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Women’s Basketball: Cajuns Win as Edwards Tops 1,000 (photo gallery included) Sonora Edwards topped 1,000 career points in the Cajuns victory.
Basketball W 02/27/2008 Courtesy RaginCajuns.com
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Louisiana’s Ragin Cajuns led for the entire game en route to a 68-63 upset of North Texas on Wednesday evening.
Louisiana (7-21, 3-14) now moves into the No. 12 seed thanks to Troy’s victory over Florida Atlantic. The Cajuns are currently matched with the No. 5 seed for the first round of the Sun Belt Tournament – in-state rival Louisiana-Monroe. North Texas (13-16, 8-9) was able to close within two points at the 8:53 mark of the second half, but Sonora Edwards scored the biggest basket of her career to turn the game around. Edwards’ offensive rebound and put-back at the 8:23 mark stopped the NT run and gave the senior center 1,001 career points – making her the 13th player in school history, and second this season, to join the 1,000-point club. Coincidently, Onna Charles topped the 1,000-point mark earlier in the season at North Texas. Edwards wasn’t finished, hitting two more baskets to give UL a 56-48 lead with 5:38 to play. Alicia McDaniel’s three-point play saw the hosts lead grow to 61-52 with under four minutes left in the game. NT scored two baskets in seven seconds to ignite another 7-2 run that closed the visitors within four points at 2:44. Brittney James missed two free throws that would have made it a two-point game with exactly one minute remaining. Instead, Edwards nailed two from the stripe to give UL a 67-61 edge with 57.8 seconds left. Edwards led all players with 16 points, 16 rebounds, three steals and two blocks. Three other Cajuns scored in double figures, including McDaniel with 16 points, Courtney Ratliff with 14 points and Whitney Dunlap with 11 points. Ratliff added 10 boards to earn her third double-double of the season. McDaniel has now scored in double figures 19 times in her last 20 games. The Mean Green also had four players in double figures, led by 15 points from James. McDaniel opened the second half with a jumper to extend the Cajuns lead to 13 points. From there, North Texas outscored the Cajuns 7-2 to trim the lead under double figures. UL used baskets by Ratliff and Edwards to keep a 12-point cushion with 13:28 to play. Talicia Sanders scored three baskets during a 14-4 Mean Green run that saw the Cajuns lead get down to two points, 48-46, with 8:53 remaining. UL has now won twice in the last three games. The Cajuns had all five starters score in the first 7:26 and shot 43 percent in the first half en route to a 36-25 lead at the break. Edwards had two early baskets and Dunlap hit a triple to help the Cajuns grab a 12-6 lead. Consecutive baskets from Ratliff and Dunlap’s second triple pushed the Cajuns lead to 10 points, 23-13, at the midway point of the first half. The Mean Green countered with a 7-2 run to cut their deficit in half, but UL responded with an 11-5 burst to close the half with an 11-point lead. McDaniel triggered the run with two quick baskets. She finished the half with a basket with seven seconds remaining. The Cajuns finish the regular season on Saturday afternoon vs. Denver. The front end of the Cajundome doubleheader begins at 4:30pm.
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