University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics
Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns
* Denver
Women's Basketball claim third victory in a row
3/1/2003 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
DENVER, CO - Two wins in a row classifies as back-to-back victories, but three straight correspond to a winning streak.
Louisiana's Ragin' Cajuns lay claim to their first winning streak in three seasons after a 65-61 victory over Denver on Saturday afternoon.
The Cajuns finish the 2002-03 regular season with three straight conference victories heading into the Sun Belt Tournament on Thursday.
The thin air at Magness Arena, which sits 5,342 feet above sea level, apparently plays to the favor of UL Lafayette sophomore guard Bernette Tolston. Tolston scored a career high 21 points, including a back-breaking three-pointer with 43 seconds remaining.
After the Pioneers came back to take a 57-54 lead with a 6-0 run, Tolston hit another trey, her fifth of the game, to pull the teams even with 2:25 on the clock.
Sarah Richey converted in the paint to regain the lead for the Cajuns with 90 seconds left, but Nicky Eason responded for Denver with a bucket to tie the game with exactly one minute left to play.
Tolston launched her sixth three-pointer to once again give UL Lafayette a three-point point cushion with 43.1 showing on the clock.
Eason knocked down a pair of free throws with 29.9 ticks left to make it a one-point game before Sharee Glenn made the first of two from the line with 21.5 seconds remaining to push the Cajuns lead up to two points.
A steal by Richey put the Cajuns senior on the line with 7.7 seconds left. She calmly nailed both free throws to seal the win for Louisiana-Lafayette.
Tolston added five rebounds to her team-high 21 points. Richey scored 15 points and added seven rebounds, five assists, three blocks and three steals. Brooke Williams recorded her first double-double of the season with 10 points and 12 rebounds.
Denver was led by 21 points from Eason. Tasha Jones was the only other Pioneer in double figures with 10 points.
Despite shooting 13 percent lower than Denver in the first half, the Cajuns began the second half trailing by only five points.
Louisiana-Lafayette tied the game with a 10-5 run to open the second stanza. After a pair of free throws from Eason, Glenn?s three-pointer gave the Cajuns a 42-41 lead with 12:32 remaining.
Consecutive baskets from Glenn built the Cajuns advantage to four points, 48-44 with 10:30 left in the game.
Four unanswered points by Denver tied the game at 51-51 with 6:30 left, but Tolston drained a three-pointer to give the Cajuns a 54-51 edge.
After a slow start to open the game, the Cajuns got things going from long range. Triples from Richey, Ashley Blanche and Tolston tied the game at 9-9 just 5:11 into the contest.
A pair of free throws by Williams 41 seconds later gave the Cajuns an 11-9 lead. The lead proved to be UL Lafayette's only advantage of the half, as Ashley Atkinson buried a three-pointer on the next trip to start an 8-0 run by Denver.
A basket from Richey stopped the Cajuns drought, but the Pioneers then went on an 8-2 run, giving the hosts a 25-15 lead.
Louisiana-Lafayette closed the first half on an 8-3 spurt to close within 34-29.
UL Lafayette (65) Tolston 7-15 1-2 21; Richey 5-14 4-4 15; Williams 4-9 2-2 10; Glenn 3-5 1-2 8; Blanche 2-7 1-1 6; Petrakova 1-3 1-2 3; White 1-1 0-0 2; Menter 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 23-56 10-13 65.
Denver (61) Eason 7-12 5-8 21; Jones 3-9 2-4 10; Carwell 3-6 2-2 8; Neblett 3-9 1-1 7; Atkinson 3-9 0-0 7; Staton 2-3 0-0 4; Hart 0-6 2-2 2; Cyran 1-2 0-0 2; Johnson 0-1 0-0 0; Davenport 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 22-59 12-17 61.
Halftime- DEN 34, ULL 29. 3-point goals-ULL 9-20 (Tolston 6-12; Glenn 1-2; Richey 1-2; Blanche 1-2; Menter 0-2), DEN 5-15 (Jones 2-2; Eason 2-5; Atkinson 1-4; Johnson 0-1; Davenport 0-2; Neblett 0-1). Fouled
out--ULL-None, DEN-None. Rebounds-ULL 40 (Williams 12), DEN 34 (Hart 9). Assists-ULL 14 (Richey 5), DEN 17 (Atkinson 5). Total fouls-ULL 15, DEN 11. A-547
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