2003-04 Lady Cajun's Basketball

[NewsCopy]

Louisiana closes in on tournament berth

LOUISIANA La. — UL rocked New Mexico State back on its heels with a barrage of first-half 3-point baskets on Thursday, then shut the door down the stretch with defense for a 67-51 victory before 355 fans at Earl K. Long Gym.

The emphatic triumph improved the LAdy Cajuns to 13-11 on the year and 7-5 in Sun Belt Conference play, a major step in reaching the March 6-9 Sun Belt Tournament in Bowling Green.

“I feel like we’re in the tournament,” UL coach J. Kelley Hall said. “One more, for sure, and that would be huge because that would give us a winning season.

“These young ladies deserve to have something like that happen to them.”

As it is, the Cajuns have won more games this year than any LAdy Cajun squad in the last 16 years.

It was the final home game of the season for the Cajuns, and seniors Sharee Glenn and Tiffany Washington capitalized on the spotlight.

Glenn had 14 of her 19 points by halftime, triggering a 39-23 lead at the break, and was part of suffocating defense on NMSU star Sinnamonn Garrett.

Washington scored 17 points and cleared 9 rebounds in tandem with Anna Petrakova (19, 12) on the front line.

“I always put so much pressure on myself to do good,” Glenn said. “Tonight I just wanted to play and have fun.”

“Sharee really went out in style,” Hall said. “I just can’t say enough about her and what she’s meant to our program. I’m so proud for her to go out the way she did.

“And Tiffany ... she’s always there. They’ve always out-rebounded us, but tonight it was 33-33 and we had 30 defensive rebounds. That’s 30 times we didn’t give them another chance to score.”

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Bruce Brown
bbrown@theadvertiser.com

[Oldman]

the one thing that really got to me at the lady cajun basketball game was.......lack of support, i mean it was:
the last home game
senior nite
big game,playing for a tournament spot
watch the girls do something that hadn't
been done in 16 years
it was a very entertaining game, the girls really got after new mexico state, good outside shooting,& great defense. it was nice they came over to the small crowd of us and thanked us, i'm real happy for them and what a job coach Kelly Hale has done, WOW.
they deserve better than what they got.

[Turbine]

I feel real bad for missing.

I had a truck breakdown yesterday morning and after a hectic day decided I needed the rest.

Still this team is special and I should have gone to more games this year. My loss.

[RaginRash]

Awesome.

[CDeb]

J Kelley Hall, SBC coach of the year.

[CajunFanatic91]

Well it looks like we have a chance to make to NCAA.

[NewsCopy]

Louisiana's LAdy Cajuns would normally be a little grumpy about boarding a 5:30 a.m. flight, but they didn’t seem to mind as much Friday.

The LAdy Cajuns were a few hours removed from Thursday night’s impressive 67-51 thrashing of New Mexico State at Long Gym, a victory which pushed UL to 13-11 on the season and all but locked up a spot in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament with a 7-5 league mark.

With a victory at North Texas tonight, the Cajuns could assure the school’s first winning season since an 18-11 record in 1987-88.

Thursday’s win was built on 3-point shooting (10-of-20 in the first half alone, 12-of-26 overall), as well as a defense that allowed NMSU just one basket in the final 6:18 of action.

“When we shoot well and everything’s clicking, we’re a fun team to coach and a fun team to watch,” UL coach J. Kelley Hall said.

“We called them out in the locker room before the game. I thought it was time to stop talking and step up on the perimeter.”

Cajun guards Sharee Glenn (19 points) and Bernette Tolston (8) combined for 7-of-15 treys and handcuffed Aggies star Sinnamonn Garrett to an 11-point night (4-of-13 shooting) and four turnovers, while Ashley Blanche and Morgan Mayon totalled seven assists.

“I don’t know what it is,” Hall said, “but I had not beat that team in seven tries as an assistant and head coach. I was 0-4 against them in the Big West Conference, and 0-3 here. It had never been close, for whatever reason.”

Tonight, the Cajuns will be matched against a team they outpointed 53-50 on Feb. 5.

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Bruce Brown
bbrown@theadvertiser.com

[Turbine]

Standout Anna Petrakova suffers injury in setback.

JONESBORO, Ark. — Louisiana's Lady Cajuns basketball team will participate in the Sun Belt Conference’s postseason tournament. That was the good news from Thursday night.

The bad news was the Ragin’ Cajuns, hobbled by an ankle injury to junior post player and Sun Belt leading scorer and rebounder Anna Petrakova, fell in a 57-48 loss at Arkansas State.

Petrakova rolled an ankle four minutes into the second half and didn’t return, and the Ragin’ Cajuns struggled from then on in losing the front half of a season-ending two-game swing. The Cajuns (13-13, 7-7) face Arkansas-Little Rock Saturday at 7 p.m. in the regular-season finale.

Even with the loss, the Cajuns clinched a spot in the Sun Belt tourney because of Thursday’s other league results. UL Lafayette backed in when Arkansas Little Rock defeated New Mexico St. 64-60, North Texas topped New Orleans 67-56 and South Alabama beat Denver 56-50.

UNO, Denver and NMSU each now have nine losses in the West Division, and the worst the Cajuns can finish is 7-8 even with a loss at UALR Saturday.

“We went right in the back door,” said Cajun coach J. Kelley Hall. “But we still need a win Saturday because that would put us no worse than second in the West and make sure we don’t have a losing season. That’s big for this program.”

The Cajuns were leading 33-31 at the 15:37 mark of the second half when Petrakova, the team’s leading scorer, went up for a shot and came down on an ASU player’s ankle. Petrakova didn’t play the rest of the way, and ASU used 11 Cajun turnovers and a 15-10 rebounding margin to outscore UL 26-15 over the final 15 minutes.

After Petrakova’s injury, ASU scored twice in the paint, while the Cajuns turned the ball over on two straight possessions, helping the Lady Indians take a 35-33 lead. Even though the Cajuns came back to lead on two separate occasions in the next two minutes, ASU took the lead for good on Adrianne Davie’s inside basket that made it 39-38 with just over 11 minutes left.

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[Turbine]

#1 South AL 45										#2 ASU. 65 (2 OT)
		#8 Denver						#7 New Mexico State
#8 Denver 47										#7 NMSU 71 (2OT)
		Monday 11 a.m (ESPN+)						Monday 1:30 p.m.
#4 Middle Tenn 81										#3 WKU 85
		#4 Middle Tenn						#3 Western Kentucky
#5 North Texas 66										#6 Louisiana 68

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[NewsCopy]

Lady Cajuns face test

LOUISIANA La. — Louisiana's LAdy Cajuns weren’t expected to reach the Sun Belt Conference Tournament in women’s basketball, but they’ve done that.

As a matter of fact, coach J. Kelley Hall’s 13-14 squad finished second in the Western Division race after being picked last, and has won more games than any team at the school in the last 16 years.

The LAdy Cajuns face tournament host Western Kentucky in a 1:30 Sunday quarterfinal in Bowling Green, and although WKU has a distinct homecourt advantage UL did knock off the Lady Toppers 80-72 during the regular season at Long Gym.

“There are several different angles to this,” Hall said. “Three teams aren’t in the tournament, and we made it, so I’m proud about that.

“We were picked last in the West and finished second.

“We wanted to have a winning record, and we still have a chance at that, but the program is on track. We’ve hit most of our goals.”

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Bruce Brown
bbrown@theadvertiser.com