LAFAYETTE, La. (2/5/05) Anna Petrakova scored a game-high 24 points and the North Texas women’s basketball team had its three-game winning streak snapped by Louisiana-Lafayette 73-66 at the Earl K. Long Gym.
North Texas remains atop the Sun Belt Conference West Division Standings despite the loss at 6-3 while the Ragin Cajuns move to within one game of North Texas at 5-4.
“She (Petrakova) was really tough to stop down low tonight,” said North Texas head coach Tina Slinker. “I knew that was going to be there game plan coming, to try and beat us down low and she is just so tough to stop and there’s a reason why she is one of the best in this league”.
Trailing 54-38 with 11:17 remaining in the second half, North Texas (11-10, 6-3) went on an 8-0 run to trim the Louisiana-Lafayette (15-7, 5-4) lead to 54-46 with 8:37 left.
The Mean Green got as close as six points at 72-66 with 37 seconds remaining thanks to a 3-pointer by freshman Amanda Quattrocchi who finished with a career-high 11 points.
Quattrocchi had one final 3-point attempt with 20 seconds remaining fall short and Cajun’s ran the clock out for the victory.
Petrakova scored 14 of her 24 points in the second half and grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds and her 10th double-double of the season.
“I’m still really proud of the way our team fought back tonight,” Slinker said. “We played really well down the stretch and even when we were down tonight the girls never gave up and that’s really what championship caliber teams do”.
Four players scored in double figures for North Texas led by 13 points by Erica Howard and Erika Bobo. Talicia Sanders also scored in double figures for the third time this season with 10 points.
The Mean Green is next in action on Wednesday night as they close out their three-game road trip at Western Kentucky.
