Victory today would be first postseason win in 17 years.

DENTON, Texas - Louisiana's Ragin' Cajuns have already made history this season.

Now they'd like to take that even further in the Sun Belt Conference Basketball Tournament at The Super Pit on the campus of North Texas.

"I don't want it to end," two-time All-Sun Belt selection Anna Petrakova said. "I want to get the most out of it."

The Cajuns tip it off at 11 a.m. today in a quarterfinal matchup with Florida International, a 48-45 victor over New Mexico State in Friday's opening round.

Only once before in school history has UL notched a victory in postseason, blasting Texas-Pan American 95-47 on March 10, 1988, in the America South Conference Tournament.

That was also the last winning season at the school (18-11) until this season, which has seen the Cajuns roll to a 20-8 record and a 10-5 mark as first-ever Western Division Champions in the Sun Belt.

Louisiana won six of its last seven games to win the West, a stark contrast to 2004, when they dropped three in a row to end the regular season and fell to Western Kentucky in the opening round of the Sun Belt Tournament in Bowling Green to finish 13-15.

"We were pretty strong emotionally last year," Petrakova said, "but we're so confident in our strengths right now.

"There is a lot of pressure," said Petrakova, who averaged 16.8 points, 9.6 rebounds and a Sun Belt-best 2.46 blocked shots per game. "Nothing short of winning a championship will do. We don't want to settle.

"If we lose this year, it will hurt us. Last year, just getting to a certain point was a good sign. Our goals are so much higher this year."


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Bruce Brown
bbrown@theadvertiser.com