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Petrakova earns Sun Belt weekly honor (Dec 15)
LOUISIANA La. — Louisiana’s junior center Anna Petrakova was named Sun Belt Conference Player of the Week.
Petrakova averaged 26 points and 14 rebounds in the Cajuns’ two contests.
It’s the first for the Cajun women since Sarah Richey claimed the same honor during the 2001-02 season.
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Lengthy road set to end for Lady Cajuns
MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. — The long and winding road finally comes to an end, at least for a while, for the University of Louisiana's Lady Cajuns basketball team today.
The Lady Cajun squad completes a streak of five games in five different cities in nine days, all on the same trip, when it meets Coastal Carolina at 11 a.m. in the opening game of the Beach Ball Classic.
UL (3-5) won the opener of the trip at Nicholls State but has since lost by two points at Nebraska, lost in overtime at Savannah State and dropped a 72-59 decision to South Carolina on Thursday night.
“USC is a very good team and a top-five SEC team,” said Cajun coach J. Kelley Hall of the Thursday contest with the Gamecocks. “We knew coming in we had to dictate the tempo and I felt like our kids played hard and controlled the game for a good bit.”
Junior center Anna Petrakova had a season-high 26 points, hitting 11-of-13 shots, to lead the Cajuns in the loss to USC, while senior newcomer and frontcourt mate Tiffany Washington added 17 points and a game-high 11 rebounds
. Cajun women host Denver
LOUISIANA La. — The long-awaited home opener for Louisiana’s Lady Cajuns comes at 2 p.m. today when UL hosts Denver at Earl K. Long Gym on campus.
Coach J. Kelley Hall’s team is a solid 5-5 on the year after capping a 10-game stretch of away games with Tuesday’s 68-44 dismantling of the Lamar Lady Cardinals, while Denver enters the contest at 7-5.
“It’s good to be home,” Hall said. “Playing 10 in a row on the road to start the season might be one of the toughest things I’ve ever asked a team to do, but overall I thought they responded well and have continued to get better.
“I you’re going to have that kind of experience, we needed to do it early. It was good to finish it off with a nice win.”
On Tuesday, UL got 24 points and 13 rebounds from junior Anna Petrakova, as well as 19 points from Sharee Glenn, 12 from Bernette Tolston (all on 3-pointers) and 10 rebounds from defensive ace Tiffany Washington.
& Hooch
Ragin' Cajuns Rock
Did the women Ragin' Cajuns win?
Does anyone know if Ragin' Cajuns won? I'm asking about the women Ragin' Cajuns basketball team.
Raising Cajun
Ragin' Cajuns Fan for Sure
Yes the women's team did win. 80-57
Non-Insider
Ragin' Cajuns #1 Fan
And they won again today against UTPA. Can't remember the score, but it was a 4-5 point game. Cajun women had a big lead at halftime but got really tired in the 2nd half.
. Cajun women roll
Weary squad hits the wall, but still tops visiting UTPA
LOUISIANA La. — The wall that the University of Louisiana’s Lady Cajuns basketball team ran into was almost visible in the second half.
But, in contrast to Lady Cajun teams of the not-too-distant past, the home team found a way to hold on down the stretch and take its fourth straight win here Sunday afternoon.
The Lady Cajuns, leading by 21 points at halftime and 22 with 17 minutes left, struggled the rest of the way in a 62-54 win over Texas-Pan American in the second game of a four-game homestand.
The first of that home streak was barely 24 hours earlier, when the Louisiana squad played perhaps its most complete game of the year in an 80-57 win over Denver in their Sun Belt Conference opener Saturday afternoon.
The wear and tear of that emotional win showed throughout the second half Sunday after the Lady Cajuns had thoroughly dominated the first 20 minutes.
“We didn’t have any legs left,” said coach J. Kelley Hall. “Yesterday took a lot out of us. We didn’t have the spring to go get rebounds and to shoot the ball like we’re capable of.”
The Cajuns (7-5) outboarded Pan Am 24-13 in the first half, shot 48.4 from the field and held the Broncs to a 5-of-25 shooting performance on the way to a 37-16 edge.
Louisiana
Geaux Cajuns
shame on me, i haven't gotten to see the girls play. but i'm excited about what's happening, coach has really turn this team around, we need to get everyone behind them and show our support, early game thursday show up. "GEAUX CAJUNS>"
. Petrakova honored by Sun Belt again (Jan 12)
LOUISIANA La. — Junior center Anna Petrakova has stopped surprising opponents.
Now, she’s expected to be a standout every game for the Lady Cajuns of Louisiana.
