University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics
Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns
* North Texas
Cajuns Fall Short in Comeback Attempt, 74-70 at North Texas
2/21/2004 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
DENTON, Texas-In
a game that could have clinched a berth in the Sun Belt
Conference Tournament, Louisiana's Ragin' Cajuns
committed 20 turnovers en route to a 74-70 loss here
Saturday night at North Texas.
The loss keeps North Texas' Sun Belt Tournament hopes
alive, while forcing the Cajuns (13-12, 7-6 Sun Belt) to
win at least one game next week to get into the
tournament. Meanwhile, the Mean Green improves to 10-15
overall and 6-7 in conference play.
The loss is also Louisiana-Lafayette head coach J.
Kelley Hall's for first
against North Texas.
Senior forward Tiffany Washington finished with 16
points, while Bernette
Tolston finished 16 points and 12 boards. North Texas
was able to hold Anna Petrakova, the Sun Belt's scoring
and rebounding leader, to 14 points and eight rebounds
on 6-for-18 shooting.
The Cajuns used a 22-8 run to begin the second half to take a one-point advantage over North Texas. Tolston hit a three from the corner to get the Cajuns on the board.
After both teams exchanged a pair of missed baskets, North Texas' Mia Ajekwu hit a jumper to extend the lead back to 12.
Petrakova
followed with a lay-up. From there, the Cajuns scored
seven-straight points to cut the lead to four 38-34 with
14:37 remaining in the second half.
The Mean Green responded with four-straight points on
jump shots from Kelsie Edwards and Kim Blanton for a
42-34 lead.
Over the next
3:52, UL Lafayette would score 11 of the next 12 points
in the game to take their second and last lead of the
game, 44-43, with 10:20 remaining in the game.
North Texas followed with a 17-2 run to regain a
14-point advantage that the Cajuns were never able to
overcome.
Blanton and Jamie Armstrong would combine to score the next 12 points before Morgan Mayon drove the lane for a lay-up to cut the deficit to nine.
Didi Wali then hit a triple to give North Texas a 58-46 advantage with 6:10 remaining.
Ajekwu hit a pair of free throws to extend the Mean Green lead to 14, before Tolston hit another three-pointer to end the North Texas run.
Over the last six
minutes, UL Lafayette was able to cut the North Texas
lead to just four points, before the bench was assessed
a technical foul with 1.8 seconds remaining.
To begin the game, the Cajuns and the Mean Green exchanged two-point
baskets for the first
three minutes of the opening period, before Washington
drained a triple from the top of the arc to give the
Cajuns a short-lived 5-4 lead.
From there, the Mean Green went on a 26-6 run to give
the home team a 30-11 advantage with 5:16 remaining in
the first half. Freshman Alexandra Kotta drove the lane
to score the Cajuns' first points in over five minutes.
Following a Mean Green missed basket, Tolston banked
home a quick two-pointer to cut the North Texas lead to
30-15 with 3:49 left in the frame.
North Texas responded with a 4-0 run of their own,
before the Cajuns scored seven of the last eight points
of the first half.
For the half, Washington and Petrakova combined for 14
of the Cajuns' 22
points, while grabbing only six boards. Tolston led the
Cajuns with seven
rebounds.
UL Lafayette shot 10-for-35 from the field, while going
only 2-for-11 from
beyond the arc. North Texas was only able to make four
more buckets than Cajuns, but was 7-for-9 from the
charity strip to give them a 35-22 halftime advantage.
-Ragin' Cajuns-
