Cajuns To Face Southeastern Louisiana In Weekend Action

Game 4 - Louisiana (3-0, 0-0 SBC) vs. Southeastern La. (2-2, 0-0 SLC)
Saturday, November 29, 2014 • 2 p.m. (CT) • Hammond, La. – University Center (7,500)
General Admission – $6 (Adult), $4 (Youth 3-12)
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Louisiana Game Notes

LAFAYETTE, La. – After defeating in-state foe Louisiana Tech for the first time in program history Saturday to move to 3-0 on the season, the Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns women's basketball team returns to action Saturday at 2 p.m. when the squad travels to Hammond to take on Southeastern Louisiana at the University Center.

Cajuns Record Historic Win
- In 39 meetings, the Ragin' Cajuns had always come up short in knocking off Louisiana Tech, one of the nation's most decorated women's college basketball programs
- However, the 40th meeting on Saturday, Nov. 22, 2014 was one exception
- The Cajuns led from the beginning as they claimed a 58-55 victory over the Lady Techsters to snap their 39-game losing streak to Louisiana Tech
- Kia Wilridge led all scorers with 18 points and a team-high five assists while Jaylyn Gordon added 15 points, shooting 3-of-6 from long range, and six boards to help Louisiana to a historic win
- The Cajuns dominated the paint, outscoring the Lady Techsters 30-16 down low. Louisiana Tech earned nearly half of its points from the outside, shooting 8-of-25 from behind the arc

A Look at the Lady Lions
- Southeastern Louisiana enters Saturday's contest with a 2-2 record
- The Lady Lions have fallen to Minnesota (109-60) and Troy (80-78) but are 2-0 at home this season after defeating Southern (79-76) and Mobile (74-47)
- SLU is under first-year head coach Yolanda Moore, a former WNBA player who won two titles with the Houston Comets. In her first year as a collegiate head coach, Moore directed LSU-Eunice to a 26-3 mark and a Miss-Lou Conference championship to earn NJCAA Region 23 Coach of the Year accolades
- Like the Cajuns, opponents have struggled shooting from long range against SLU. Teams are shooting just 20.3 percent (14-69) from three this season
- Junior forward Nanna Pool leads the Lady Lions with 17.0 points and 7.8 rebounds per game
- Senior guard Symone Miller is averaging 15.0 points and shooting 56.4 from the floor this season. Senior guard Elizabeth Styles is third for the Lady Lions in scoring with 12.3 points per game while leading the squad with 6.8 assists per game

Series History
- Southeastern Louisiana leads the all-time series 28-14 versus Louisiana, dating back to 1975
- However, the Cajuns have won the last three meetings and six of the last nine, including a 66-53 victory last season in Lafayette
- The Cajuns won 69-57 in the teams' last meeting in Hammond on Nov. 29, 2011

3 AND 0
- After their 58-55 win over Louisiana Tech on Saturday, the Cajuns are 3-0 for the first time since the 2004-05 season
- In 2004-05, Louisiana defeated UC Davis, Montana State and Alaska Anchorage in neutral site contests to begin the season 3-0
- The Cajuns finished the season 22-9, claiming the Sun Belt West Division and finishing as the Sun Belt Tournament runner-up under head coach J. Kelley Hall

A 4-0 Start?
- A win over Southeastern Louisiana in Hammond would make the Cajuns 4-0 on the season, something that hasn't been done since the 1983-84 season when Louisiana began the season 6-0 under first-year head coach Ross Cook
- That season, Cook led the Cajuns to a 22-6 record and a second-place finish in the Southland Conference

Cajuns Among the Top in SBC in Defense
- Through the first two weeks of the college basketball season, three teams know all about the stifling defense of Louisiana
- The Cajuns defense has put up some impressive numbers through the first three games
- While the Cajuns are averaging 67.3 points per game, opponents are being held to 54.3 points and are shooting just 34.9 percent from the field, which both rank second in the Sun Belt
- The Cajuns are also among the leaders in the conference in three-point field goal percentage defense, holding opponents to 26.9 percent from long range to place the team second in the SBC

Up Next
- The Cajuns will begin a three-game homestand Saturday, Dec. 6 when they welcome Sam Houston State to the Cajundome for a 2 p.m. tip
- After facing the Bearkats, Louisiana will take on Southern-New Orleans (Dec. 13) and Mississippi State (Dec. 17) to conclude its home slate before the Christmas break

Returning for the Cajuns
- Louisiana returns eight letterwinners and four starters from the 2013-14 season
- Redshirt junior guard/forward Brooklyn Arceneaux returns this season as the Cajuns' leading scorer, earning All-Sun Belt Third Team honors after averaging 10.5 points and a team-high 5.2 boards a season ago. Arceneaux will sit out the first half of the season to recover from ACL surgery
- The return of junior guards Keke Veal and Kia Wilridge will also help Louisiana on the offensive and defensive end
- Veal led the Cajuns with 11.9 points, 3.1 steals and 2.5 assists per game through the first 13 games of the season before she suffered a season-ending injury
- In 2013-14, Wilridge led the Cajuns with 29.0 minutes per game in 22 appearances and 17 starts. In her time on the floor, Wilridge averaged 9.0 points, a team-high 2.4 assists and 1.5 steals per game, which ranked eighth in the SBC
- Also returning for the Cajuns are senior Robbie Brown (4.2 ppg, 3.6 rpg), juniors Jasmin Mills (4.0 ppg, 5.0 rpg) Adrienne Prejean (3.3 ppg, 3.5 rpg) and sophomores Gabby Alexander (5.4 ppg, 3.0 rpg) and Jaylyn Gordon (9.0 ppg, 2.0 apg)

Welcome to Cajun Country
- With the addition to its eight returners, Louisiana also brings in a talented group of six newcomers to the 2014-15 roster
- Joining the Cajuns this season are Jodi Quinn (St. Martinville), T'Erika Bell (Monroe), Simone Fields (San Antonio, Texas), Alexis Nezianya (Carrollton, Texas), Cienna Rodriguez (Cypress, Texas) and D'Rae Tullock (Middleton, Idaho)

Cajuns Picked Sixth in the Sun Belt
- After tying for seventh in the Sun Belt Conference a season ago, the league's 11 head coaches tabbed the Cajuns sixth with 64 points in the SBC Preseason Poll
- Arkansas State was picked first with 118 points, receiving nine of the 11 first-place votes, while UALR was a close second with 112 points and two first-place votes
- Texas State (93), Georgia State (82) and Troy (70) rounded out the top five in the poll

Veal, Wilridge Named All-SBC Preseason
- Junior guards Keke Veal and Kia Wilridge were selected to the All-Sun Belt Conference Preseason Team, voted on by the league's head coaches
- Veal was named to the second team while Wilridge earned a spot on the third team
- Louisiana was joined by Arkansas State, Georgia State, South Alabama, Texas State and UALR in placing a league-high two players on the preseason team

-- RaginCajuns.com --

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Players Mentioned

Gabby Alexander

Brooklyn Arceneaux

T'Erika Bell

Robbie Brown

Simone Fields

Jaylyn Gordon

Jasmin Mills

Alexis Nezianya

Adrienne Prejean

Jodi Quinn

Cienna Rodriguez

D'Rae Tullock

Keke Veal

Kia Wilridge