The Book: Lady Cajuns 2005-06 basketball season

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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

[Turbine]

UL women lose late in game of tackle basketball

Its a shame but when the above headline was first posted (reworded from Advertiser) here on the Rage Page, I had no idea how true it was.

If you haven't heard, Jay Walker reported this afternoon on Birds Eye View that doctors discovered (late Monday) Lady Cajun Senior Ashley Blanche has a broken arm and is lost for the year and thus her UL career is over.

In one of the two tackles put on her by Western Kentucky where no fouls were called (the nation saw it on TV) she suffered the break.

Ashley I enjoyed watching you play I really had fun witnessing your massive improvement from year to year. Your court presence will be misssed, get well soon.

ps I never saw you lose (in person)

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Senior Ashley Blanche sat at the scorer's table at Earl K. Long Gym on Tuesday, wondering when feeling would fully return to her right hand. A few feet away was redshirt Elaine McCants, gingerly re-habbing a left elbow shattered in a preseason auto accident last fall. Jeanenne Colbert eventually made it to practice, delayed by an hour while catching up with classwork missed during a season of extensive travel. Dwindling numbers at the position thrust freshman wing player Whitney Dunlap into handling point guard for much of the drill. Playing the point for the Louisiana Ragin' Cajun women has been anything but normal this season. The rest of the story Bruce Brown bbrown@theadvertiser.com

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It was like one of those terrible movies - one you want to leave early, if not march back to the ticket booth and demand your money back. The coaching staff for the Louisiana Ragin' Cajun women has tried to look at the game film from UL's Jan. 7 loss to North Texas, but they haven't been able to make it all the way through yet. "It was just too bad," assistant coach Bill Damuth said. Suffice it to say the Cajuns don't want to see another show like the 70-47 whipping the Mean Green put on them that night at Earl K. Long Gym. It was more than the end of a 22-game home win streak for UL. It was embarrassing. "It looked like it wasn't our team on the floor," head coach J. Kelley Hall said. "We didn't do anything right. You usually like to make adjustments at half, but we couldn't because there were so many things that needed to be fixed." Tonight's 7 p.m. rematch at UNT's Super Pit offers a chance at redemption, as well as an opportunity to catch the Mean Green atop the Sun Belt Conference West Division standings. "We're a game behind, and we've got them head-up," said Hall, whose 14-6, 4-4 Cajuns are hot on the heels of 15-5, 5-3 UNT. The rest of the story Bruce Brown bbrown@theadvertiser.com

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Louisiana's Lady Cajuns had a score to settle with North Texas on Thursday, and being short-handed didn't stop them from their task. Coach J. Kelley Hall's squad moved back into a tie for the West Division lead in the Sun Belt Conference with a 67-59 victory before a crowd of 965 fans at UNT's Super Pit in Denton. The verdict left both teams at 15-6 overall and 5-4 in league action, and with a split of the home-and-home series after UNT spanked the Cajuns 70-47 on Jan. 7 at Earl K. Long Gym. "We talked about it before the game, and it (being in first) was huge," said Hall, who became UL's career leader in coaching wins with 58 with the crucial victory. "We were one game down to them, so we had to win. We knew we could not fall down to them by two games." The rest of the story Bruce Brown bbrown@theadvertiser.com

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Thursday night was a special evening for Louisiana's Ragin' Cajuns women's coach J. Kelley Hall, and tonight could be better yet. Playing on the road against Sun Belt Conference West Division leader North Texas, and operating without injured senior leader Ashley Blanche, Hall's Cajuns took control early and posted a 67-59 triumph on Thursday. The victory was the 58th of Hall's four years at UL and broke a tie with Ross Cook for the most coaching wins in the 35-year-old women's program. More immediately, it forged a tie atop the West with UNT with both teams holding 5-4 league marks. "We knew it was important to be in first place when we went to Denver," said Hall, whose squad practiced at DU on Friday evening after the flight from Dallas-Fort Worth. "We've never been ahead at halftime at Denver. It's a tough place for us to play." The rest of the story Bruce Brown bbrown@theadvertiser.com

[CajunCall]

This team has had so many pipes burst it is amazing they can still hope to gather steam.

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DENVER, Colo. - Denver's balanced scoring overcame a 24-point effort by the University of Louisiana's Jeanenne Colbert here Saturday night, as the Pioneers held on for a 76-69 win over the Ragin' Cajuns in their Sun Belt Conference contest. The Cajuns (15-7, 5-5 Sun Belt) were never able to catch up after falling behind 33-28 at halftime, getting within three points early in the half but never any closer. UL got as close as 72-67 with 48 seconds left on Colbert's 3-pointer, but the Pioneers (11-10, 5-5 Sun Belt) made four straight free throws to take a nine-point lead in the final moments. Colbert hit 10-of-17 shots and had three treys in her career-high mark, and got help from the 17 points of Yolanda Jones. Onna Charles added 12 and Sonora Edwards 10 for the Cajuns, who had taken a runaway 76-50 win over Denver in Lafayette in their Jan. 5 Sun Belt opener. The rest of the story

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Like rush hour traffic, the Sun Belt Conference women's basketball race got extremely crowded over the weekend. The Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns climbed back into a tie in the West Division for a day or so with last Thursday's crucial 67-59 victory at North Texas, a score that left the two teams tied atop the West at 5-4. But then the Cajuns had to go to Denver, falling 76-69 to the Pioneers on Saturday night, while North Texas had the good fortune to host struggling UNO and roll to a 71-48 win. So UNT is back on top at 6-4, with UL and Denver a game back at 5-5. Lurking in the shadows is South Alabama, which improved to 5-4 with its 67-62 victory over Arkansas-Little Rock. The Jaguars come to Earl K. Long Gym on Thursday night as the Cajuns start their season-ending, five-game homestand that will go a long way toward determining the eventual West winner. "It's like last Thursday again," coach J. Kelley Hall said. "Our backs are to the wall. It's a game we have to win. And, it's a huge game for them, too." The rest of the story Bruce Brown bbrown@theadvertiser.com

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Hope for the best and prepare for the worst. That's the plan for the Louisiana Ragin' Cajun women as they prepare to finish the basketball season with five straight games at Earl K. Long Gym. The big variable for coach J. Kelley Hall's squad is the health of senior point guard Ashley Blanche, who injured her right elbow against Western Kentucky on Jan. 28 and missed last week's road trip to North Texas and Denver. Blanche will have a second X-ray today. "The doctors initially said she'd be out a minimum of two weeks," Hall said on Monday. "So at this point you'd have to say she was doubtful. She said she wants to play, and I like that. She's a tough kid." The former Cabrini High star is fourth in the Sun Belt Conference with 4.55 assists per game and she paces the league in assists-to-turnover ratio at 1.72. She also averages 10.4 points per game and has 25 steals on defense. As the only senior starter, Blanche is a vital presence on the court for the defending West Division champions. The rest of the story Bruce Brown bbrown@theadvertiser.com

[headragincajun]

Die Hards:
Just got the news. Ashley Blanche will be cleared to play Thu night vs South Alabama. 11 days total off from practice and playing. X-Rays say she can give it a shot. We need everybody out this week. Big Week.
Headragincajun1