University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics
Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns
* DENVER
Petrakova, Tolston Too Much for Denver in SBC Opener
1/10/2004 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
LAFAYETTE-Louisiana's Ragin' Cajuns won their first ever
Sun Belt Conference opener with an 80-57 victory over
Denver on Saturday afternoon at Earl K. Long Gym. The
Cajuns had been winless in 12 SBC season openers dating
back to 1991.
Louisiana-Lafayette improves to 6-5 (1-0), while Denver
falls to 7-6 (0-1).
Denver cut the Cajuns nine-point lead down to one in the
first four minutes of the second half. Six straight
points by Sarah Cyran and a basket by Venice Adams
helped the Pioneers close to within a point, but two
three-pointers by Bernette Tolston and then a
three-on-two fast break lay-up by Tolston gave the
Cajuns a 48-39 lead with 14:44 remaining.
An offensive rebound by Tiffany Washington and pass
underneath to Tolston for a lay-up gave the Cajuns a
56-43 lead with 9:55 left in the contest. The Cajuns
lead grew to 67-49 on a lay-up by Ashley Blanche at the
5:04 mark.
From there, the Pioneers would foul excessively in an
attempt to comeback. The
Cajuns hit 11 free throws in the final five minutes,
before a lay-up by Washington in the final seconds
sealed the win.
Anna Petrakova led the Cajuns with 28 points and 12
rebounds. The Cajuns leading scorer finished 9-of-10
from the field, including 2-for-2 from three-point range
and 8-for-8 from the free throw line in securing her
seventh double-double of the season and sixth in the
last seven games.
Tolston scored a career-high 24 points on 8-of-13
shooting including 6-for-9 from behind the arc.
Washington finished as the third Cajun in double
figures with 10 points.
Sharee Glenn scored nine points, while adding eight
rebounds and a
career-high eight assists. Blanche recorded seven
points and six assists.
The Pioneers jumped out to an 8-2 lead in the first
three minutes thanks to a pair of three-pointers by
Ragan Neblett.
The Cajuns came back to take a 14-13 lead on a
three-pointer by Tolston at the 11:43 mark. That lead
was extended to 17-13 on another triple from Tolston,
but Denver came back to take a 19-17 lead on a three
from Kaitlyn King.
King and Petrakova seemed to be the only players on the
court for the final nine minutes of the half. The two
traded baskets back-and-forth, with Petrakova scoring
six of the Cajuns seven baskets in a six minute span to
help the UL Lafayette take a 32-26 lead with 2:05 to
play in the first half.
Two three-pointers by Tolston in between another from
King in the half's
final 84 seconds helped the Cajuns take a 38-31 lead at
the break.
-Ragin' Cajuns-
