The Book: Lady Cajuns 2005-06 basketball season

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Nothing good ever happens at 3am (except sleep).

Our prayers are with these young ladies.

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Tonight we get a taste of what the season may be like. Without Elaine and Jeanenne, Ashley and Blair will shoulder the point guard duties. Blair still hasn't fully recovered from her high school injury, plus she is having foot problems. The one thing I sense from these players is that there is more basketball savvy than there ever has been on a Cajun basketball team. We'll see as the season progresses. Blessings to Elaine and Jeanenne, our prayers are with you.

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Elaine McCants is still in the hospital, and Jeanenne Colbert was less than a day removed from one. So when Louisiana's Ragin' Cajuns hosted Everyone's Internet on Tuesday, the sight of a bruised and battered Colbert gingerly making her way into Earl K. Long Gym to support them was an inspirational moment. "It was real uplifting to see her," said senior point guard Ashley Blanche. "She was kind of hiding at first, and then when we saw her it got us really pumped up. We tried to play hard for her." McCants and Colbert were both injured in a late-night weekend auto accident on Interstate 10, and their plight has had their teammates on emotional edge since early Sunday morning. "I'm tired of crying," said Yolanda Jones. "I don't want to cry no more. You try not to think about it." McCants underwent surgery to repair severe damage to an elbow and remains hospitalized, while Colbert had a plate inserted around her right eye socket after her orbital bone was broken. Although Colbert was told she needed rest and quiet, she attended Tuesday's game and stayed for most of the contest before leaving. "Jeanenne gave us a lift," coach J. Kelley Hall said. "She looked like a prize fighter who had just gone 15 rounds. Her arm's in a sling and her eye has a plate in it. The rest of the story Bruce Brown bbrown@theadvertiser.com

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It's been a long 2 1/2 days for the Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns. Facing a team of WNBA hopefuls including at least one Olympian, coach J. Kelley Hall's squad dropped an 82-54 exhibition decision to Everyone's Internet on Tuesday at Earl K. Long Gym just two days after team members Elaine McCants and Jeanenne Colbert were injured in a weekend auto accident. The visitors out-rebounded the Cajuns 41-26 and hit 29-of-57 shots to cruise to victory behind 15 points from Cynthia Ford, 14 from Naomi Mobley and 11 from Keila Beachem. "It was very therapeutic to play a game," said senior point guard Ashley Blanche, who scored 11 points and had 8 assists. "This exposed our weaknesses and showed us what we need to work on. We got more out of the game than we can get working against each other." "This is a different level of play for me," said forward Yolanda Jones, a national champion in junior college to led the Cajuns with 17 points and 6 rebounds. "I've never played this level of competition before, and I needed to see where everybody was at." "Well," Hall said, "we survived it. They exploited us a lot. I was concerned with the problems they could pose for our young kids. The rest of the story Bruce Brown bbrown@theadvertiser.com

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Sherita Anderson has big goals. She also has big responsibilities. It's no wonder the senior center on the Louisiana Ragin' Cajun women's basketball team needs a break every now and then. Anderson, a 2004 transfer from Blinn Junior College, will play a vital role this season as the Cajuns of coach J. Kelley Hall attempt to equal - or improve upon - last year's breakout 22-9 finish that included the Sun Belt Conference Western Division title. She hit 4-of-6 shots, scored 10 points and pulled down four rebounds while playing 29 minutes in Tuesday's 82-54 exhibition loss to Everyone's Internet. After averaging 9.3 minutes per game a year ago, Anderson is being asked to triple her playing time as a senior. "I want to see how long my stamina lasts," said Anderson, who showed in preseason individual work that she had dedicated herself in the offseason. "If I can last in these exhibition games, then I can last in a real game." "Sherita is in 100 percent better condition this year," Hall said. "She's dropped 25 pounds. The thing about her is that she's not afraid. It helps when your best players are also your hardest workers. "She's a very vocal leader, and we need that on the floor. She's a good low post person who can average in double figures for us." Whether Anderson is on the court or catching a minute or two on the bench, fans know where she is. Her 6-foot-2 presence is obvious on the floor, and her vocal support and loud clapping are apparent. "I've always been that way," Anderson said. "I've always been one to say, 'Let's go team' and make up cheers on the bench. When I was in high school, you could always tell about me and my mom (Avis)." Last year's stellar finish might have even drowned out Sherita and Avis, though, as fans flocked to E.K. Long Gym. The rest of the story Bruce Brown bbrown@theadvertiser.com

