March 5th, 2005

DENTON, Texas – Louisiana’s Anna Petrakova converted a 3-point play in the final minute to give the No. 1 West seed a 61-60 win over Florida International in Saturday women’s quarterfinal action of the 2005 Sun Belt Conference Basketball Championships.

The All-Sun Belt first team selection broke a 58-58 tie with a layup while being fouled with 30 seconds left.

The three-point advantage was just enough after FIU – the No. 4 East seed – could only manage a two-point jumper by Faeza Bouderra with 24 seconds remaining.

Petrakova, who tallied 24 points and 10 rebounds, lifted the Ragin’ Cajuns (21-8) to their first ever Sun Belt Tournament win.

The effort overshadowed a brilliant performance by FIU senior center Milena Tomova.

Tomova had 32 points and eight rebounds and was the only Golden Panther in double figures.

The Cajuns built as much as a 13-point lead in the first half before FIU (18-11) cut the deficit to seven at the break.

FIU used a 9-0 spurt in the second half to cut the lead to two and finally took the lead with under 10 minutes to play.

Neither team led by more than four points the rest of the way.

All tournament updates can be found at http://basketball.sunbeltsports.org/x/article/3500.