The Book: Lady Cajuns 2004-05 Basketball Season

[DaddyCajun]

Is there any radio, web cast, or TV?

I am loving this girls team already!!!

DaddyCajun!!!

[RaginFan2]

Originally posted by DaddyCajun
I am loving this girls team already!!!

Yeah, you right! What is not to love about this team? They have it all: looks, sex appeal, and - most importantly - basketball skills. Geaux ladies!!!

[NewsCopy]

TEAMS PARTICIPATING

STANFORD CARDINAL

• LOCATION: Palo Alto, Calif.

• COACH: Tara VanDerveer, 19th season

• LAST SEASON: 27-7 overall, 14-4 Pac-10 Conference, lost in Elite Eight of NCAA Tournament

• WHO TO WATCH: Senior Azella Perry-man of Anchorage (5.6 ppg, 4.3 rpg) ranks 11th on the school's career list with 467 rebounds in 94 games. At East High, the 6-foot-1 Perryman was named Class 4A Alaska player of the year in 2001. Senior guard Kelley Suminski (10.0 ppg, 2.9 apg) was a preseason nomination for the John Wooden Award. Freshman Jessica Elway is the daughter of former Stanford and NFL quarterback John Elway.

• INSIDE THE PAINT: Two years ago VanDerveer was inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame. With a 25-year career record of 602-168 (.782), she owns the third-highest winning percentage among active Division I women's coaches. This season the Cardinal earned a No. 7 ranking in the first AP poll of the season.

• SHOOTOUT HISTORY: Stanford is shooting for its first Shootout victory in 21 years. The Cardinal played in the 1983 tournament, finishing 1-2 and beating the Seawolves in the first round.

EASTERN WASHINGTON EAGLES

• LOCATION: Cheney, Wash.

• COACH: Wendy Schuller, third season

• LAST SEASON: 13-16 overall, 5-9 Big Sky Conference

• WHO TO WATCH: Senior Stephanie Ulmer (11.0 ppg, 2.9 rpg) shot 38 percent from beyond the arc and averaged 2.24 three-pointers per game last season. Sophomore Joanna Chadd (7.3 ppg, 3.8 apg) is the returning point guard who will be looked to for more leadership. Forward Julie Page (10.6 ppg, 5.7 rpg) led the team in free-throw percentage (75.3) last season.

• INSIDE THE PAINT: The Eagles had a team grade-point average of 3.62 last season to win the national honor roll award.

• SHOOTOUT HISTORY: Eastern Washington is making its tournament debut, although the Eagles have ties to Alaska. They own a 6-0 edge in the all-time series with the host Seawolves.

UAA SEAWOLVES

• LOCATION: Anchorage

• COACH: Jody Hensen, second season

• LAST SEASON: 13-14 overall, 8-10 Great Northwest Athletic Conference

• WHO TO WATCH: Forward Amber Nasby (11.4 ppg, 6.8 rpg) enjoyed a breakout season last year in which she earned a starting job and honorable mention all-conference. Newcomer Stephanie Beason leads the team is scoring (23.0 ppg) and senior Taylor Long (15.0 ppg, 7.0 rpg) returns to play for her hometown team in her final season. Guard Cassie Bro (5.6 ppg, 1.4 rpg) is a Division I transfer who shot 40 percent from three-point range and 86 percent from the free-throw line last season. Guard Jessi Reilly (80 career starts) is a former walk-on who is now among the UAA career assist leaders.

• INSIDE THE PAINT: UAA transfers Tenecia Macon and Christa Wilson of Anchorage have never lost a game at Sullivan Arena. When Macon and Wilson played for East High from 2000 to 2002, they helped the T-birds win three straight Class 4A state championships inside Alaska's largest arena.

• SHOOTOUT HISTORY: Last season the Seawolves pulled off a shocking upset of Clemson to win the tournament championship. It marked the second time UAA won the title and the first since a women's field was added to the Shootout five years ago.

LOUISIANA La. RAGIN' CAJUNS

• LOCATION: La. LOUISIANA

• COACH: J. Kelley Hall, second season

• LAST SEASON: 13-15 overall, 7-8 Sun Belt Conference

• WHO TO WATCH: Center Ana Petrakova (18.6 ppg, 9.5 rpg, 2.3 bpg) is the reigning conference player of the year. The 6-foot-3 Petrakova spent the summer playing for the Russian junior national team, winning a gold medal at the European championships. Guard Bernette Tolston (7.7 ppg, 5.4 rpg) led the team with 55 three-pointers last season, sinking 31 percent.

• INSIDE THE PAINT: Louisiana-Lafayette will open the season in Colorado Springs, Colo., before coming to Anchorage. In all, the Cajuns' eight-day trip will cover 10,000 miles on the ground and through the air.

• SHOOTOUT HISTORY: The Ragin' Cajuns are making their tournament debut, although the men's program played in the Shootout in 1981 and 1997 when the school was named Southwestern Louisiana.

Compiled by Daily News reporter Van Williams. He can be reached at vwilliams@adn.com or 257-4335.

[DaddyCajun]

TV? Radio? Internet? Anyone know?

We need better coverage on these Girls!!

DaddyCajun!!

[Turbine]

Originally posted by DaddyCajun
TV? Radio? Internet? Anyone know?

We need better coverage on these Girls!!

No unless Stanford would somehow cover the championship game, we are at the mercy of the LOUISIANA SI dept.

