The Book: Lady Cajuns 2005-06 basketball season

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The Louisiana Lady Cajuns have shown the ability to kick it into overdrive at the right times, such as last Saturday when their breathtaking 21-3 scoring run closed the first half against Troy. That surge overcame an 18-11 deficit and gave coach J. Kelley Hall's team a 32-21 lead at halftime. And, if the Cajuns are up at the break, the record shows they're next to impossible to beat. "We ended the first half on a pretty good run," Hall said. "Then in the second half we pretty much played them equal." Troy matched UL's 38 points in the second half, but never could get closer than 5 points down the stretch as the Cajuns rolled to a crucial 70-59 Sun Belt Conference win. "One stat keeps popping up, and that is that we need to be ahead at halftime," Hall said. "When we are up, we've won our last 31 in a row." The Cajuns were 19-0 when leading at the half last year en route to a 22-9 record and a Sun Belt West Division crown, and are 12-0 this year. The rest of the story Bruce Brown bbrown@theadvertiser.com

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The Arkansas State Indians poured in 89 points in their Sunday contest at Western Kentucky, some 23 points over their season average, and still lost by 17 as WKU pumped in 106. Welcome to life in the East Division of the Sun Belt Conference, where Middle Tennessee and WKU rule with an iron fist with 10-2 league records. Over in the West, where Louisiana's Ragin' Cajuns reside, it's more of an "anything can happen" picture. Coach J. Kelley Hall's squad enters the final week of the regular season with a 17-8 record and a 7-6 Sun Belt mark. UL is tied with North Texas (17-8, 7-6) one game behind South Alabama, which cruised past Troy 61-40 on Monday to improve to 14-11, 8-5. USA finishes at home with Denver and UNT. "We need to win our last two, and then whatever happens, happens," Hall said on Monday. "We had our chance to get some room on them (West rivals) and we didn't do that. But with all we've experienced this season, it's good to stay as close as we have. "We've known for the last four games that we had to win every game. Now we've got it down to two to go, and if we win both of them then I think the worst we can finish (in the West) is second." The rest of the story Bruce Brown bbrown@theadvertiser.com

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Yolanda Jones was an All-American and a national champion playing for Trinity Valley Junior College, so she had the credentials to go to any number of universities to finish her collegiate eligibility. It may have surprised some when she opted to join coach J. Kelley Hall's Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns, since the school had such a dreary history in women's basketball prior to his arrival, but she knew what she was doing. "I didn't want to go to a big school that always expected to win," Jones said. "I wanted to go someplace with no good history, then prove something. If everything changed, that could only help me more." UL was 22-9 and West Division champions of the Sun Belt Conference last season, reaching the finals of the conference tournament. But UL was 44-226 over the 10-year span of the 1990s. Now, with home games remaining at 4 p.m. today against Arkansas State and at 7 p.m. Saturday against Arkansas-Little Rock, the Cajuns are 17-8 and 7-6 in league play with a chance to repeat in the West. The rest of the story Bruce Brown bbrown@theadvertiser.com

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The University of Louisiana women's basketball team couldn't make a double-digit lead stand up in the final 12 minutes, as Arkansas State rallied for a 70-64 Sun Belt Conference victory over the Ragin' Cajuns Thursday at Long Gym. ASU used Cajun turnovers and accuracy at the free throw line to make up a 49-39 deficit with 11:25 left, after UL had led by as many as 17 points in the first half. Rudy Sims led the Lady Indians with 21 points while Jeanenne Colbert paced the Lady Cajuns with 19. The rest of the story

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This is not the way Ashley Blanche wanted it to end. Blanche hit the game-winning basket in last year's season finale as the Louisiana Ragin' Cajun women edged Arkansas State 66-64 to complete a perfect home campaign and clinch a first-ever Sun Belt Conference West Division title. They went on to reach the finals of the Sun Belt Tournament and finish 22-9, tying a school record for wins. But Blanche has had a rough home stretch as UL's leader. She suffered a hairline fracture of her right arm on Jan. 28 against Western Kentucky and missed 12 days. She came back for a 54-50 home loss to South Alabama, then lasted two minutes over Troy before suffering a hyper-extended right knee. Blanche managed 18 minutes off the bench on Thursday against Arkansas State, scoring 5 points as the Indians rallied to stun UL 70-64 and end their dreams of a repeat West crown. The Cajuns face Arkansas-Little Rock at 7 p.m. tonight at Earl K. Long Gym, and they need to regain their form in a hurry. It's the final home game for Blanche and co-senior Sherita Anderson. The rest of the story Bruce Brown bbrown@theadvertiser.com

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South Alabama's basketball team has already wrapped up the Sun Belt West Division title and will take a No. 1 seed into next week's league tournament at Murfreesboro, Tenn., but there's still another accomplishment dangling in front of the Jaguars tonight at the Mitchell Center. With a victory over North Texas, South Alabama will post the program's best regular-season record in 25 years. The 1981 Jaguars under Cliff Ellis were 22-4 during the regular season and finished the year 25-6. "I didn't know that," fourth-year coach John Pelphrey said as South Alabama enters tonight's contest. "For me as a coach, that's not so important, but for the players they want to win as many games as possible. Everybody wants to be remembered for something and that would be another accomplishment for this team. "But I think there's some other things to play for, too. We could wind up with the best record in the conference if we win and Western Kentucky loses to Florida International. Couple that with it being Senior Day and it makes it a big game. These guys have a lot of pride and want to go out and play their best in their last home game." With such incentives, South Alabama (20-6, 11-3) won't be looking ahead to next week's league tournament when it faces North Texas (14-12, 6-8) at 8:05 in the second game of a doubleheader. The USA women meet North Texas at 6 p.m., with the West Division title riding on the outcome. The rest of the story By KIM SHUGART

[Turbine]

The job coach Hall has done this year with the car wreck and Ashley Blanche breaking an arm and a leg . . . WOW


Nothing short of amazing. I read the game last night was a nip-tuck finish.
55-53 LOUISIANA

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If Louisiana's Ragin' Cajun women didn't get busy, they faced a rough road at the upcoming Sun Belt Conference Basketball Tournament. Coach J. Kelley Hall's squad trailed visiting Arkansas-Little Rock 49-42 on a Laura Throesch jumper with 6:51 remaining in Saturday's season finale at Earl K. Long Gym. If that kept up, the Cajuns would have slid all the way to the No. 4 seed from the West Division and a first-round game on Thursday. But UL refused to lose, as the Cajuns held the Trojans scoreless for 4:04 and went on a defense-fueled 11-0 run to grab a 53-49 lead. UALR forged a tie at 53 apiece, but Sonora Edwards' two free throws with 35 seconds remaining gave Louisiana a hard-earned 55-53 triumph. "Time was running out," said point guard Ashley Blanche, who played her final UL home game with fellow senior Sherita Anderson. "We told ourselves the time is now, and we started to pick it up on defense The rest of the story Bruce Brown bbrown@theadvertiser.com

[Cajun1997]

2 straight winning seasons, Coach Hall, staff and team are doing something right. This season proves last season was no fluke.

[CRAWFISH61]

This is the first year that I attended women's basketball games. Coach Hall and his basketball team are fantastic entertainment. They play hard and go all out at all times. The atmosphere at Earl K Long is great. I want to thank the team for all of the hard work and persaverance. They worked through a tragic car crash and the injury of Ashely Blanche. I especially want to thank Ashely for the effort she put in during her career as a Cajun. She is one of the best players ever to put on a uniform for the Cajuns. Thanks once again to the whole staff and team.