University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics
Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns
Western Kentucky*
Cajuns Collapse at WKU
1/29/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Jan. 29, 2005
BOWLING GREEN– Louisiana's Ragin' Cajuns have lost consecutive games for the first time this season, falling 76-53 at Western Kentucky on Saturday evening.
The game was decided early in the second half.
Down nine at the break, the Cajuns surrendered the first seven points of the second half to go down 47-31 at the 18:04 mark.
To make matters worse, Louisiana (14-6, 4-3) had zero timeouts remaining and both Tiffany Washington and Anna Petrakova picked-up their third personal fouls.
Melissa Bratton's basket at the 15:13 mark did little to slow Western Kentucky (13-6, 6-0), who rattled off five more unanswered points to take a commanding 52-33 edge with 13:27 to go.
The Cajuns did not help themselves, making just one of their first 12 attempts to begin the half.
All five Cajuns starters sat on the bench for nearly 10 minutes, watching their teammates outscore WKU 11-6.
Petrakova and Washington returned, but after Petrakova scored inside, she picked-up her fourth personal foul. WKU grabbed the momentum and used a 7-0 run to take a 65-46 lead and put the game away at the 5:19 mark.
Bratton played 29 minutes off the bench, scoring 14 points and grabbing 10 boards – her first career double-double. The Cajuns four post players combined for 31 points, but committed 15 turnovers. The other seven Cajuns combined for eight points on 2-of-19 shooting.
The Lady Toppers had three players in double figures in scoring and benefited from the Cajuns 23 turnovers, scoring 27 points off of UL's miscues.
WKU quickly ran out to a 7-0 lead, but a three-pointer from Bernette Tolston and a basket by Petrakova got the Cajuns within a basket. The Lady Toppers continued to set the pace though, building a 21-9 lead at the 10 minute mark.
Petrakova came back with three straight baskets in the paint for the Cajuns, cutting the Lady Toppers lead to eight, 23-15.
Successful on just one of eight three-pointers, Louisiana abandoned the outside shot in favor of dribble penetration. The Cajuns had committed nine fouls in the first 13 minutes of the half to only one by the Lady Toppers.
Bratton attacked the WKU defense and went to the free throw line on four of five possessions. Petrakova added a three-point play to give the Cajuns an 8-2 burst and close to within 27-23 with 5:12 remaining in the first stanza.
Transition defense hurt the Cajuns in the opening half, and none bigger than an open three-pointer by Leslie Logsdon. Logsdon's triple keyed a 7-2 run late in the half and extended WKU's lead to 40-29 with one minute to play.
Petrakova had 11 points in the first half, while the Cajuns four other starters combined for three points on 1-of-7 seven shooting.
-Ragin' Cajuns-
