University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics
Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns
New Orleans*
Cajuns Tied for First in SBC West Following 20-point victory at UNO
2/10/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Feb. 10, 2005
NEW ORLEANS – Louisiana's Ragin' Cajuns moved into first place in the Sun Belt Conference West Division following Thursday's 66-46 victory at New Orleans.
Louisiana (16-7, 6-4) sits atop the west alongside North Texas, but the Cajuns topped the Mean Green earlier this season. The two teams will meet again in Denton on Feb. 17.
The Cajuns now return home on Saturday to face South Alabama at 4pm in the Cajundome. UL will attempt to defend its 12-game home winning streak, the 16th best active stretch in the nation.
Head coach J. Kelley Hall won his 37th game, tying for the third most in school history. Hall sits just three games shy of second place on the UL women's basketball career list.
Anna Petrakova led the Cajuns with 24 points and nine rebounds. Sonora Edwards added 10 points and Onna Charles scored eight points. Eight other players added points for UL.
An uneventful game from the start, the Cajuns never trailed. UL began the second half with a 7-2 run to take a 37-14 lead with 16:42 to play. Petrakova added two baskets, while Charles connected on her second triple of the game.
Turnovers would cost the Cajuns over the next five minutes, as UNO (1-21, 1-9) used a 10-4 run to close within 41-24.
UL came back with a three-point play by Edwards and triples from Domonique Thomas and Tiffany Washington to boost their lead to 50-29 with 9:38 left in the game.
Petrakova extended the Cajuns lead to 56-30 with six straight points before exiting for the evening.
Louisiana shot only 29 percent in the first half, but the Cajuns helped themselves by turning the ball over only twice. UNO had six turnovers and shot just 18 percent.
It was an offensive struggle in the opening minutes, as both teams combined to shoot 4-of-32 from the floor in the first nine minutes into the game. UL held a 5-4 lead at that point.
The Cajuns found their offensive rhythm after UNO tied the game at 7-7.
Louisiana outscored the Privateers 23-5 the rest of the first half to take an 18-point lead at the break.
Petrakova, who scored 14 points in the opening half, started the Cajuns run with a bucked inside. Alicia McDaniel followed with a three pointer which was answered by UNO's Christen Miller. Alexandra Kotta returned Miller's favor before Petrakova scored eight straight points. Charles then chimed-in with five points to give UL a 28-10 lead with 2:20 remaining in the opening stanza.
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