Geaux Lady Cajuns

[Turbine]

Just got back from supper with my wife listened to Stevie P. and the Lady Cajuns blow out Denver

[NewsCopy]

<>Louisiana eclipses .500 mark this late in season for first time since 1988.

LOUISIANA La. — In other years, the University of Louisiana Lady Cajuns might have found a way to falter.

After all, they were 0-12 in a dozen previous Sun Belt Conference openers.

But on Saturday when the Denver Pioneers closed a 38-31 UL halftime lead to just 40-39, coach J. Kelley Hall’s women instead responded with an emphatic 10-point surge that produced a 50-39 advantage.

That was too much for the visitors as the Cajuns closed with a rush for an impressive 80-57 victory.

“They started to push on us and got it down to one point,” Anna Petrakova said. “We said we can’t let them get the lead. If they get the lead they’re going to play even harder.

“We became more determined and more focused on defense. We wanted to take their 3-pointers away, and take away their will to win.”

Petrakova paced the victory with a nearly-perfect double-double effort. She scored a game-high 28 points, hit 9-of-10 shots, 2-of-2 treys and all eight free throw attempts.

The junior standout also hauled down 12 rebounds, blocked two shots and had a pair of steals.

Bernette Tolston also had a hot hand, hitting 8-of-13 including 6-of-9 from behind the arc and totalling 24 points.

The Cajuns improved to 6-5 overall, the first time they’ve been over the .500 mark this deep into the season since the 1987-88 squad started out 11-3. Not surprisingly, that was also the last time the program finished with a winning record, at 18-11.

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Bruce Brown
bbrown@theadvertiser.com