The Book: Lady Cajuns 2004-05 Basketball Season

[NewsCopy]

LAS CRUCES -- The New Mexico State women's basketball team struggled to find consistency as it fell to a hot-shooting Louisiana-Lafayette team 72-57 on Saturday at the Pan American Center.

Freshman Monique Bri- biescas led the Aggies with 16 points, adding two assists and two steals. Trecha Kennedy added 12 points, while Sherell Neal dropped in 10 points and grabbed seven rebounds.

The Aggies shot 33 percent from the field and 23 percent from behind the 3-point arc. The Ragin' Cajuns shot 50 percent from the floor and 40 percent from the 3-point line while out rebounding the Aggies 43-34.

The Aggies came out hot in the second half, shooting 80 percent from the field, but the Cajun defense limited the Aggies to only five shots in the first four minutes and led 42-37.

The Cajuns grabbed their largest lead of the game at 61-47 with 6:41 to play as the Aggies continued to struggle, scoring only three points in a nearly five- minute span.

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[NewsCopy]

There's a difference between getting angry and losing your cool.

Louisiana's Ragin' Cajuns dropped a big Sun Belt Conference Western Division showdown at North Texas last Thursday, falling 61-51 when a victory would have wrapped up the division title.

They fumed about it, then got back on track with Saturday's 72-57 triumph at New Mexico State in Las Cruces, something no UL team had ever achieved.

"I told them to look at this realistically," coach J. Kelley Hall said. "They were all mad because we lost at North Texas, but I told them if we won at New Mexico State we still would have wins in four of our last five games.

"Sometimes it's not bad to get mad."

Hall and his staff also tried to loosen things up on the day in between games.

"We did some different things on Friday," Hall said. "We had some shooting drills to end our practice to keep things fun.

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Bruce Brown
bbrown@theadvertiser.com

[NewsCopy]

From 1-14 as freshman to potential title year. Tolston's seen it all

When Bernette Tolston was a freshman, Louisiana's Ragin' Cajuns endured a 1-14 campaign in Sun Belt Conference women's basketball.

When the Cajuns tip off against Arkansas-Little Rock at 7 p.m. today at Earl K. Long Gym, they can clinch a tie for the Sun Belt's Western Division title.

It's been quite a ride in between those two campaigns.

"It's been a roller coaster, but a good roller coaster for me," said Tolston, one of three seniors on the 18-8, 8-5 Cajuns of coach J. Kelley Hall. "It's turning out pretty good. I have to say it was worth it."

The Cajuns finished 7-21 in 2001-2002, the last campaign for coach Gay Nix and Tolston's first after a stellar career at Lake Charles-Boston High School.

Hall took over the next year and UL improved slightly to 8-19, 4-11. Then last season the Cajuns were 13-15, 7-8, and were 13-11 before running out of gas late in the year.

Now they're enjoying the first winning season at the school in 17 years and are shooting for that West crown.

"The only thing I can say is that it's a miracle," Tolston said. "After my freshman year, to be in first place my senior year is just unbelievable.

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Bruce Brown
bbrown@theadvertiser.com

[NewsCopy]

J. Kelley Hall knew his Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns would be improved this season, but they have taken things a step further.

Hall's Cajuns (18-8, 8-5) are flirting with the Sun Belt Conference Western Division title in women's basketball, and can clinch a tie for the division by beating Arkansas-Little Rock at 7 p.m. today in Earl K. Long Gym.

"Looking at it realistically, I figured we should at least finish second (in the West)," Hall said. "We had some success last year and I knew we were improved.

"Then, I did not anticipate that South Alabama would have all the injuries they've had."

The Cajuns are a game ahead of North Texas (12-13, 7-6), which visits South Alabama (12-13, 6-7) tonight needing a win and slippage by UL.

If Louisiana beats UALR and USA beats UNT, the West race is over.

"If we can win the division, it's huge," Hall said. "It is a big thing. Our kids have a chance to go from last place to a championship. They've all be trying hard. I want them to experience that."

Louisiana is a perfect 11-0 at home this year, with eight of those coming at Long Gym, and the Cajuns are brimming with confidence as they finish against UALR and Arkansas State on Saturday.

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Bruce Brown
bbrown@theadvertiser.com

[NewsCopy]

PATTERSON - If the Teurlings Catholic Lady Rebels are going to advance to the Sweet 16 for the second consecutive year, they'll have to do so without 3-time all-state selection and Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns signee Blair Brodhead, who suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in her left knee.

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[Cajun1997]

Lady Cajuns clinch at least a tie for the western division title.

[RaginFan2]

Great job, ladies! We are proud of you! Keep it up and go dancing!!!

[DaddyCajun]

I was there and it my friends was a packed house, that was LOUD!!!! I got there a few minutes into the game and had to sit yes on the courtside row if you will. You could see Anna's facial expressions as she battled inside and was great. Her pressence will be missed, but there is still more work to be done. Ashley is intense and quick as lightening, Washington is a workhorse with a great smile. This group of young ladies are very special, and I am just glad I could say I was there when they cut the nets down!!


DaddyCajun!!!!

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Cajun women win West. Hall, players enjoy remarkable turnaround in program

Hell has officially frozen over.

Pigs flew Thursday night.

Common wisdom was that both of those would happen before the University of Louisiana's women's basketball team won a conference title.

Not that program ... one that hadn't had a winning season in 18 years, and one that for over a decade was a running joke in the Sun Belt Conference.

"Honestly, no one ever thought this was going to happen," said Ragin' Cajun senior forward Bernette Tolston. "It was only a dream."

The ghosts of disappointed players past, those floating around the rafters of Long Gym, had never seen anything like it Thursday night ... a packed gym, frenzied fans looking to shake 34 years of frustration and watch their team win a share of the Sun Belt West Division.

Their Cajuns didn't disappoint.

Thanks to Melissa Bratton's career-high 22 points and balanced scoring from the rest of the squad - not to mention a stellar defensive effort - the host Cajuns made history Thursday night with a 59-47 victory over Arkansas-Little Rock.

The win improved the Cajuns to 19-8 overall and, more importantly, to 9-5 in the Sun Belt. UL holds a one-game lead over North Texas (8-6) with only one game to go, and can finish no worse than tied with UNT for the West title even with a loss Saturday in their regular-season finale against Arkansas State.

The Cajuns could have won the crown outright on Thursday, but UNT rallied for a 59-56 win over a South Alabama team that had led that contest virtually the entire game.

Did that result take some of the luster off Thursday's post-game celebration?

After what the Cajun women's program has been through since 1971, not on your life.

"The first thing someone asked me when I took this job was what the hell I was thinking," said Cajun coach J. Kelley Hall. Pointing to his team's mid-court celebration, he added, "this is what I was thinking about."

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Dan McDonald
dmcdonald@theadvertiser.com

[El Sidonio]

This was probably tied for the most exciting UL game I've ever been to. FIRST TIME IN UL HISTORY WE WIN THE CONFERENCE! Awesome, simply awesome. I'm havin the article from today's paper permanently preserved on a laminated plak. Too good to not have hangin on my wall. Geaux UL Lady Cajuns Basketball! Good Luck in the Sun Belt tourney!

God Bless.