The Herald Online

Issue date: 3/5/07 Section: Sports

Media Credit: Josh Mitchell Senior guard Rudy Sims fights for a basket in Monday's Sun Belt Tournament semifianl game [Click to enlarge]

LAFAYETTE, La. --- ASU head coach Brian Boyer has said that it is hard to beat a team three times in one season.

While the Lady Indians had defeated Louisiana-Lafayette twice during the regular season, the third meeting between the two teams came in the semifinals of the Sun Belt Conference Tournament at the Cajundome. The UL-Lafayette women's basketball team plays their home games at the Earl K. Long Gym and had not played at the Cajundome once this season.

On Monday afternoon, the Lady Ragin' Cajuns knocked ASU out of the SBC Tournament 62-59. UL-Lafayette will play Middle Tennessee in the SBC Tournament championship at 3 p.m. Tuesday.

"The past two games with Louisiana-Lafayette have had a lot of similarities," Boyer said. "It was a very competitive game. It was a tale of two halves."

Senior guard Rudy Sims tied it at 59-59 with 20 seconds left but could not hit her free throw. After the Sims missed foul shot, UL-Lafayette center Sonora Edwards made the game-winning shot for the Lady Ragin' Cajuns with six seconds left and was fouled by senior guard Ali Carter.

With the loss, ASU (20-12, 11-7 SBC West) bows out of the SBC Tournament semifinals for the third consecutive season. However, for the Lady Indians, the season may not be over. In two out of the last three seasons, ASU has been invited to the Women's National Invitational Tournament (WNIT). The 2004 club won 19 games while the 2005 club also had 19 wins coming into the WNIT. This season, the Lady Indians have won 20 games, the most wins in the regular season and conference tournament combined for the program since the 1997-1998 season when that team also won 20 games.

The senior class for ASU, Carter, Sims, center Adrianne Davie, and forward Tabitha Christian, have been to the WNIT twice. They've also played a tough non-conference schedule this season, which includes wins against Alabama, Oklahoma State, and South Dakota State. SDSU is just one of three teams to defeat nationally-ranked Middle Tennessee this season. For Carter, she is not ready to go home yet.

Continued...

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