University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics
Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns
$ Western Kentucky
Cajuns Make a Late Rally, WKU Survives With Three-Pointers
3/7/2004 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Sunday, March 7, 2004
BOWLING
GREEN, Ky. – Louisiana's Ragin' Cajuns women's basketball
team put a scare into third seed Western Kentucky by
rallying from a double-digit deficit in the second half, but
in the end it was the Lady Toppers' season-high 10
three-point field goals that made the difference in an 85-68
victory here at E.A. Diddle Arena in the quarterfinals of
the 2004 Aeropostale Sun Belt Conference Tournament.
WKU (17-12) shot 75 percent from 3-point land in the opening half as the host-Lady Toppers built a 52-33 halftime lead. The Lady Toppers were 9-of-12 from beyond the arc and shot 61 percent overall.
Conversely, the Ragin' Cajuns shot 37 percent in the opening half and just 15 percent from three-point range (3-of-19).
In the second half, UL Lafayette (13-15) trailed 65-47 with more than 12 minutes to go before a 14-2 run cut the deficit to six with plenty enough time to make a run at the win.
A layup by Krystal Gardner put WKU on top 65-47 with 12:04 left to play. The Ragin' Cajuns then turned up the intensity level on defense holding the Lady Toppers scoreless for the next four minutes as they made their run to put them within striking distance.
However, Tiffany Porter-Talbert broke the WKU drought with a layup and the Lady Toppers held the Cajuns scoreless for nearly three minutes as the lead was worked back into double-digits.
Sun Belt Conference Newcomer of the Year Tiffany Washington paced Louisiana-Lafayette with a game-high 20 points, while the league's Player of the Year Anna Petrakova had 17.
Bernette Tolston tallied a game-best 12 rebounds working both ends of the floor pulling down five offensive rebounds and seven defensive rebounds.
"I thought it was a hard-played game, it was very physical," said UL Lafayette coach J. Kelley Hall. "We got off to a rough start shooting the basketball, but you have to give Western credit for that.
"If we could have gotten some early shots to drop, I think it would have been a lot closer," Hall added. "I thought our kids were ready to play and we had a good game plan."
The Cajuns were also hurt by a lack of depth as only eight players saw action and Washington fouled out of the game with 6:19 left to play as UL Lafayette lost a bulk of its offensive production.
Carla Bartee led WKU with 18 points and eight rebounds including three crucial three-point baskets in the opening frame. Porter-Talbert contributed 17 points and seven boards while Camryn Whitaker added 11 points and a game-high nine assists.
With the loss, the 2003-04 season and second under coach J. Kelley Hall comes to a close for the Cajuns who are looking forward to an even better season next year. Louisiana-Lafayette finishes 13-15, which is its best record since 1987-88 when they went 18-11.
Trailing 67-52 with 10:13 left to play, UL Lafayette strung together nine unanswered points beginning with a Washington three-pointer at the top of the key.
Layups from Alexandra Kotta, Sharee Glenn and Petrakova timed the deficit to 67-61 with 8:55 remaining.
After Washington's three-pointer, Louisiana-Lafayette called a 30-second timeout. On the ensuing inbounds pass, Ashley Blanche stole the pass from WKU's Elisha Ford and fed Kotta for the easy two points.
The Cajuns would force a turnover on the other end which led to Glenn's layup and then two possessions later Petrakova put back a missed three from Glenn to put the visitors within striking distance.
On WKU's next possession Whitaker would miss a three and Leslie Logsdon had another shot and missed. Blanche then pulled down the rebound, but had the ball ripped away by Whitaker for a key turnover.
That led to a backdoor layup from Porter-Talbert at 8:08 that busted the Cajuns' momentum and made it 69-61.
After that Louisiana-Lafayette missed six straight shots and turned the ball over twice as the Lady Toppers stretched their lead to 74-61 with 5:18 left to play.
The Lady Toppers opened up a 16-7 lead six minutes into the first half. A three-pointer from Charlotte Marshall in the left corner gave WKU the early nine-point lead.
The Cajuns answered with three-pointers from Blanche and Glenn on back-to-back possessions to close to 16-13 with 12:54 left in the first half.
Bartee then took over giving the momentum back to WKU. She nailed three-pointers from the top of the key on two straight possessions as the lead grew back to nine points.
A fastbreak layup from Ford pushed the lead into double-figures for the first time at 24-13 with 11:01 on the clock.
After an inside basket from Washington closed the gap back to nine, it was Bartee's hot hand that put the lead back into double-digits.
UL Lafayette would close to 10 points at 43-33 with 1:50 left in the half, but the Lady Toppers ended the half with nine straight points to open its largest lead of the contest going into the locker room.
GAME NOTES:
• No. 3 seed Western Kentucky advances to play No. 7 New Mexico State in a semifinal game on Monday at 1:30 p.m. Louisiana-Lafayette ends its season at 13-15.
• Both of the higher seeds won their opening-round games on Sunday. Both higher seeds lost their opening-round games on Saturday.
• Louisiana-Lafayette drops to 0-12 in Sun Belt Conference Tournament games. The Ragin' Cajuns are still looking for their first-ever win in any league tournament.
• The Lady Toppers 52 first-half points are its most this season for either half.
• Western Kentucky avenged an earlier loss to UL Lafayette this season…The Ragin' Cajuns broke a 26-game losing streak to the Lady Toppers in that game (80-72 on Jan. 29 in Lafayette).
• Senior forward Tiffany Washington, a Franklin, La., native and transfer from Oklahoma State, scored 20 points, which is her most in a Ragin' Cajuns uniform…Sophomore guard Ashley Blanche scored a career-tying 14 points…Junior guard Bernette Tolston pulled down a career-tying 12 boards.
• The Cajuns fell to 1-9 when trailing at the half. UL Lafayette was 11-4 when leading at intermission.
• Anna Petrakova made five free throws to give her 127 for the season. She ended one shy of tying Kim Perrot's record of 128.
-Ragin' Cajuns-