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LOUISIANA La. - Louisiana's Lady Cajuns basketball team withstood a late rally to win its final exhibition game of the 2005-06 season, 89-79 over the Jackson Babes here Saturday night at Earl K. Long Gym. The Cajuns were led by Yolanda Jones who recorded a double-double on the night. The junior forward scored 23 points and pulled down 10 rebounds to pace the Cajuns in both categories. UL led by as many as 20 points, 60-40 at 16:02 of the second half, before a late Babes run cut the lead to three with one-minute left in the game. The Cajuns were in cruise control with eight minutes remaining in the game, holding a 79-64 advantage. UL was held to just three points over the next seven minutes as the Babes made their run outscoring UL 15-3. A pair of Bernette Tolston free throws at 1:11 trimmed the Cajuns' lead to 82-79. Freshman guard Whitney Dunlap drained her fifth 3-pointer of the game with just under a minute left to play to increase the Cajuns lead to six at 85-79. Senior point guard Ashley Blanche converted four straight free throws to give the Cajuns the 10-point victory. The Babes missed their final three field goal attempts. UL had four players record double digit scoring efforts, Jones (23), Onna Charles (18), Blanche (15) and Dunlap (15). The Ragin' Cajuns took a 52-37 lead into the intermission powered by Charle's 17 first half points. The sophomore guard was 6-for-12 from the field including 5-for-8 from behind the arc. The Cajuns started quick jumping out to a 12-6 lead before the first media timeout. The Babes made a push over the next four minutes to trim the lead to 19-18 at 10:30. UL went to its three-point attack to slowly build its halftime margin. A Dunlap triple at 10:18 gave the hosts a 22-18 lead. The Babes answered on the ensuing possession, but UL's Alicia McDaniel converted a long-distance jumper to give the Cajuns a 25-20 lead. Leading 29-22, the Cajuns benefited from back-to-back triples from Charles to increase the lead to 35-22. Twice in the final five minutes of the opening half the Babes cut the Cajuns lead down to single digits. Twice Charles had an answer from three-point range to push the lead back to double digits. Leading 41-33, Charles connected on a triple to make it 44-33 at 3:48. Jackson cut the lead to 44-36 at 2:50 and Charles answered again at 2:20 to give UL a 47-36 lead. Jones was the only other Cajuns player with double digit points at halftime. The native Lumberton, N.C., had 10-points on 4-of-7 shooting at the break. She led all Cajun players with six rebounds in the half. The Jackson Babes were led by former Ragin' Cajun standout Anna Petrakova. Petrakova had 27 points, 14 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 blocks for the Babes. Another former Ragin' Cajuns basketball player, Tolston scored 15 points. She made a pair of three pointers that sparked the Babes late comeback efforts. Louisiana-Lafayette now turns its attention to its season opener in which the Ragin' Cajuns will represent the Sun Belt Conference in the 2005 Women's Preseason NIT. UL will travel to Dallas, Texas, to face SMU on Friday, Nov. 11, at 7 p.m.

