The Book: Lady Cajuns 2004-05 Basketball Season

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LOUISIANA La. -- ULL's Lady Cajuns host the University of New Orleans at 7:05 p.m. today in a conference game set for Earl K. Long gymnasium.

ULL's women are 11-3 overall and 1-0 in the SBC, while UNO is winless after 12 games and 0-1 in the league.

The Lady Cajuns are 7-0 in home games. ULL beat Denver's Lady Pioneers (69-54) to open conference play Saturday night at the Cajundome.

Anna Petrakova is the Lady Cajuns scoring and rebounding leader (16.6 ppg, 10.5).

ULL's projected starting lineup includes Onna Charles (9.8 ppg), Bernette Tolston (9.4), Tiffany Washington (8.7, 6.1) and Ashley Blanche (8.1 ppg).

UNO's probable starting lineup includes three freshman including leading scorer Le Della English (9.1 ppg).

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By BOBBY ARDOIN
Special to The Advocate

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UL starts slow, then routs UNO


LOUISIANA La. - Louisiana's Lady Cajuns are starting to make believers out of basketball fans.

The Cajuns moved to 2-0 in the Sun Belt Conference for the first time in school history and improved to 12-3 on the season with Thursday's 89-50 thrashing of New Orleans before 501 fans at Earl K. Long Gym.

It was a contest for much of the first half as struggling UNO (now 0-13, 0-2) fought to keep the home team in check, but the score was 38-29 at halftime and the Privateers were held to just 21 points after the break.

"We started making our shots in the second half," said UL coach J. Kelley Hall, whose team was 20-of-38 in the final 20 minutes.

"We wanted to wear into them in the first half, wear them down. They have some good, young players, but what's hurting them is a lack of depth. Once they got tired, they couldn't defend us."

UNO also ran out of steam on offense, with a 9-of-32 effort from the field in the second half.

"That's what we do," Hall said. "We hold teams in the 50's."

Senior Anna Petrakova led all scorers with 22 points, hitting 10-of-18 from the field and getting 18 of those points after intermission, while freshman Onna Charles of New Iberia had her second straight 20-point night in as many Sun Belt games.

"It was very exciting," said Charles, who drew thunderous cheers from numerous New Iberia fans on hand. Former NISH teammate Andrea Williams (8 points) of UNO drew similar response from the crowd.

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Bruce Brown
bbrown@theadvertiser.com

[DaddyCajun]

Would love to be able to get one of those "Be the Reason" Shirts!

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Among senior players in the Acadiana area, Teurlings Catholic senior point guard Blair Brodhead stands at the top of the list.

"Blair is a pretty complete player," Lady Rebels coach Garry Brodhead said. "One thing I think people overlook is that she can defend. But she has worked hard for what she has."

Brodhead, who has signed with the Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns, entered her senior season averaging 18 points for her career. She has been named to the Class 3A All-state team, the Daily Advertiser/Coca-Cola All-Acadiana and All-Parish first teams all three seasons including earning MVP honors for All-Parish as a junior.

This year, Brodhead has helped lead the Lady Rebels to a 21-5 overall record en route to garnering the state's No. 1 ranking in Class 3A over the defending state champion Franklin Lady Hornets.

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Eric Narcisse

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LOUISIANA La. - J. Kelley Hall demands a lot of Anna Petrakova, but he knows she's the type of player who's capable of responding with special performances.

Louisiana's Ragin' Cajuns dropped a 57-56 contest at South Alabama last Saturday, their first Sun Belt Conference defeat after a 2-0 start, but Petrakova turned in a dominating effort.

The 6-foot-3 senior hit 13-of-18 shots and scored 28 points to become the 10th player in school history to surpass the 1,000-point plateau.

With 1,019 points, she is two away from ninth-place Shaunda Bedel-Johnson's 1,021, and 40 shy of former teammate Charlotte Green's 1,059.

The Moscow native also pulled down 18 rebounds, moving into fourth place on that career list with 641 and within 16 of No. 3 Bernadette Griffin's 657.

She also has 42 blocked shots this season and 156 for her career, closing in on former teammate Sarah Richey's career-record 163 rejections.

"Anna stepped up and had a big game," Hall said. "I was hard on her at the start of the game, but I expect a lot out of her.

"It's a shame that she had to reach 1,000 points in a game we lose by one point. It's a big milestone for her and she did it against a very good team. She also had 18 rebounds.

"I'm hoping she's going to put in some dominating performances."

Petrakova, the reigning Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year, is averaging 17.7 points and 10.6 rebounds for the 12-4, 2-1 Cajuns. Her numbers are even more remarkable considering the constant attention she receives from opposing defenders, some of which isn't legal.

