Yolanda Jones paced the Cajuns with her 17th double-double in a UL uniform, netting 20 points and pulling down 11 rebounds. Jeanenne Colbert scored 19 as the only other Cajuns player in double figures. After the Cajuns lead off the game with a lay-up by Sonora Edwards, the Broncs responded with a jumper and a three-pointer to take a 5-2 advantage. Jones pulled down an offensive rebound and made the put back to cut the lead to just one. Courtney Ratliff intercepted a UTPA pass and threw the ball ahead to Colbert who converted the fast break lay-up give UL a 6-5 lead. After a pair of baskets made the score 8-7, the Cajuns went on an 8-0 run to increase their lead to 16-7. Texas-Pan American scored the next five points to cut the lead to 16-12, but Jones responded for the Cajuns scoring UL’s next five points herself. She made a lay-up off of an offensive rebound. Jones followed with a three-pointer from the top of the key to give the Cajuns a 21-12 edge. A 9-2 UTPA run cut the Cajuns lead to just two points at 23-21. Onna Charles drained a long jumper from just inside the arc to stop the Broncs run. A basket by Kina Miller and a free throw by Jones gave the Cajuns a seven point edge with just over four minutes to play in the first half. Over the final four minutes of the half, Texas-Pan American used the three-pointer to cut into the Cajuns lead. UTPA’s Teshay Winfrey used a pair of triples to off-set a pair of jumpers by Jones. Winfrey scored in the paint off of a UL turnover to cut the Cajuns lead to 32-30 with 1:40 on the clock. Alicia McDaniel made the back end of a pair of free throws to boost the lead back to three points, but a triple from the top of the key by the Broncs’ Aleeya Grigsby tied the score at 33-33. Texas-Pan American added a pair of free throws to take a 35-33 lead – their first lead since the score was 5-4. McDaniel’s basket with just 20 seconds left in the first half knotted the score and sent the two teams into the locker room at intermission deadlocked at 35-35. The Lady Cajuns started the second half with a pair of baskets by Edwards and Charles, but the Broncs responded with a 13-4 run to build up a 48-43 advantage. UL used a pair of baskets by Charles and Colbert, combined with a Ratliff free throw to tie the score at 48-48. Ratliff made a lay-up at the 8:34 mark to five the Cajuns back the lead. The Cajuns closed out the game outscoring the Broncs 22-4 over the last 9:27 of the game. The Lady Cajuns held Texas-Pan American scoreless for 8:11 while on a 17-0 run. UTPA did not score a field goal for nearly nine minutes of the second half. The Lady Cajuns return to action on Wednesday, Nov. 22 as they travel to Hampton, Va., to take on the Hampton Pirates. Tip-off for the game against Hampton is 5:00 p.m. LOUISIANA SI

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The UL women's basketball team knew that November would be a long grind. Success, though, makes the wear and tear much easier. The Cajun women wrapped up the first half of their 10-game November road stretch - the busiest November in UL basketball history, men or women - on Saturday in rallying from behind for a 65-52 victory over Texas-Pan American. The victory put UL at 3-2, with both losses to nationally-ranked teams, and set the Cajuns up for a five-game stretch in nine days that won't get a lot easier. "We've had more games and less practice time," said Cajun coach J. Kelley Hall, "and you can tell that fatigue's setting in some. But this whole deal will help us a lot down the road." The rest of the story Dan McDonald dmcdonald@theadvertiser.com

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Louisiana’s Lady Cajuns improved to 4-2 on the season thanks to a 57-44 win at Hampton University on Wednesday night. The Cajuns built a 10-point halftime lead, 23-13, and never looked back. Stellar defense paved the way, as UL held Hampton to 15.3 percent shooting in the game. The Pirates closed to within four points early in the second half, 28-24 at 16:57, but the Cajuns boosted their lead by holding Hampton scoreless from the floor for over seven minutes. UL used a 12-2 run to take a 40-26 lead at the 10:09 mark. Hampton made just two free throws, shooting 0-11 from the floor. Courtney Ratliff started the Cajuns scoring burst with a pair of lay-ups. Yolanda Jones, Sonora Edwards and Alicia McDaniel all scored in the paint before a jumper by Jones left the hosts with a 14-point deficit midway through the final half. From there, the Pirates could only get as close as six points, 44-38 with 5:05 remaining. Louisiana responded with another run 12-2 run to finish off the hosts. Again the Cajuns held Hampton scoreless from the floor (0-8). Jones starting things with a pair from the stripe, before a lay-up by McDaniel. Jeanenne Colbert followed with two lay-ups around another free throw from Jones. Two free throws by McDaniel and another from Colbert pushed the Cajuns lead to 56-40 with only 1:44 remaining. Jones led all players with 11 points and 12 boards for her 18th career double-double, while also adding three blocks, two assists and a steal. Onna Charles was the only other Cajun in double figures with 10 points. The first half was all Cajuns from the start. UL never trailed, jumping out to a 7-1 lead before the Pirates tied the game at 7-7 with 13:58 to play in the opening half. Kina Miller’s lay-up at 13:11 put the Cajuns back in the lead for good. UL outscored the Pirates 8-1 over the final 7:09 to claim a 23-13 lead at the break. The Cajuns continue their road trip on Friday at 4pm with a game against Bethune-Cookman in the opening round of the South Carolina Thanksgiving Tournament. LOUISIANA SI