Petrakova was named the Sun Belt Conference Player of the Week on Monday, repeating an honor she received on Dec. 16.
“That’s good,” UL coach J. Kelley Hall said. “She deserves it. She’ll be happy about that.”
UL won three games last week, running its winning streak to four, as Petrakova averaged 26.3 points (shooting 68% from the floor and 87% at the line), 12.7 rebounds, 2.7 blocks, 1.7 steals and 1.7 assists per game.
In a 68-44 win against Lamar on Jan. 6, Petrakova finished with 24 points, 13 rebounds, 4 blocks, a steal and an assist. In the Sun Belt Conference opener Saturday against Denver, Petrakova led the scoring with 28 points, while pulling down 12 boards en route to an 80-57 Cajun win.
Against Texas-Pan American on Sunday, the veteran chipped in 27 points, 13 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 blocks, and 2 steals in a 62-54 win despite playing games on back-to-back days.
Petrakova has a string of four consecutive double-doubles and seven in the last eight games. Over that span, she has averaged 24.3 points, 12.9 rebounds and 2.6 blocks.
The rest of the story
Bruce Brown
bbrown@theadvertiser.com
. Lady Cajuns Tolston shoots way to success
LOUISIANA La. — Bernette Tolston hates to miss a shot. Any shot.
So, when Unviersity of Louisiana coach J. Kelley Hall directs her to keep firing the ball towards the hoop even when she’s not having her best night, it’s a tough directive to follow.
“Coach tells me to shoot when I’m open,” Tolston said. “I know I need to, but if I’m having a bad night, I’m looking to pass. I don’t even try.
“I know I can shoot my way out of it.”
It’s a curious twist to find Tolston hesitant to use her natural skill with the basketball. She averaged 22 points per game as a senior at Lake Charles-Boston and is blessed with a smooth jumper the Cajuns have used well en route to a 7-5 start.
“I’ve always been a shooter,” Tolston said. “When I was little, before I could dribble I could shoot. That’s always what I did.”
To no one’s surprise, Indiana Pacers star Reggie Miller was one of her first role models on the court.
“We mainly watched football at our house,” Tolston said, “but I liked Reggie Miller’s game.”
The rest of the story
Bruce Brown
bbrown@theadvertiser.com
. Ragin' Cajuns and Lady Cajuns pair up vs. Jaguars
LOUISIANA La. — There’s home, and then there’s HOME.
Louisiana’s Ragin’ Cajuns often move practice to Bourgeois Hall or other locales to accommodate scheduling conflicts at the Cajundome, but this week they’ve had the luxury of practicing where they play.
“It’s unusual for us this time of year to have the opportunity to practice in the Dome,” coach Jessie Evans said. “We’ve utilized that this week.”
The 6-4 Cajuns open a three-game homestand at 7:05 p.m. today, sharing the Cajundome with the Cajun women in a doubleheader against South Alabama that begins at 4:45 p.m.
Evans’ squad seeks a 2-0 start to Sun Belt Conference play after rallying to nip Denver 83-81 on the road last Saturday.
Also, Saturday, USA squared its conference record at 1-1 with a 72-66 victory over visiting Western Kentucky to improve to 6-7 overall.
“They split two at home last week (losing to New Orleans, 64-58), and they’re coming off a win, so they feel pretty good about themselves,” Evans said of the Jaguars.
“They’ve always played us extremely tough in the Cajundome.”
Evans is 7-7 against USA since taking the Cajun job seven years ago, while last season’s split (93-89 USA win in Mobile; 67-60 Cajun win in the Dome) gave USA coach John Pelphrey his brief 1-1 mark against UL.
The rest of the story
Bruce Brown
bbrown@theadvertiser.com
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...The Lady Cajuns (7-5) made history last weekend when they won their Sun Belt Conference opener for the first time.
If they can knock off South Alabama today at the Cajundome, they’ll made heads turn.
South Alabama won its 12th game in a row on Monday night, 66-65 at New Orleans. The Jaguars’ only loss was a one-point setback to Vanderbilt on a neutral court in Vermont.
“It would be a big step for us to beat South Alabama,” Cajun coach J. Kelley Hall said. “Coach (Rick) Pietri does a tremendous job with them.
“We’re the two best defensive teams in the conference. We both rebound and play defense, so it could come down to who shoots the ball better.”
South Alabama struggled with its marksmanship at UNO, hitting just 24-of-70 (34.3 percent) and 2-of-12 from behind the 3-point arc. But the Jaguars also held the Privateers to 37 percent from the field and out-rebounded their hosts 47-42.
It took a pair of Sara Carter free throws with 4 seconds remaining to rescue USA and keep its winning streak alive.
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