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Two things became apparent Saturday night at Earl K. Long Gym. First, the Louisiana Ragin' Cajun women showed marked improvement from their first exhibition game to their second, pouring in 52 points in the first half and topping the Jackson Babes 89-79. After managing just 54 points in an 82-54 loss to Everyone's Internet last Tuesday, the Cajuns gave the 264 fans on hand reason for hope. Secondly, Anna Petrakova still has game. She scored 27 points and had 14 rebounds for Jackson, playing in a different uniform after a sterling career at UL that included Sun Belt Player of the Year in 2004 and two all-conference campaigns. "Obviously, Anna played really well," UL coach J. Kelley Hall said. "We wanted Yolie (Yolanda Jones) to go against good players, which will continue to make her better as she gets a little more familiar with our team." "It's coming along," said Jones, who finished with 23 points, 10 rebounds and 4 assists. "This night felt better. I was nervous on Tuesday. I'm starting to see where the other players are on the floor, and how they play." Petrakova, on the other hand, needed a half to get into a rhythm. "I knew it wouldn't be easy," she said. "For one thing, they (the Cajuns) know everything about me. For another, I know nothing about my (Jackson) teammates. And third, I wasn't sure what position I was playing. The 4? The 5? Both? "I made some adjustments in the first half and felt more comfortable in the second." The Babes also got 15 points each from ex-Cajun Bernette Tolston and Ta'Keshia Lewis as well as 12 from Pam Hudson. The rest of the story Bruce Brown bbrown@theadvertiser.com

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DALLAS - The Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns rebounded and played defense here Friday night, but were betrayed by subpar offensive play as the SMU Mustangs pulled away late in the game for a 53-45 win in the first round of the Preseason NIT. "It was close the whole way," said coach J. Kelley Hall. "We were down by 4 or 6 inside of two minutes, and they got a backdoor layup." The Cajuns hit just 18-of-67 shots in the contest and suffered 21 turnovers, negating a 52-46 edge in rebounding and a defensive effort that held the Mustangs to 2-of-19 shooting from 3-point range. "We just didn't shoot the ball well enough to win," Hall said. "We had 21 turnovers and just shot the ball misreable. They played us 'man' the whole game. We got a lot of good looks, but couldn't put it down." Newcomer Yolanda Jones led UL with 20 points and 12 rebounds, but made just 8-of-27 shots in her Cajun debut. Also for the Cajuns, Ashley Blanche had 11 points and 7 assists, Sonora Edwards cleared 11 rebounds and Alicia McDaniel finished with 10 caroms. "We've got a lot of new faces, anf that hurt us execution-wise," Hall said. "We're just so short-handed. We're basically playing with the five kids we had back from last year, plus Yolanda and Whitney Dunlap. The rest of the story

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I like the original headline in the Advertiser.

"Cajuns loses late to SMU in NIT"

Loses? Man, that sports editor is doing a bang up job!

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J. Kelley Hall spent part of Sunday afternoon watching a static-filled tape of last Friday's 53-45 loss to SMU in the opening round of the Preseason NIT. He also kept track of Sunday's 80-43 thrashing of that same SMU squad by Oklahoma in the second round, yet still wished his Louisiana Ragin' Cajun team had been able to face OU. "I'm disappointed," Hall said. "I wanted to play Oklahoma, to see where we stacked up with them. It takes away a good learning experience, and playing in front of a big crowd. That can be valuable to a team. "Nothing against Alaska-Anchorage, but when we went to the Great Alaska Shootout last year, I wanted to be able to play Stanford." Hall's 2004-2005 Cajuns whipped Anchorage 88-48 before falling to Stanford by a 67-47 count in that tournament, and then went on to reach the finals of the Sun Belt Conference Tournament and finish 22-9. "We've got something we can work with now," said Hall, who promptly sent the Cajuns through a 2 1/2-hour practice to start a week of preparations for next Sunday's 3 p.m. home game against Hampton at Earl K. Long Gym. "We held a good SMU team to 53 points, and we gave up 56 a game last year. We played well enough defensively to win, but our offensive execution wasn't very good. I was shocked that we didn't shoot the ball better." The Cajuns turned the ball over 21 times against SMU and hit just 18-of-67 shots, including 8-of-27 from standout junior college transfer Yolanda Jones. "They forced Yolie into bad shots, once they figured out nobody else could make a shot for us," Hall said. "With the 21 turnovers and poor shooting, we didn't give ourselves a chance. We've got to fine tune the offense. The rest of the story Bruce Brown bbrown@theadvertiser.com