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Bruce Brown
bbrown@theadvertiser.com

[DaddyCajun]

Congratulations Anna!! The whole UL family as well as my own is PROUD of U, girl!!!!! Keep up the G R E A T play, you are an inspiration to many and for many fans!!!!

Happy you play for UL,
DaddyCajun!!!

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Lady Cajun signee scores 2000 career points and breaks bone in foot during victory over Kaplan.

Tuesday night's District 6-3A girls basketball game between Kaplan and Teurlings Catholic was a bittersweet one for both the Lady Rebels and star point guard Blair Brodhead.

On a night in which the state's No. 2-ranked Lady Rebels (22-5, 2-0) defeated the Lady Pirates 51-22 and honored Brodhead for becoming the school's first girls basketball player to score 2,000 points in a career, Teurlings received news that it came at a costly price.

Brodhead, who injured her right foot in the first quarter of the game, received word Wednesday that she had broken the Cuboid bone in her foot, which will keep her out three to four weeks and maybe the rest of the season.

"It's pretty frustrating," Brodhead said. "It's my senior year and now I have to sit and watch. It's definitely frustrating."

The Cuboid bone, which is called that because it's shaped like a cube, is the outer bone in the instep of the foot and is considered to be one of the fastest healing bones in the body.

"It was a freak accident," said Lady Rebels coach Garry Brodhead. "All she did was pump fake and then went to push off on the foot and you could see that she was hurt."

But Blair's, whose a Louisiana Ragin' Cajun signee, says that she thinks the injury may have occurred before that.

"On the press I tried to cut off a girl and that's when it began to hurt," Blair Brodhead said. "But at first I thought it was my ankle and I was going to play through it. Every time I put pressure on my foot, it hurt really bad."

Blair's a 3-time all-state, All-Acadiana and All-Parish first team selection, hopes to begin rehabbing her injury as soon as today.

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Eric Narcisse
enarcisse@theadvertiser.com

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LOUISIANA La. - Louisiana's Ragin' Cajuns are just about untouchable at Earl K. Long Gym.

The latest installment of their season-long dominance at home was Thursday night's 67-46 Sun Belt Conference victory over New Mexico State, raising the Cajuns' record to 13-4 and 3-1 in conference competition.

Seniors Anna Petrakova and Tiffany Washington had 16 points apiece and paced a 42-32 advantage on the board as Washington cleared 9 rebounds and Petrakova 8.

Both enjoyed some relaxed moments on the bench toward the end of the game, a luxury with a demanding three-game road trip in the Sun Belt coming next week.

"This is our gym," Petrakova said. "Everything about this gym is so comfortable with us. We practice here all the time. We just have an advantage in every way.

"And, the crowd here was great. They were making a lot of noise."

"One of our goals is to always win at home," Washington said.

"We have rules on the board in the locker room, and Rule No. 1 is 'don't lose at home,' " coach J. Kelley Hall said. "For some reason, when we don't shoot well in this building, the other team doesn't, either. So defense and rebounding is big."

The Cajuns had an off night from the field, making just 39.6 percent of their shots, but they more than made up for it in those other areas.

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Bruce Brown
bbrown@theadvertiser.com

[Turbine]

Get well soon Blair

Take care

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Cajun women open challenging week at FIU

LOUISIANA La. - Coach J. Kelley Hall achieved a landmark decision a year ago tonight when his Louisiana's Ragin' Cajun women beat Florida International for the first time, 58-48, at Earl K. Long Gym on campus.

If the Cajuns can repeat that accomplishment tonight in Miami, they will stamp themselves as true contenders for postseason play.

The Cajuns are 13-4 on the season and 3-1 in Sun Belt Conference play after last Thursday's 67-46 demolition of visiting New Mexico State, but they face the most demanding week of the league campaign with a Thursday visit to Sun Belt champion Middle Tennessee and a Saturday road date with Western Kentucky.

UL is a combined 2-42 all-time against those three programs.

"Ask any team in our league, and nobody else has to play three quality programs like that in six days," Hall said. "The good news is, we had no game on Saturday, so we should be fresh, while they're coming back from Las Cruces."

Coach Cindy Russo's FIU squad is coming off a 61-49 victory at New Mexico State on Saturday, improving to 13-5 and 3-2.

"The bottom line is, we've got to believe we can win on the road," Hall said. "Obviously, for both us and them (FIU's Panthers), these are must wins. They're playing well right now."

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Bruce Brown
bbrown@theadvertiser.com