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The Cajuns (4-2), winning their second straight road game, reached the halfway point of their 11-game road swing to open the season. UL remains on the road and on the Eastern seaboard Friday and Saturday with two games in the South Carolina Thanksgiving Tournament in Columbia, S.C. UL's defense held their second opponent of the season under 20 percent shooting with Hampton's 15.3 mark a season best. The rest of the story

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Louisiana’s Lady Cajuns advanced to the championship game of the South Carolina Thanksgiving Tournament thanks to an 86-23 victory over Bethune-Cookman. Louisiana (5-2) advances to Saturday’s 7pm championship against either Mercer or host South Carolina. The 63-point margin of victory is the largest under head coach J. Kelley Hall, surpassing a 61-point victory over Prairie View A&M on Dec. 13, 2004 at Earl K. Long Gym. It also marks the biggest victory over another Division I school. The Cajuns record for largest margin of victory is 94 points against then-NAIA Southern (N.O.) on Dec. 7, 1982 in Blackham Coliseum. Louisiana built a 33-14 first half lead thanks to terrific defense. The Cajuns shot just 29 percent in the first half, but held Bethune-Cookman to 17.9 percent in the opening stanza. The Wildcats scored the game’s first basket on a lay-up by Traci Fountain. Unfortunately, that would be the only points BCC would score over the next 9:30, as UL used a 21-0 run to take control of the game. Onna Charles jumper at the 19:01 mark tied the game and her three-point play put the Cajuns in front at 17:23. Yolanda Jones and Alicia McDaniel scored 12 of the next 14 points before Courtney Ratliff’s offensive rebound and put-back capped the Cajuns scoring burst and left BCC bewildered. The Cajuns held their 19-point edge heading into the second half, 33-14, when the game turned for the worse for BCC. Louisiana started the second frame with a 19-2 run over the opening 6:36 to build a 52-16 lead. Jones scored 12 of UL’s 19 points during the run. Coach Hall then pulled all of his starters following the 8-minute media timeout. The deflated Wildcats fared no better again the Cajuns next five, as UL outscored BCC 28-5 over the final 11:17. UL shot 54.5 percent in the second half, compared to 13.6 percent for BCC. Jones led all players with 18 points and 12 rebounds – her 19th career double-double. Charles finished with 17 points, while Amber Williams came off the bench to notch a career-high 16 points in 16 minutes. McDaniel ended the night with 10 points, seven rebounds and four assists in just 24 minutes. LOUISIANA SI

[Ewhite]

Can't wait for the girls to get back home to play in front of a crowd.

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COLUMBIA, S.C. - Jeanenne Colbert had 20 points and eight assists to lead Louisiana-Lafayette to an 83-68 win against South Carolina in the championship game of the South Carolina Thanksgiving Classic. The Ragin' Cajuns (6-2) went on a 10-0 run midway through the first half to take a 23-13 lead and never trailed again. Yolanda Jones had 18 points and Sonora Edwards added 17 points and 11 rebounds. Onna Charles had 13 and Alicia McDaniel added 12. The rest of the story

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South Carolina coach Susan Walvius didn’t see this type of performance coming. The Gamecocks came out flat and never recovered as Louisiana-Lafayette claimed the Thanksgiving Classic with an 83-68 victory Saturday at the Colonial Center. “We were very flat,” Walvius said. “It may be because our defense wasn’t effective early. We knew Louisiana-Lafayette was a quality team, and we would get their best effort. I think we can learn from this and, hopefully, get better.” South Carolina (4-2) missed its first 11 shots and didn’t make a field goal until Lakesha Tolliver hit a layup at the 15:22 mark. Even with the slow start, USC tied the game at 11 before the Ragin’ Cajuns (6-2) staged a nearly six-minute 24-6 run. The run was capped by a 3-pointer from Jeanenne Colbert, who finished with a game-high 20 points. The Gamecocks were never able to solve Louisiana-Lafayette’s ability to hit from long range. Led by Onna Charles’ three long-range bombs, the Ragin’ Cajuns were 7-of-14 from behind the arc at the half and finished 11-for-27. “We came out very focused from the start,” Louisiana-Lafayette coach J. Kelley Hall said. “We haven’t shown the ability to shoot from long range like we did tonight. I thought we had those type of shooters, and they finally showed up.” The rest of the story CHRIS DEARING The State