The Book: Lady Cajuns 2006-07 basketball

[EVCajun12]

With Middle Tennessee ahead of them in the league race, there's no shame in being the second-best team in the Sun Belt Conference.

The Ragin' Cajuns, in fact, have finished as the league's runner-up the past two seasons. But this time, the selection committee extended a rare at-large invitation to a mid-major, so Louisiana-Lafayette is dancing for the first time and enters the NCAA Tournament with a 25-8 record.

Yolanda Jones leads Louisiana-Lafayette, averaging a double-double of 17.9 points and 10.4 rebounds. The 6-foot-1 senior power forward, who shoots 47 percent from the field, led the Ragin' Cajuns in scoring in all but 10 games, including two 30-point performances. While Jones also posts a team-high 67 steals, she has almost twice as many turnovers (104) than assists (59).

Junior center Sonora Edwards (10.2 ppg, 8.1 rpg) and junior shooting guard Onna Charles (11.8 ppg, 4.4 rpg) are the only other Ragin' Cajuns in double figures. Edwards leads La.-Lafayette with 48 percent shooting from the field. Charles is the team's 3-point threat, hitting 56 treys on the season.

Senior point guard Jeanenne Colbert is the ballhandler of the bunch, dishing out 4.5 assists per game.

Defense is a strength. The Ragin' Cajuns average eight steals while holding opponents to 58 points per game. Plus, foes shoot just 29 percent from 3-point range and 35 percent from the field. That stalwart defense and a plus-10 rebounding margin help make up for La.-Lafayette's 17.5 turnovers per game, 63 percent accuracy at the foul line and 32 percent shooting from beyond the arc.

Against fellow NCAA Tournament teams, Louisiana-Lafayette went 0-3, including two losses to Middle Tennessee by a combined 37 points, though the second loss was by 10. The Ragin' Cajuns also got pummeled by LSU, 65-31, back on Nov. 16.
-- Melanie Jackson

[EVCajun12]

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncw/ncaatourney07/bracket

[J-Town Cajun]

Which Sun Belt school has won a National Championship?

[KAjunRaider]

Well... go figure... the LADY CAJUNS BASKETBALL TEAM makes the "Big Dance" as a #11 seed!

Congratulations to both Coach Halls!

Came as no surprise to me. I told all of you that this would happen on the Sun Belt board. Ask Zeebart.

We will be watching the Cajun women via satellite at the world famous Hillbilly Hilton this weekend. All are welcome. We already have several Cajuns who have reserved spots on the Hilton for the baseball game.

And, yes, there will be a Cajun flag a'flying amongst the many MT flags.

Two words..................(1) Matt, & (2) Scott

Please come visit us at our main message board at http://www.BlueRaiderZone.com

[Clutch0364]

Congratulations to the Lady Cajuns!!! I was listening to Tony's show on 1420 and Jay announced the Cajuns were going to be in the dance and I like to have lost my ____ lol Good time to be a Cajun fan

[NewsCopy]

Who would have believed it? UL’s women’s basketball team is on its way to the NCAA Tournament. The Ragin’ Cajuns put a cap on their most successful season in history Monday night when they were selected to the 64-team NCAA field as an at-large selection from the Sun Belt Conference. The Cajuns (25-8) will face Marquette (25-6) in a first-round contest at 1:30 p.m. Saturday at the Frank Erwin Center in Austin, Texas. UL, earning its first-ever postseason bid, drew a No. 11 seed in the Dayton Regional as the second selection from the Sun Belt. “We’re part of history,” said Cajun senior forward Yolanda Jones, who gathered with her teammates at the home of co-head coaches J. Kelley and Meredith Hall to watch the ESPN-televised bracket announcement. “I’m so excited, just to be a part of this.” “This is huge for our program,” said Kelley Hall. “It puts us on the map. It solidifies that we’re a basketball program.” The rest of the story Dan McDonald dmcdonald@theadvertiser.com

The Lady Cajuns are led by Yolanda Jones, a First Team All-SBC selection, who averages a double-double and leads her team in both rebounds and points on 17.9 ppg and 10.4 rpg. Two other Lafayette players have averaged in double figure points this season; Onna Charles and Sonora Edwards with 11.8 and 10.2 ppg, respectively.

[NewsCopy]

UL's women's basketball program has been waiting for 36 years for what the NCAA Tournament likes to call "one shining moment." Regardless of what happens from here on, no moment may ever shine as much as one that came just after 7:30 p.m. Monday at J. Kelley and Meredith Hall's home. When "UL Lafayette" flashed onto television screens across the country during ESPN's selection show for the NCAA Tournament, it shocked the country, the state, the city and the university. It shocked everyone, with the exception of the 20 or so gathered at the Hall home. They, the Cajun coaches and players, thought they had a shot at a bid to the "Big Dance," even if nobody else gave them a chance. There it was, live and in color. All it took was the image on the screen, that one line, because nobody in that living room heard anything that was said about the Cajun squad. There was too much screaming for that. The rest of the story

[NewsCopy]

Louisiana’s Lady Cajuns Geaux Dancing for First Time in School History For the first time in school history, Louisiana’s Ragin’ Cajuns will play in the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament. Louisiana (25-8), the no. 11 seed, will play 6-seed Marquette (25-6). The Golden Eagles are ranked no. 22 in the nation in the latest AP Poll. Marquette, the third-place finisher in the Big East, makes their eighth tournament appearance. The game will be the first meeting between the two schools. The first round game in Austin, Texas is slated to begin around 1:30pm on Saturday, March 17 and will be aired live on ESPN and ESPNU. The Cajuns go back to where their season began, as UL opened the 2006-07 slate in the Texas Basketball Classic. UL played three games at the Frank Erwin Center, winning a pair, while falling to then-no. 25 Texas without starters Jeanenne Colbert and Yolanda Jones and reserve Courtney Ratliff. The Sun Belt West Division Champion-Cajuns are one of nine schools making their first NCAA Tournament appearance, joining Belmont, Delaware State, Gonzaga, Maryland-Baltimore County, North Carolina-Asheville, Pittsburgh, Prairie View A&M and Robert Morris. UL and Pittsburgh are the only at-large selections making their first appearance. LOUISIANA SI

[DestinCajun]

AIN"T no such thing as the "lady" Cajuns anymore - we're all Ragin Cajuns!

[spearchucker]

Coach K, gotta give you some green for that statement! It is an absolutely amazing accomplishment!

I look for your boy LG to make some noise this upcoming season!!

L'Ronte'

You know it did not come easy for the Halls, their staff, and players...what a job they have done over the last few years.

Yep, I sure hope LG produces well for Coach Lee...I hope the whole team has started doing all of the things that they need to do now to be successful next year.