University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics
Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns
vs. #2E Arkansas State Aeropostale Sun Belt Tournament
Breakthrough Season Continues: Cajuns Down Arkansas State to Reach SBC Tourney Title Game
3/7/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Monday, March 7, 2005
DENTON, Texas –
Louisiana's Ragin' Cajuns
women's basketball team decided on Monday that it wasn't
finished writing the final chapter to its breakthrough
2004-05 campagin.
Two days removed from the program's first-ever Sun Belt Tournament victory, the Ragin' Cajuns (22-8) took it one step further and posted a 61-49 victory over Arkansas State to advance to the program's first-ever conference tournament championship game.
With the win, Louisiana-Lafayette moves to Tuesday's 3 p.m. final which will be produced by ESPNU and carried by Cox Sports TV (cable channel 27) in the Lafayette viewing area. The Ragin' Cajuns will meet Middle Tennessee for the right to advance to the 2005 NCAA Tournament.
“Once again it was a hard-fought game,” said Louisiana-Lafayette head coach J. Kelley Hall. “We knew coming in we had to stop their transition. I thought we pulled out our game plan.”
“We had a vision and we had a plan,” Hall continued. “You don't really do it with a special offense or a special defense – you do it with special people. We are very honored to have the opportunity to play one more time.”
The win also tied the program record for single-season victories. The Cajuns 22 wins this season equals the win total of the 1983-84 squad. Louisiana-Lafayette extended its season-best and J. Kelley Hall-Era best win streak to five games.
A strong defensive effort which limited ASU (19-10) to 30.8 percent shooting (20-for-65) for the game combined with the hot-shooting of Bernette Tolston in the first half allowed the Cajuns to pull away from the Indians.
Tolston made four triples in the opening half and the Cajuns defense limited ASU's scoring chances by holding the Indians to 28 percent shooting and 19 points in the opening half.
It was a Tolston three-point field goal at the 15:20 mark that gave the Ragin' Cajuns the lead for good. The basket gave the Sun Belt West Division champions a 7-6 lead – one the squad would not surrender despite late second-half rallies by the Indians.
Tolston's last three triples of the first half came at critical junctures when ASU had closed the deficit to seven points. Leading 20-13, Tolston drained a three-pointer that gave the Cajuns a 23-13 lead at 6:35.
ASU rallied with four unanswered points and held the Cajuns off the scoreboard for the next 3 ˝ minutes. When Louisiana-Lafayette needed a shot to fall it was Tolston who came up huge with the first of two 3-pointers in the left corner that made it 26-17.
Nearly one minute later Tolston would deliver what amounted to the shot which all but sealed the win for the Ragin' Cajuns. ASU had closed back to seven points, 26-19, after a Sims jumper at 3:12. Two possessions later it was Tolston in the left corner for another triple at pushed the Cajuns lead to 29-19.
The Cajuns
defense held strong and forced ASU into three missed field
goals in the final two minutes. A jumper by Anna Petrakova
with 35 seconds left increased the Louisiana-Lafayette lead
to 31-19 at the break.
Louisiana-Lafayette wouldn't score a field goal in the first three minutes of the second half, but its defense held down the fort and kept the Indians from uprising. The Cajuns defense forced three turnovers including two critical ones after ASU had pulled within 31-21 on a Zaneta Lane layup at 18:43.
Ashley Blanche got the Cajuns on the scoreboard for the first time in the second stanza when she drilled a three-pointer from the top of the key at 16:28 to give the Cajuns a 34-21 lead.
Louisiana-Lafayette would build a 15-point lead after Melissa Bratton posted up down low and worked her way past two defenders for a shot off the glass that made it 38-23 with 15:20 left to play.
ASU would make its first of two pushes at making a comeback. The Indians rolled off seven straight points getting three straight inside baskets after a Adrianne Davie free throw. The result was a 38-30 Cajuns lead with 13 minutes left to play.
Bratton ended the 7-0 ASU run on the next possession when she drilled her lone three-point basket of the game to push the Cajuns lead to 41-30.
ASU answered at 11:56 when Katie Caraway landed a triple from the left corner to pull the Indians back within striking distance at 41-33.
