Lamar vs. La.-Lafayette Game Notes
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Dec. 21, 2004

LAFAYETTE, La. - The Lamar women's basketball team hits the road on Wednesday night to face Louisiana-Lafayette, one of its oldest all-time rivals, in a 6 p.m. non-conference contest at Earl K. Long Gym on the UL campus.

Wednesday's tilt will be the 61st all-time meeting between the two schools, with LU holding a 41-19 series lead, despite dropping three straight to the Ragin' Cajuns. The Lady Cardinals (6-2) are making their first trip to Lafayette since coming up on the short end of a 73-48 decision during the 1997-98 season. In the teams' last meeting on Jan. 6, 2004, UL emerged with a 68-44 win in Beaumont.

Lamar enters play with a three-game winning streak, after knocking off Prairie View A&M, 69-50, in its most recent game last Thursday. Freshman and Beaumont West Brook graduate Shaquita Coffey led the Lady Cardinals to the victory with 14 points and a career-high nine rebounds.

Coffey, a 6-1 forward, currently ranks tied for third on the team in scoring (7.5 ppg) and third in rebounding (5.6 rpg). She is also second on the team in steals (11) and tied for second in the league in field goal percentage (50.9%).

Sophomore LaToya Carson, a 5-9 guard from Long Beach, MS, currently leads the team in scoring (12.0 ppg), rebounding (5.9 rpg) and steals (13). Her scoring average ranks eighth in the Southland Conference and she is 15th in rebounding. Carson is also eighth in the league with a 46.6 field goal percentage.

The Lady Cardinals are averaging the second-most points in the league with 71.9 points a game, while surrendering a league-best 52.2 a game to opponents. Lamar also leads the league in scoring margin (+19.6), field goal percentage (42.6), field goal percentage defense (28.5) and rebounding (54.5). LU also holds a league-high +16.8 rebounding margin and the top assists per game average (16.63).

Louisiana-Lafayette enters Wednesday's game with an 8-3 overall record, including a 5-0 mark at home. UL's only losses this season have come against Stanford (47-67), Arkansas (6882) and Nebraska (70-81). Of the Cajuns' eight wins, two have been against SLC members Nicholls State (57-56) and Sam Houston State (90-72).

UL is led by senior Anna Petrakova, the 2003-04 Sun Belt Player of the Year. The native of Russia leads the team with averages of 17.4 points and 11.2 rebounds per game. She also shoots a team-best 54.9 percent from the field and leads the club with 32 blocked shots. Petrakova ranks third on the team in three-point shooting (33.3%) and fourth in free throw accuracy (81.3%; 26-of-32). The Ragin' Cajuns Bernette Tolston is second on the team with a 10.1 points per game average.

UL averages 72.5 points a game, while giving up only 57.3 to opponents. The Ragin' Cajuns are shooting 44.2 percent from the field and holding opponents to a 34.8 percent clip.