University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics
Veal and Wilridge Honored, Cajuns Picked Fourth
10/20/2015 12:04:00 PM | Women's Basketball
NEW ORLEANS – For the second consecutive season, Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns women's basketball seniors Keke Veal and Kia Wilridge were both named to the Preseason All-Sun Belt Conference Team. The Cajuns were predicted to finish fourth in the Sun Belt Conference Preseason Coaches' Poll, garnering 95 points with one first place vote.
"We are steadily improving and earning respect from the league," Ragin' Cajuns head coach Garry Brodhead said. "It's not always about how you start but how you finish. We have worked hard to build our program and earn recognition to make our way to the top of the Sun Belt Conference."
Veal, a native of Opelousas, La., earned All-SBC Preseason honors for the third straight season. This is Veal's debut on the All-Sun Belt Conference Preseason First Team. Last season, she paced the Cajuns offense with an average of 14.9 points per game. The Opelousas, La. native has led the Cajuns in scoring in two of her three seasons. She was also named the 2015 Women's Basketball Invitational (WBI) MVP after averaging a team-high 21.0 points and 5.8 rebounds per contest, helping lead Louisiana to the WBI Championship.
"Keke is very talented and her potential has always been very high in terms of ability," Brodhead said. "She needs to keep working hard and to improve and finish this senior season. It's great for her to earn recognition on the first team. She has an opportunity to finish off her career strong here at Louisiana and finish at the top of the conference. We have always believed in her ability to be one of the best players in the conference in terms of scoring and running our offense to get the rest of her teammates involved."
For Wilridge, it is the second consecutive Preseason All-Sun Belt Second Team honor of the Crowley, La. native's career. She is coming off a season in which she tallied 12.3 points per contest and was a pillar on the Louisiana defense, becoming the first Cajun to record at least 100 steals in a season since Kim Perrot during the 1989-90 campaign. She was also tied for the second-most blocked shots on the defense with seven.
"Kia is a kid with a high motor and defensively is the quarterback of our team," Brodhead said. "It's exciting for her to receive some well-deserved recognition. Her ability on the defensive end has always impressed the coaching staff. This honor will hopefully bring more confidence in herself in order for her to help us reach the top of the conference. We know she will work hard to get everyone involved on both ends of the floor to give us a chance to win a championship."
Arkansas State, the 2015 Sun Belt Conference Tournament runners-up, were picked to finish first in the conference, receiving 113 points in the poll to go with six first-place votes. UT Arlington came in second with 97 points and a single first-place vote, while the defending Sun Belt Conference Tournament champion Little Rock Trojans were picked to finish third with 96 points and a pair of first-place votes. The Cajuns and Troy (86 points, one first-place vote) rounded out the top 5.
The Cajuns return nine letterwinners, including five starters. They open the 2015-16 season with an exhibition matchup against LSU-Alexandria on Nov. 9 at 5 p.m. at the Cajundome. They tip-off the regular season on Sunday, Nov. 15 at 7 p.m. at Ole Miss.
Season tickets for the 2015-16 campaign are available by calling the Cajundome ticket office at (337) 265-2100, or by emailing Director of Tickets, Matt Casbon at mcasbon@cajundome.com.
Predicted Order of Finish (first-place votes in parentheses)
1. Arkansas State (6) - 113 pts
2. UT Arlington (1) - 97 pts
3. Little Rock (2) - 96 pts
4. UL Lafayette (1) - 95 pts
5. Troy (1) - 86 pts
6. Texas State - 66 pts
7. Georgia State - 57 pts
8. Appalachian State - 40 pts
9. UL Monroe - 38 pts
10. South Alabama - 26 pts
11. Georgia Southern - 12 pts
All-SBC Preseason First Team
Aundrea Gamble (Arkansas State, Senior, G)
Alexius Dawn (Little Rock, Senior, G)
Keke Veal (UL Lafayette, Senior, G)
Rebekah VanDijk (UT Arlington, Sophomore, C)
Ashley Beverly Kelley (Troy, Senior, G)
All-SBC Preseason Second Team
Khadija Brown-Haywood (Arkansas State, Senior, F)
Makeba Ponder (Georgia State, Soph., G)
Shanity James (Little Rock, Senior, F)
Kia Wilridge (UL Lafayette, Senior, G)
Ayriel Anderson (Texas State, Senior, G)
All-SBC Preseason Third Team
Joi Jones (Appalachian State, Junior, G)
Chyna Ellis (South Alabama, Sophomore, C)
LaShanda Green (UT Arlington, Senior, G)
Cierra Johnson (UT Arlington, Sophomore, G)
Caitlyn Ramirez (Troy, Junior, F)
Preseason Student-Athlete of the Year
Aundrea Gamble (Arkansas State, RS-Senior, Guard)
"We are steadily improving and earning respect from the league," Ragin' Cajuns head coach Garry Brodhead said. "It's not always about how you start but how you finish. We have worked hard to build our program and earn recognition to make our way to the top of the Sun Belt Conference."
