The Book: Lady Cajuns 2005-06 basketball season

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Maybe next time, the shot will count. Louisiana's Ashley Blanche swished a 16-foot jumper with less than a second to play Thursday night in Murfreesboro, but it came too late, allowing Middle Tennessee to escape with a nail-biting 69-68 victory over the Ragin' Cajuns in the rematch of last year's Sun Belt Conference Tournament finals. "I kind of wish it wouldn't have gone in, so I could get some sleep tonight," said Blanche. "She was about .2 seconds off," UL coach J. Kelley Hall said. The visiting Ragin' Cajuns, who trailed 40-28 early and 42-34 at halftime, rallied in the second half to tie the game at 65 on a pair of Yolanda Jones free throws. Then, with 27 seconds remaining, Jeanenne Colbert nailed a 3-point basket off a Blanche assist for a 68-67 UL lead. Krystle Horton's two free throws put the Blue Raiders back up at the 12-second mark, and the Cajuns took a timeout with 8 seconds remaining to set up a final shot. The rest of the story Bruce Brown bbrown@theadvertiser.com

[bigguill]

Hey, we should all try to get out on Saturday and support our ladies as they take on Western Kentucky. Its been a while since I've been to a women's game, so I think it'll be fun. Maybe we can pack out the gym.

[El Sidonio]

I agree. These girls are the hardest working hardest playin bunch I've seen. As small as Long gym is, it'd be nice to pack every game. I guarantee you if people would go to a packed game there, it'd be the hottest ticket in town. Just ask those of us who were there for the home finale last season where we beat Arkansas St. on a last second shot by Ashley Blanche. Place was packed, noisiest game men's or women's that i've ever been too. Was a friggin madhouse.

See y'all there Saturday.

God Bless
Geaux Cajuns

p.s.- nothing like a stellar women's team and a packed EK Long gym to cure the men's basketball blues

[CRAWFISH61]

North Texas was the first game my family attended. Although they had a rough night, it still was a great evening. My girls had a great time cheering on other girls instead of men. My youngest girl plays basketball and she loved all the action. I have invited a group of friends and we should be at least 10 strong. You should experience a game at Earl K. Long.

[CajunCharlie]

Hey, we should all try to get out on Saturday and support our ladies as they take on Western Kentucky. Its been a while since I've been to a women's game, so I think it'll be fun. Maybe we can pack out the gym.

A word of advice, BQ since this is your first game in while...[B]GET THERE EARLY[B]if you want a decent viewing seat. It is going to be jammed. I mean [B]JAMMED[B]. Also, the noise level is going to something you have not witnessed in some time. I just wish we could have that atmosphere at the Dome. To boot, the atmosphere will be even better since we are playing WKU. ENJOY!!

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This is something Ragin' Cajun women's basketball fans have been waiting to see. Actually, each day at practice, Jeanenne Colbert has been getting stronger and stronger and more and more into the flow of coach J. Kelley Hall's squad. It's a long way from the horrific preseason auto accident that sidelined Colbert with a damaged eye socket. As she proved in a breakout 22-point performance Thursday night on the road against Middle Tennessee, the junior point guard is now ready for the stretch run. "It definitely helped us to have two point guards on the floor," senior point guard Ashley Blanche said after the narrow 69-68 defeat against the Blue Raiders. "They tried to trap us at halfcourt, and when I'd pass it back to her she took it to the hole, and scored most of the time. "I think she's back to where she needs to be." It was a 3-point basket from Colbert that put the Cajuns ahead 68-67 with 27 seconds left at MT. Her pass in the final second to Blanche set up a jumper that hit nothing but twine but came a fraction of a second too late to win for UL. "Jeanenne has played her way into the lineup," Hall said. "She started the second half for us. She's put together three good games in a row now. I've been saying all she needed was practice and experience. The rest of the story Bruce Brown bbrown@theadvertiser.com

[oldalum]

I went to the Lady Cajun game and will simply say that the Lady Cajuns played as well as the officials would allow. I felt the game was called semi okay for about 25-30 minutes, but they game got out of hand and the official decided to get it back under control they needed to take sides. It was unfortunate that they chose the WKU side

The girls look tired, but they have had many road games in a row, followed by a long trip back to Lafayette and a game less than 24-hours later. They just ran out of gas, and that makes it impossible to win when you are playing 5 on 8 (3 wearing black and white stripes).

[CRAWFISH61]

We went to the game and there was a very good crowd. The girls were plumb wore out. The road games, a very difficult MT game, the late travel and early turn around time took its toll. It worth the price of admission to watch Coach Hall prowl the sidelines. The team played its heart out but with 12 minutes left their legs left them. The Sunbelt should be ashamed for giving one team such an competitive disadvantage. And the officiating was very bad, just plain awful.

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The stretch run was unkind to the Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns on Saturday night at Earl K. Long Gym, as the Western Kentucky Lady Toppers pulled away from a 45-45 tie for a 74-58 victory in Sun Belt Conference play. Louisiana's Yolanda Jones hit a jumper with 7 1/2 minutes to play for that 45-45 deadlock, but little went right from there as UL fell to 14-6 overall and 4-4 in Sun Belt play. "I don't think they did anything different at that point," UL coach J. Kelley Hall said. "We just totally went ice cold. We must have hit 1-of-12 or 1-of-13 during one stretch. "Then they went to a zone for the last 6:50 or so. That was not a surprise. That's what Middle Tennessee did Thursday night, but in that game we were able to knock down some big shots." Shooting was UL's Achilles heel once again, as the Cajuns hit 34.8 percent (24-of-69) for the game and made just 2-of-18 3-pointers before a crowd of 532. The rest of the story Bruce Brown bbrown@theadvertiser.com

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The Western Kentucky Lady Toppers were the better team last Saturday night in Earl K. Long Gym, pulling way from Louisiana's Ragin' Cajuns 74-58 in a battle of Sun Belt Conference contenders. There's a reason WKU's RPI rating is in the 20's, and the Cajuns weren't going to knock off the Lady Toppers by shooting 34.8 percent and getting out-rebounded by 12 at home. But there's a theory about why the game went south on UL despite a raucous home crowd of 532. The Cajuns were coming off an emotionally draining 69-68 loss at Middle Tennessee last Thursday, a game in which senior Ashley Blanche hit what would have been the game-winning jumper, but fired it up a tick too late. Middle is the one Sun Belt school Blanche and coach J. Kelley Hall haven't beaten, including last year's title game in the Sun Belt Tournament, so the Cajuns took the loss hard. UL's traveling party also had to arise at 4 a.m. for the flight home on Friday. WKU, meanwhile, spent Thursday night dispatching New Orleans by 59-49, bailed out by 29 points from Crystal Kelly. After seeing UNO, I'm thinking that final score was deceptive, and that the Lady Toppers were pointing toward Saturday. The rest of the story Bruce Brown bbrown@theadvertiser.com