Louisiana Travels To Denton For Showdown With North Texas

GAME CENTER

Game 7
Louisiana (3-3) at North Texas (1-5)
Date: Saturday, Dec. 1, 2012
Location: Denton, Texas
Site: The Super Pit (10,032)
Time: 5:00 p.m. CDT
Series History: 35th meeting (NT leads 18-16)

SETTING THE SCENE
Louisiana travels to Denton, Texas to continue conference play against North Texas on Saturday, Dec. 1 at 5 p.m. The Ragin' Cajuns are coming off a 71-49 victory over Southern-New Orleans which snapped a three-game losing streak. Freshman Sylvana Okde led the Cajuns with 20 points as three others turned in double-digit efforts: Kia Wilridge (15 points, 6 steals), Jasmin Mills (14 points, 10 rebounds), and Robbie Brown (10 points, 6 rebounds). Middle Tennessee handed Louisiana their first Sun Belt Conference loss on Nov. 24, defeating the Cajuns 72-45. North Texas is coming off a 71-66 loss at home to Arizona. Prior to the Arizona game, the Mean Green played a grueling four-game road swing, which saw a triple and double overtime finish. The squad suffered setbacks to SMU (67-63), Alabama (88-83), and New Mexico (81-59). NT picked up its first win of the season in double overtime against St. Bonaventure (72-71). UL returns just four players from a year ago, opening the season with seven newcomers (five freshmen and two junior college transfers). Four Cajuns average double digits in scoring and leading the way is freshman guard Sylvana Okde's 13.5 points per game. Kia Wilridge is second on the team in scoring averaging 12.2 points and 4.2 steals. Keke Veal and Ashley Benjamin contribute 11.2 and 10.2 points per game, respectively. Byronesha Santiago leads the squad in rebounding, posting a 7.8 average to go along with 9.6 points. This will be the 35th overall meeting between Louisiana and North Texas, the Mean Green own a 18-16 advantage.

Louisiana Overview
12-13 Record__________________3-3
12-13 Sun Belt Record__________0-1
Head Coach____________________Garry Brodhead (Lousiana, '80)
Record at UL___________________3-3 (first season)
Career Record_________________same
Last Game______________________ Nov. 28, 2012 vs Southern-New Orleans
W, 71-49
Website________________________RaginCajuns.com

North Texas Overview
12-13 Record__________________1-5
12-13 Sun Belt Record__________0-0
Head Coach_____________________ Mike Petersen (Northwest Christian, '83)
Record at NT____________________1-5 (first season)
Career Record___________________same
Last Game________________________Nov. 28, 2012 vs Arizona
L, 71-66
Website_________________________MeanGreenSports.com

THE OPPOSITION
• North Texas is coming off a 71-66 setback to Arizona. Loryn Goodwin and Laura McCoy led the Mean Green with 16 and 14 points, respectively.
• For the season, BreAnna Dawkins leads the team in scoring averaging 12.3 ppg, while Alexis Hyder and McCoy average 11.2 and 9.8 ppg.
• The squad opened the season with a loss at home to Texas State (88-83) before a four-game road swing which saw two overtime finishes. The Mean Green suffered setbacks to SMU (67-63), Alabama (88-83), and New Mexico (81-59). The team earned its first victory against St. Bonaventure (72-71).
• The Mean Green averages 71.0 points this season, while the opposition averages 77.7.
• North Texas enters the game averaging 43.8 rebounds to the opponent's 43.2.
• NT played the longest game in school history in the three overtime loss to Alabama. The Mean Green followed that up with just the third double-overtime game in school history against St. Bonaventure five days later.
• Four of the team's first five games of the season have been decided by five points or less.
• Twice this season, North Texas has rallied from a double figure deficit to take a lead. The Mean Green trailed by as many as 19 points in the victory over St. Bonaventure.
• Head coach Mike Peteresen is in his first year at the helm of the program. He arrived from Wake Forest where he is the school's all-time winningest coach.

