The Book: Lady Cajuns 2004-05 Basketball Season

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Not again.

That's what ran through the minds of Louisiana's Ragin' Cajuns when they lost to the Denver Pioneers 60-56 last Thursday.

With a chance to challenge for the West Division title in the Sun Belt Conference and an opportunity to assure the first winning season in 17 years at UL, coach J. Kelley Hall's squad fell short.

It created uneasy echoes of the 2003-2004 campaign, when Louisiana lost its last four games, including a Sun Belt Tournament contest, to finish 13-15.

The Cajuns didn't want to fall short again, not this time.

Instead of reverting back to last year, the squad got together for heart-to-heart team meetings that cleared the air and re-set their focus.

The result was last Saturday's 73-66 victory over the North Texas Mean Green to pull within a game of the West Division lead.

Just as importantly, the Cajuns improved to 15-7 and assured a winning regular season for the first time since 1987-88.

Star center Anna Petrakova was not yet 4 years old the last time UL had a winning season in women's basketball.

Since that 18-11 mark in 1987-88, Cajun fans had suffered through records of 10-17, 11-17, 3-24, 0-27, 4-22, 6-21, 4-23, 2-25, 3-24, 9-18, 1-26, 12-16, 8-20 and 7-21 before Hall arrived in 2002. That's a cumulative 80-301, a stunning level of ineptitude.

Hall went 8-19 and 13-15 in his first two years at the helm, and now the Cajuns are winners.

"That's huge," Hall said. "We can finally say that to recruits. But I'm happy for seniors like Anna Petrakova and Bernie Tolston. They can go out as winners.

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Bruce Brown
bbrown@theadvertiser.com

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One-win Privateers may present test if Cajuns nap.

If ever there was a "trap game" on the schedule, this is it.

Louisiana's Ragin' Cajun women invade the Lakefront Arena tonight to play the New Orleans Privateers, and all logic says the game shouldn't be a game.

Coach J. Kelley Hall's Cajuns are 15-7 on the year and guaranteed of the school's first winning season in 17 years after defeating North Texas last Saturday.

UNO is 1-20, 0-8 at home and was an 89-50 loser at UL last month.

Add in Saturday's home game against rival South Alabama, and the Cajuns might not be totally focused on the task at hand.

But there's one thing that may get their attention.

The only victory for New Orleans was a 56-46 verdict at Denver, a place where the Cajuns fell 60-56 last Thursday. If the Privateers can win at Denver, as badly as their season has gone, then they're capable of an upset at 7 p.m. tonight.

That's something Hall has been sure to tell his team this week.

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Bruce Brown
bbrown@theadvertiser.com

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Cajuns maintain top spot in West

LOUISIANA La. - Not this time.

Finally, not this time.

Louisiana's Ragin' Cajuns had lost their last four games against South Alabama by a combined 11 points, and when USA's Valencia Boswell banked in a 3-point basket with a second left on Saturday to force overtime at 52 points apiece, there was more than one fan in the Cajundome who feared it would happen again.

But the Cajuns pulled themselves together in the extra period and scored a 63-56 victory that keeps them in first place in the Sun Belt Conference Western Division.

"That was tough," said Cajun coach J. Kelley Hall, whose team improved to 17-7 and 7-4 in league play. "I was proud of the defense and rebounding in overtime, but we did not play smart the last four or five minutes of the game.

"We were very lucky to win the game."

The Cajuns led by as many as 12 points in the second half at 42-30, but were in danger of letting it slip away once more as they missed seven free throws in the final 6:17 of regulation.

The final nail-biter in that stretch came with 7.9 seconds to go when Anna Petrakova made just 1-of-2 charities for a 52-49 edge. Boswell's bomb came seconds later.

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Bruce Brown
bbrown@theadvertiser.com

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J. Kelley Hall was in a better mood on Monday than he was last Saturday.

While Louisiana's Ragin' Cajuns gave Hall his first victory over South Alabama, it took overtime to get it done, 63-56.

They gave their coach anxious moments by missing free throws that would have salted the game away in regulation, but then regrouped for a strong 11-4 advantage in the extra period.

Hall was understandably drained on Saturday, but improved by Monday.

"We've struggled putting them away," said Hall, whose team suffered late turnovers to help USA win 57-56 in Mobile earlier this year.

"We missed seven or eight free throws in the last six minutes on Saturday. But in overtime, we had seven possessions and scored (field goals or free throws) on six of them.

"The kids stepped it up in overtime and did what they had to do."

The victory, combined with a North Texas loss on Saturday to Middle Tennessee, put the Cajuns ahead of UNT in the Sun Belt Conference Western Division race.

UL is now 17-7 and 7-4, while North Texas is 11-12, 6-5, and the Cajuns own an earlier 73-66 win over the Mean Green that provides a half-game more of an edge.

The Cajuns visit North Texas on Thursday with a chance to open up an even more commanding lead, although Hall still has a wary eye out for South Alabama (11-12, 5-6) in the chase.

"The North Texas game now becomes our biggest game," Hall said. "If we win there, it's huge, because we would have a two-game cushion that's really three.

"Our kids know that if we continue to win we don't have to rely on anyone else. We'll be ready to play. I just hope we shoot well on the road."

Hall's Cajuns shot a respectable 21-of-46 against South Alabama, making their 17-of-32 free throw woes even more of a mystery. Hitting in both departments would make things easier Thursday.

"We have won at North Texas," Hall said. "We swept them my first year here. We follow the same routine on the road as we do at home, and it's a good routine.

"For some reason, it seems we're always behind at halftime on the road. Our focus needs to be on trying to get out and get a lead."

UL is the only team in the West with a winning overall record, while four of five in the East are over .500. If the Cajuns win three of their last four, they would achieve just the second 20-win campaign in school history, joining 1983-84's 22-6 mark.

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Bruce Brown
bbrown@theadvertiser.com

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YEARS COACH RECORD
ASSISTANT COACHES

2002-2004 J. Kelley Hall 21-34
Bill Damuth, Rosalynn Landes, Meredith Hall

1996-2002 Gay Nix 40-125
Lamar Boutwell, Delbert Clinton, Jennifer Hull, Scott Hyland

1990-1996 Dwayne Searle 19-142
Shaunda Johnson Bedel, Tracy Seymour, Lesley Langley, Ketra Armstrong, Katie McGraf

1988-1990 Mike Doucet 21-34

1987-1988 Wilo Colon 18-11
Gay McNutt

1983-1987 Ross Cook 57-51
Jan Martin

1982-1983 Jim Izard 18-10

1978-1982 Mary Jo Castell 37-66

1976-1978 Jill Kelly 13-31

1971-73 Linda Nance 32-61

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LAS CRUCES, N.M. – Louisiana’s Lady Cajuns earned a huge road victory on Saturday evening thanks to a 72-57 win at New Mexico State. The win was the first for Cajuns at the Pan American Center, and just their third Sun Belt Conference road victory.

Louisiana (18-8, 8-5) trailed in the game for just 48 seconds, all coming in the first half.

The Cajuns 18 wins mark the second-best single season total in school history, while their eight conference victories are the most in school history.

With the win, head coach J. Kelley Hall moves within one coaching victory of the second-most in school history.

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LOUISIANA SI

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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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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

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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

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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

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