Veal, a native of Opelousas, La., earned All-SBC Preseason honors for the third straight season. This is Veal's debut on the All-Sun Belt Conference Preseason First Team. Last season, she paced the Cajuns offense with an average of 14.9 points per game. The Opelousas, La. native has led the Cajuns in scoring in two of her three seasons. She was also named the 2015 Women's Basketball Invitational (WBI) MVP after averaging a team-high 21.0 points and 5.8 rebounds per contest, helping lead Louisiana to the WBI Championship.
"Keke is very talented and her potential has always been very high in terms of ability," Brodhead said. "She needs to keep working hard and to improve and finish this senior season. It's great for her to earn recognition on the first team. She has an opportunity to finish off her career strong here at Louisiana and finish at the top of the conference. We have always believed in her ability to be one of the best players in the conference in terms of scoring and running our offense to get the rest of her teammates involved."
For Wilridge, it is the second consecutive Preseason All-Sun Belt Second Team honor of the Crowley, La. native's career. She is coming off a season in which she tallied 12.3 points per contest and was a pillar on the Louisiana defense, becoming the first Cajun to record at least 100 steals in a season since Kim Perrot during the 1989-90 campaign. She was also tied for the second-most blocked shots on the defense with seven.
"Kia is a kid with a high motor and defensively is the quarterback of our team," Brodhead said. "It's exciting for her to receive some well-deserved recognition. Her ability on the defensive end has always impressed the coaching staff. This honor will hopefully bring more confidence in herself in order for her to help us reach the top of the conference. We know she will work hard to get everyone involved on both ends of the floor to give us a chance to win a championship."
Arkansas State, the 2015 Sun Belt Conference Tournament runners-up, were picked to finish first in the conference, receiving 113 points in the poll to go with six first-place votes. UT Arlington came in second with 97 points and a single first-place vote, while the defending Sun Belt Conference Tournament champion Little Rock Trojans were picked to finish third with 96 points and a pair of first-place votes. The Cajuns and Troy (86 points, one first-place vote) rounded out the top 5.
The Cajuns return nine letterwinners, including five starters. They open the 2015-16 season with an exhibition matchup against LSU-Alexandria on Nov. 9 at 5 p.m. at the Cajundome. They tip-off the regular season on Sunday, Nov. 15 at 7 p.m. at Ole Miss.
Season tickets for the 2015-16 campaign are available by calling the Cajundome ticket office at (337) 265-2100, or by emailing Director of Tickets, Matt Casbon at mcasbon@cajundome.com.
Predicted Order of Finish (first-place votes in parentheses)
1. Arkansas State (6) - 113 pts
2. UT Arlington (1) - 97 pts
3. Little Rock (2) - 96 pts
4. UL Lafayette (1) - 95 pts
5. Troy (1) - 86 pts
6. Texas State - 66 pts
7. Georgia State - 57 pts
8. Appalachian State - 40 pts
9. UL Monroe - 38 pts
10. South Alabama - 26 pts
11. Georgia Southern - 12 pts
All-SBC Preseason First Team
Aundrea Gamble (Arkansas State, Senior, G)
Alexius Dawn (Little Rock, Senior, G)
Keke Veal (UL Lafayette, Senior, G)
Rebekah VanDijk (UT Arlington, Sophomore, C)
Ashley Beverly Kelley (Troy, Senior, G)
All-SBC Preseason Second Team
Khadija Brown-Haywood (Arkansas State, Senior, F)
Makeba Ponder (Georgia State, Soph., G)
Shanity James (Little Rock, Senior, F)
Kia Wilridge (UL Lafayette, Senior, G)
Ayriel Anderson (Texas State, Senior, G)
All-SBC Preseason Third Team
Joi Jones (Appalachian State, Junior, G)
Chyna Ellis (South Alabama, Sophomore, C)
LaShanda Green (UT Arlington, Senior, G)
Cierra Johnson (UT Arlington, Sophomore, G)
Caitlyn Ramirez (Troy, Junior, F)
Preseason Student-Athlete of the Year
Aundrea Gamble (Arkansas State, RS-Senior, Guard)
Players Mentioned
PG
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