GAME DAY STORY LINES
• Louisiana looks to even its Sun Belt record against North Texas. The squad suffered a 72-45 defeat in its conference opener against Middle Tennessee.
• Prior to the Middle Tennessee game, the Ragin' Cajuns had a tough two-game road swing, losing to Omaha (79-67) and Nicholls State (71-62).
• Saturday's contest will be North Texas' first Sun Belt Conference game this year. Last season, the Mean Green beat Louisiana twice, 66-54 and 78-40.
• Four UL players average double digits in scoring with freshman guard Sylvana Okde leading the way, averaging 13.5 points.
• Kia Wilridge's 4.2 steals per game is tied for 11^th in NCAA division I statistics.
• Byroneha Santiago averages 9.6 points and leads the team in rebounding, grabbing an average of 7.8 per game.
• UL has outscored opponents 399-382 while also outrebounding the opposition 241-219. The Cajuns average 66.5 PPG, holding the opposition to 63.7.
• The squad is shooting .329 from behind the arc (27-82) and .617 from the charity stripe (74-120).
• The Ragin' Cajuns scored 108 points in their opening exhibition game against Centenary, surpassing the century mark for the first time since Nov. 29, 1989 when the Cajuns beat Texas Southern, 101-83.
• Louisiana used a convincing 83-42 victory over LSU-Shreveport on Nov. 12 to earn their first 2-0 start since the 2004-05 season.
• The Cajuns return just four letter winners from last year.
• The squad welcomes seven newcomers, including five freshmen and two junior college transfers.
• Robbie Brown played in 30 games last season, averaging 3.4 points, 2.4 assists and 19.4 minutes played.
• Schambough is the lone senior on the squad. She saw action in 16 games last season, averaging 3.5 minutes per contest.

TURNING UP THE D
• Look for the Ragin' Cajuns to be very solid on the defensive end of the court this season as coach Brodhead stresses defense more than anything.
• Thus far this season, the Cajuns swarming defense has forced opposing teams into 23.2 turnovers per game while UL averages 19.0, giving the squad a -4.2 turnover margin.
• UL has already racked up 84 steals this season while only having the ball stolen from them 42 times.
• The Cajuns average a hefty 14.0 steals per game. Kia Wilridge's 27 steals in six games leads the team.
• Louisiana forced 19.4 turnovers per game last season including a -1.9 turnover margin for a 0.5 assist/turnover ratio.
• UL had a total of 272 steals and averaged 9.1 per game last year.

HOMEGROWN TALENT
• The Ragin' Cajuns roster features eight players who hail from the state of Louisiana.
• To go a step further, five athletes prepped in the greater Lafayette area.

REUNITED AND IT FEELS SO GOOD
• For the first time since the 2010-11 academic year, sophomores Brooklyn Arceneaux and Robbie Brown and freshmen Kia Wilridge and Keke Veal are teammates.
• The quartet powered local St. Thomas More High to a state championship in 2011.
• Last season, Wilridge and Veal carried on the championship caliber effort, winning another state title in 2012.
• Wilrdige and Veal have contributed a combined 129 of 399 points in the first six games of the season.

FEELING RIGHT AT HOME
• Three of the Cajuns four coaches are alums of the University of Louisiana – head coach Garry Brodhead (1980), Sallie Guillory (2005) and Deacon Jones (1999).
• For Brodhead, it represents a return to the city where many of his coaching successes occurred namely his stint at Teurlings Catholic High School where he posted a 297-78 record from 1998-2007.

SERIES HISTORY

3/8/74 L, 56-62
2/4/84 W, 94-39
3/1/84 W, 89-69
2/19/85 L, 57-61
2/28/85 W, 79-47
1/25/86 L, 59-61
2/20/86 W, 84-73
3/1/86 L, 52-55
1/24/87 W, 63-61
2/19/87 L, 56-68
1/20/01 L, 49-92
2/22/01 L, 72-78
12/28/01 L, 64-70
1/24/02 L, 34-88
1/30/03 W, 58-57
2/27/03 W, 65-59
2/5/04 W, 53-50
2/21/04 L, 70-74
2/5/05 W, 73-66
2/17/05 L, 51-61
1/7/06 L, 47-70
2/2/06 W, 67-59
1/11/07 W, 85-76
2/25/07 W, 75-59
1/12/08 L, 58-77
2/27/08 W, 68-63
12/18/08 L, 56-57
2/7/09 L, 63-75
2/6/10 W, 80-78
2/24/10 L, 63-76
1/1/11 W, 65-54
1/26/11 W, 71-69
1/25/12 L, 45-66
2/18/12 L, 40-78

UP NEXT FOR LOUISIANA
• The Ragin' Cajuns return home to face Jackson State on Monday, Dec. 10 at Earl K. Long Gym. Game time is set for 7 p.m.

-- Ragin' Cajuns --

University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics

Louisiana Travels To Denton For Showdown With North Texas

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