The Cajuns came out of the 11-minute media timeout with back-to-back scores within a span of 25 seconds that vaulted the No. 1 West seed into a 14-point lead. Leading 41-33, It was Bratton again with a jumper that gave the Cajuns a 43-33 lead. Then after a missed three-pointer from Lane, Ashley Blanche grabbed the loose ball and found Anna Petrakova in transition for a turnaround jumper that pushed the lead to 45-33.
Blanche, who scored a career-high 21 points, broke a two-minute scoring drought by both sides with a three-point basket out on the left wing that gave the Cajuns a 48-33 lead.
Louisiana-Lafayette led by as many as 16 points when another Bratton basket at 4:37 gave the Cajuns a 52-36 lead.
ASU used a 11-2 run over the next three minutes to cut the deficit to 54-47 with 1:44 left to play. From there the Cajuns closed out the win at the free throw line – Louisiana-Lafayette made 7-of-10 free throws down the stretch. Blanche led the charge at the charity stripe as she connected on 5-of-6 attempts.
Blanche led
all scorers with a game-high 21 points. The junior from New
Orleans converted 9-of-12 free throw attempts and handed out
four assists.
Petrakova scored 14 points and helped the Cajuns enjoy an advantage in the rebound department as she grabbed 18 rebounds. The Moscow, Russia, native pulled down her 14th double-double of the season with the efforts.
Davie led ASU with 16 points and nine rebounds. She was the only Indians player to reach double figures compared to four double-figure scorers for Louisiana-Lafayette.
The Cajuns enjoyed a 45-38 edge on the boards and at one point led the battle of the boards 37-24.
The Cajuns turned the ball over 19 times, but did a good job of limiting its miscues in the first half which led to the 12-point lead at halftime. Petrakova struggled again turning the ball over nine times, but the senior made up for it by grabbing a game-high 13 defensive boards.
GAME NOTES
- With their 61-49 victory over Arkansas State, the Ragin' Cajuns tie their school record for wins in a season with 22. The only other squad in school history to reach 22 wins was the 1983-84 team.
- Louisiana-Lafayette entered the 2005 Sun Belt Tournament 0-12. After defeating Florida International (61-60) in Saturday's opener, the Cajuns have now played in their first semifinal game and have advanced to the championship game for the first time in school history.
- Anna Petrakova recorded her 14th double-double of the season and second straight in this year's tournament with her 14-point, 18-rebound effort against Arkansas State. In her two tournament games, she has combined fro 38 points (19 per game) and 28 rebounds (14 per game).
- Anna Petrakova had a career-high four steals against ASU. She also had a season-high four assists.
- Ashley Blanche scored a career-best 21 points.
- Louisiana-Lafayette extended its current win streak to five games – that's the longest win streak under head coach J. Kelley Hall and the longest since winning five straight from Jan. 6-Jan. 18, 1990.
ARKANSAS STATE (19-10) Davie,
Adrianne 7-16 2-4 16; Sims, Rudy 3-8 2-2 8; Lane, Zaneta
3-13 0-1 6; Caraway, Katie 2-8 0-0 6; Lock, Kelsey 2-7 0-0
5; Carter, Ali 1-7 1-2 4; Schrock, Vanessa 2-4 0-0 4; Brown,
Rachel 0-1 0-0 0; Maglaughlin, Ronnie 0-1 0-0 0. Totals
20-65 5-9 49.
LOUISIANA-LAFAYETTE (22-8) Blanche, Ashley 5-9 9-12 21;
Petrakova, Anna 7-17 0-0 14; Tolston, Bernette 4-13 0-0 12;
Bratton, Melissa 4-9 2-4 11; Washington, Tiffany 1-4 1-3 3;
Anderson, Sherita 0-0 0-0 0; McDaniel, Alicia 0-0 0-0 0;
Thomas, Domonique 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 21-52 12-19 61.
Halftime: UL 31-19. 3-point goals - ASU 4-23 (Caraway 2-5; Carter 1-5; Lock 1-2; Maglaughlin 0-1; Lane 0-3; Sims 0-5; Davie 0-2), UL 7-20 (Tolston 4-11; Blanche 2-2; Bratton 1-4; Washington 0-2; Petrakova 0-1). Fouled out - ASU-Caraway, UL-None. Rebounds - ASU 38 (Davie 9), UL 45 (Petrakova 18). Assists - ASU 13 (Sims 6), UL 9 (Blanche 4; Petrakova 4). Total fouls - ASU 18, UL 16. A - 1,045.
-Ragin' Cajuns-