[BirdofParadise]

Reality check, Daddy Cajun.

UP until last year no one gave a rats ~~~ about this program. We put 10 games on the radio last year even though we didn't have a single sponsor.

This year, we're doing 12.

We were offered by a guy in Alaska to do the games for us. We made a couple of calls to get sponsors to pay his fee, the phone line fee and the cost of having someone here to be a board op. No one wanted to help.

And, if the Cajuns make the finals, how many folks are going to stay up for a midnight start the night before Thanksgiving.

Want better coverage of the girls? You're getting more this year than ever before.

But if you want coverage of them on the road.....someone needs to belly up to the bar.

Love your enthusiasm. Wish there were more fans like you.

[lcitsh]

Enthusiasm needs to translate into dollars. The softball team has worked hard to gain the sponsors they have, I would like to see the basketball team have sponsors as generous. Yes, I know, the softball team has been a national power for a long time, and has cultivated those sponsors over many years of effort. This basketball program now has a coaching staff in place that will bring it to the top of this conference, normally rated in the top 10 RPI despite the long absence of Louisiana Tech, possibly in just three years. For those of you who have faithfully suffered through years upon years of poor basketball teams, this should be a breath of fresh air to you.
Whether it comes from business capital or from consumer pockets, let's start backing these ladies in every way possible, with our money and our presence.

[Turbine]

Originally posted by BirdofParadise
Reality check

Coverage of UL sports has NEVER been better.

Thankyou ESPN 1420 . . . and sister stations

[DaddyCajun]

Thanks for the info and the comps Jay-Bird, I hope these girls do have a tremendous season to help continue to fire up the community about UL Athletics! I have a few start up businesses and hopefully in the near furture I too will be able to Belly up!

DaddyCajun

Jay you and your staff do us Cajun fans proud everytime you are on the air, keep up the GREAT work!!!

[NewsCopy]

LAFAYETTE — Before Teurlings Catholic took the floor for the finals of the 2004 MidSouth Hoopfest on Wednesday night at Earl K. Long Gym, the Lady Rebels were being heckled.

A lady from the stands continually shouted the question, “Why aren’t you playing on your home court, Teurlings”?

While the lady may have been asking a rhetorical question, she received a simple answer from Lady Rebels senior guard Blair Brodhead, who signed a national letter of intent with the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns.

“This is my home court,” Brodhead said.

Brodhead didn’t just talk the talk, but went out and walked the walk by scoring 20 points in the semifinal victory over Carroll, before dropping 31 in a 46-41 victory over Glen Oaks to help the Lady Rebels win the championship for the second straight year.

It was the first time since Brodhead was six years old that she had played a game in Earl K. Long.

“I like this court,” said Brodhead after the game. “I don’t really remember playing here for biddy, but it felt good tonight. Knowing that I’ll be playing here next year, gave me that extra pep. It’s a bummer that Coach (UL coach J. Kelley) Hall didn’t get to see it.”

The rest of the story

Eric Narcisse
enarcisse@theadvertiser.com

[NewsCopy]

Hall’s women hoops team returns after successful trip

LOUISIANA La. — It took the team 17 hours to get back home from Anchorage, Alaska, and Louisiana’s Ragin’ Cajun women’s basketball team was coming off a loss in the last game of a four-game road swing.

So why was J. Kelley Hall smiling?

Well, his team returned to Lafayette 3-1 for only the second time since 1990, they had one tournament championship trophy in tow, and they were within six points of the nation’s fifth-ranked team with 10 minutes to go in the finals of the Great Alaska Shootout.

His team is 61st in one of the unofficial RPI rankings this week, very likely the highest the program’s ever been on any power-rating list.

And, they’ve got four straight home games coming up, including Wednesday’s home opener against Centenary.

Why not smile?

“These kids expect to win now,” Hall said of his squad. “It hurts them when they lose. But our kids know now that they can play with good teams.”

The Cajuns opened the season with an eight-day, two-tournament road trip, and surprised many by winning the title of the Radisson Inn Classic in Colorado Springs, Colo., with wins over Cal-Davis (73-72) and Montana State (57-39).

Then, they headed further north to the Shootout, where they crushed host and defending champion Alaska-Anchorage 88-48 to reach the finals against fifth-ranked and unbeaten Stanford.

The rest of the story

Dan McDonald
dmcdonald@lafayette.gannett.com

[NewsCopy]

LOUISIANA La. — Louisiana’s Lady Cajuns returned home to Earl K. Long Gym on Wednesday, and once they shook off 17 hours of jet lag from their recent Alaska Shootout adventure they motored past visiting Centenary 67-42.

It was a game that showcased the potential of the Cajuns’ improved depth, as 11 players played at least 10 minutes and the leading scorer was freshman Sonora Edwards with 13.

“We wanted to press them the whole game,” UL coach J. Kelley Hall said. “They only dressed seven players, because three were out with injuries. We weren’t necessarily looking to steal the ball, just make them work bringing the ball up the court.

“Then in the final 10 minutes, I figured they would be worn out and wouldn’t be able to score. I knew we could play everybody. It’s something I’ve done so many times in the past when I’ve had the players.”

UL’s starters hit just 5-of-16 shots in the first half, while the bench hit 5-of-8 to revive the weary home squad.

The rest of the story

Bruce Brown
bbrown@theadvertiser.com