University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics
Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns
* NORTH TEXAS
Petrakova hero as Cajuns top North Texas
1/30/2003 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
LAFAYETTE, LA - The longest losing streak in Sun Belt Conference women's basketball has shifted cities as the University of Louisiana-Lafayette upset North Texas on Thursday night by a final of 58-57.
The Cajuns (4-13, 1-6) snap their 17-game SBC losing skid dating back to Jan. 5, 2002.
A four-point play by Anna Petrakova with 2.7 seconds remaining was the difference.
Bernette Tolston threw the ball into Petrakova with 7.4 seconds left. The sophomore center looked to pass several times but was quickly double-teamed. As time ticked away, Petrakova shot a three-pointer from just outside the line that hit nothing but the bottom of the net.
A foul by Vilma Grismanauskaite put Petrakova on the line to win the game. The Moscow, Russia, native stepped to the line as an 89.7 percent free throw shooter and calmly nailed the winning bucket.
Sharee Glenn scored a career best 23 points, joining a trio of Cajuns in double figures. Petrakova added 14 points and eight rebounds, while Sarah Richey recorded 10 points, nine rebounds and five blocks. Brooke Williams led all players with 11 rebounds. Charlotte Green scored seven points and now sits 12 points shy of 1,000 for her career.
The Lady Eagles (8-10, 3-4) were led by 17 points from Kim Blanton. Grismanuaskaite notched a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds, while Emily Britt scored 10 points.
A jumper by Glenn with four minutes remaining gave UL Lafayette a 53-52 lead. Exactly two minutes elapsed until a basket by Britt put North Texas back on top.
Missed free throws and baskets on both sides prevented either team from scoring for the next 90 seconds.
After Blanton and Glenn traded free throws, Britt cashed in on a pair from the stripe to give North Texas a three-point lead with ten seconds remaining. The Cajuns raced the ball over half court and called timeout to draw-up the winning play.
"I'm very proud of everyone tonight," said Cajuns head coach J. Kelley Hall. "We put ourselves in the position to win by playing solid defense and rebounding the basketball."
A short 5-0 run by the Cajuns gave the hosts their biggest lead, 45-39, with less than 11 minutes remaining. The Lady Eagles responded with a 6-0 run in less than a minutes to knot the score at 45 points apiece.
The Cajuns played an inspired first half, leading twice, on the first and last basket of the opening stanza.
North Texas built a 22-15 lead with 8:30 to play, but the Cajuns made a run, showing poise on their home court.
Glenn hit a pair of free throws and a three pointer, and then Petrakova converted a nice pass from Williams to tie the score at 22-22.
Green scored her first points of the half on a pair of free throws with 56 seconds left. Green then banked in a three-pointer with 15 ticks on the clock to give the Cajuns a 29-28 halftime edge.
The Cajuns led at the half thanks in large part to forcing nine North Texas turnovers. The Cajuns committed only three miscues in the first 20 minutes, leading at the half for the fourth time this season.
UL Lafayette will host Denver on Saturday at Earl K. Long Gym. Tip-off is slated for 7pm.
North Texas (57) Blanton 6-17 5-7 17; Grismanauskaite4-11 3-4 11; Britt 3-9 4-4 10; Lewis 3-6 2-4 9; Wilson 2-4 0-0 4; Armstrong 1-4 0-2 2; Trout 1-3 0-0 2; Haskin 1-1 0-0 2; Brown 0-1 0-0 0; Williams 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 21-57 14-21 57.
UL Lafayette (58) Glenn 6-21 8-10 23; Petrakova 4-10 4-4 14; Richey 5-14 0-0 10; Green 2-16 2-2 7; Williams 1-2 2-4 4; White 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 18-65 16-20 58.
Halftime- ULL 29, NT 28. 3-point goals-NT 1-7 (Lewis 1-2; Grismanauskaite 0-1; Britt 0-1; Trout 0-1; Brown 0-1; Williams 0-1), ULL 6-24 (Glenn 3-9; Petrakova 2-3; Green 1-11; Richey 0-1). Fouled out--NT-None,
ULL-None. Rebounds-NT 43 (Grismanauskaite 10), ULL 44 (Williams 11). Assists-NT 8 (Trout 3), ULL 11 (White 6). Total fouls-NT 17, ULL 16. A-182
-Ragin' Cajuns-
