University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics
Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns
Savannah State
Savannah State Shocks Cajuns in Overtime, 49-45
12/16/2003 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Louisiana's Ragin' Cajuns road swing continued on
Tuesday night with a
second tough loss, as the Cajuns fell 49-45 in overtime
at Savannah State.
The Cajuns drop to 3-4 on the season, 1-2 on the current
road trip, while
the Lady Tigers improve to 3-9.
On a night where nothing could go right, the Cajuns shot
25.4 percent,
including a dismal 3-of-26 from three-point range. UL
Lafayette lost 22
turnovers, five of which came in overtime, as the Cajuns
scored just two
points in the extra session.
In overtime, the Cajuns committed a turnover on three of
their first four
possessions. A steal and lay-up by Jennifer Mathis gave
the Lady Tigers a 45-43 lead with 2:44 to play.
Following a lay-up by Savannah State's Tiffany Stephens,
Tiffany Washington scored the only basket for the Cajuns
in overtime to pull the visitors within 47-45 with 22.2
seconds to play.
After Mathis hit one free throw with 21.1 seconds on the
clock, Sharee Glenn missed a game-tying three-pointer.
Mathis hit another free throw with 6.3 seconds left to
propel Savannah State to a 49-45 lead.
The Cajuns could not get off another shot.
Anna Petrakova, the reigning Sun Belt Conference player
of the week, led the Cajuns with 14 points, adding 11
rebounds. Ashley Blanche scored 10 points, while
Washington added eight points and 13 rebounds.
Stephens led the Lady Tigers with 16 points. It was her
offensive rebound and put-back to begin the second half
which gave the Lady Tigers their first lead, 22-21.
From there, the Cajuns rattled off seven unanswered
points to grab a 28-22 advantage.
SSU came back with seven points to reclaim the lead,
until a triple from
Kayla Edwards gave the Cajuns a 31-29 lead with 13:49
left.
A steal and lay-up by Caroline Moore tied the game at
31-31 just over seven minutes into the second half.
Moore finished the night with 13 points and 13
rebounds.
Baskets by Blanche and Petrakova less than a minute
later gave the Cajuns a 35-31 lead.
Blanche and Bernette Tolston each made baskets to put
the Cajuns up 39-31 with less than ten minutes to play
in the second half.
With the Cajuns leading 39-33, Petrakova picked-up her
fourth foul with 8:01 left in the game.
Savannah State responded with a 7-0 run to take a 40-39
lead.
Edwards countered with a pair of free throws for the
Cajuns to recapture the lead, but a basket by Stephens
and a free throw by Moore gave the hosts a 43-41 lead
with 3:43 remaining in the game.
Uncharacteristically, Petrakova missed both free throws
with 2:30 left, but a lay-up from Blanche tied the
contest with 1:51 on the clock.
After two defensive stands, UL Lafayette had the ball
with 33.5 second left in the game. A jump ball with
11.7 second remaining gave the ball back to Savannah
State. Moore's lay-up to win the game was no good as
time expired.
Without media timeouts, the first half consumed just 34
minutes. The Cajuns shot only 22 percent, while the
Lady Tigers shot 29 percent.
Petrakova scored the first 10 points of the game for the
Cajuns. A
three-point play by Blanche broke Petrakova's run, but
extended the Cajuns lead to 13-4 just over seven minutes
into the game.
The Cajuns offense disappeared for 3:41 as the Lady
Tigers used a 7-0 run to close within two points, 13-11,
with 9:25 remaining in the first half.
UL Lafayette held their two-point lead until a basket
from Washington gave the Cajuns a 21-17 edge with 1:26
remaining in the first stanza.
Savannah State's Felecia Whitley hit a three-pointer to
decrease the Cajuns lead to 21-20 at the half.
-Ragin' Cajuns-
