University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics
Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns
North Texas*
Cajuns Fall in First Place Showdown at North Texas
2/17/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Feb. 17, 2005
DENTON, TEXAS – Sole possession of first place was short lived for Louisiana's Ragin' Cajuns, as the Cajuns fell 61-51 at North Texas on Thursday night. Both Louisiana (17-8, 7-5) and North Texas (12-12, 7-5) sit tied atop the Sun Belt West division with the season series between the two teams split at a game apiece.
The second half had been good to Louisiana this season, but not on Thursday. Entering the game, UL was shooting greater than 45 percent in the second stanza – nearly eight percent higher than in the first.
UL made only six field goals in the second half, shooting a miserable 27 percent.
Things unraveled for the Cajuns after UL cut their halftime deficit to one-point, 37-36, just 4:30 into the second half.
From there, Louisiana committed three turnovers and missed 5-of-6 shots from the floor. Consequently, North Texas outscored UL 12-2 en route to a 49-38 lead with 11:44 remaining.
A basket by Tiffany Washington and free throws from Sonora Edwards and Anna Petrakova trimmed the Cajuns deficit to seven, 49-42 at the 9:06 mark.
The Mean Green rattled off three straight baskets as the Cajuns went scoreless for the next 4:33. NT pushed their lead up to 13 points, 55-42, with less than five minutes remaining in the contest.
The Cajuns were outrebounded 50-36 in the game and committed seven more turnovers, 21-14.
Washington and Bernette Tolston led the Cajuns with nine points each. Washington added a team-best 12 rebounds.
Despite NT's domination on the boards in the first half (31-16, 19-6 offensive), UL trailed by only three points at intermission. Both teams made 11 field goals, but the Cajuns shot 39 percent, compared to 29 percent by the Mean Green. The difference came at the charity stripe, where the Cajuns went 3-of-4, while NT made 7-of-12 free throw attempts.
The game started with a 5-5 tie four minutes in, but the fouls were called 5-0 against UL.
Rebounds helped NT entertain an 11-5 run and build a 16-10 lead. The Mean Green outrebounded the Cajuns 8-2 over the life of their run, including 5-0 offensively.
The Cajuns charged back to take their first lead, 19-17, with 7:17 left in the first half. Onna Charles and Sherita Anderson each hit baskets before Tolston drained a three-pointer to tie the game at 17-17. Petrakova's offensive rebound and basket gave the Cajuns their first lead of the game.
NT countered with an 8-2 scoring jolt to grab back the lead, 25-21.
Louisiana never overcame their deficit the rest of the half and trailed 31-28 at the break.
-Ragin' Cajuns-
