University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics
Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns
North Texas
Ragin' Cajuns vs. North Texas
2/25/2007 5:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Lafayette- Louisiana's Ragin' Cajuns defeated North Texas 75-59 on Sunday afternoon at Earl K. Long Gym to cap the winningest regular season in school history.
Sun Belt West Champion-Louisiana improves to 23-7 (13-4), setting a new school mark for wins in a season.
The Mean Green drop to 9-19 (6-12).
Yolanda Jones led the Cajuns with 26 points and 15 rebounds for her 17th double-double of the season (32nd career). Jones finishes the regular season as the SBC rebounding champion with 299 boards in 29 games, besting FIU's Lasma Jekabsone (271 in 28 games) and WKU's Crystal Kelly (251 in 27 games). Jones (17.9ppg, 10.3rpg) is also the only player in the Sun Belt to finish the regular season averaging a double-double.
The Cajuns outscored the Mean Green 12-6 in the first five minutes of the second half to build a 14-point advantage. Jones had five points and Jeanenne Colbert scored four points as the Cajuns vaulted to a big lead.
The Cajuns would never let their lead dip below double figures, upping their lead to18 points, 66-48, with 5:54 remaining and again at the 4:46 mark with a 68-50 edge.
A three pointer by Alicia McDaniel gave the Cajuns a 19-point lead, 73-54, with 3:04 on the clock.
Sonora Edwards had 15 points and 13 rebounds for her 6th double-double of the season (11th career). Alicia McDaniel finished with nine points, 11 rebounds, four assists and three steals ? missing a free throw with 2:08 to play to fall short of her second career double-double. Colbert added 14 points and four assists.
Amber Jackson, Brittney James and Sanetra Jackson led NT with 12 points each.
The Cajuns didn't shoot well, 34.7 percent, but held the Mean Green to 35.1 percent. UL won the game on the boards, boasting a 54-39 margin, including 27-12 on the offensive glass.
The opening minutes had a heightened tension for a game with no bearing on the seeding for the upcoming conference tournament.
Trailing 13-12, the Cajuns rattled off nine straight points to build an eight point cushion. Colbert started the run with a basket before five straight points by Jones. McDaniel capped the burst with an offensive put-back to give the Cajuns a 21-13 lead with 10:31 remaining in the opening half.
NT came back with a quick 8-2 scoring binge to cut the Cajuns lead down to two points, 23-21, at 8:37.
Leading by three points, UL used a 6-0 run to grab a nine-point edge, 34-25, with 2:52 left. The Cajuns made four straight free throws to start the run, two apiece by Onna Charles and Edwards. Edwards than added a basket in the paint.
Three straight fouls called against the Cajuns helped the Mean Green trim their deficit to five points, but a three pointer at the buzzer by Jones pushed the Cajuns lead to eight points at the break.
The Cajuns will enjoy the week off before playing in the SBC Quarterfinals on Saturday at 6:30pm in the Cajundome.
