Cajuns Host UC Santa Barbara in Education Game Tuesday

Game 8 - Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns (6-1) vs. UC Santa Barbara Gauchos (1-9)
Series History: First Meeting
Tuesday, December 15, 2015 • 11 a.m. (CST) • Cajundome – Lafayette, La.
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Louisiana Game Notes

LAFAYETTE – The Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns (6-1) seek their fifth-straight win when the UC Santa Barbara Gauchos come to Lafayette Tuesday for a non-conference game in the Cajundome.

The Cajuns look to build on the most lopsided victory in the history of the program at the Cajundome, a 48-point triumph over the Dillard Bleu Devils last Saturday. The Cajuns are off to their second-consecutive 6-1 start to the season and look to reach their seventh win in the first eight games for the second time in as many years. Louisiana is averaging 70.9 points per game, which ranks second among Sun Belt Conference schools, while yielding 51.9 points per contest, first among teams in the Sun Belt. The Cajuns are ranked first in the Sun Belt Conference and third nationally in turnover margin at plus-9.4.

Tuesday is Education Day at the Cajundome. The women's basketball team will be welcoming students across Acadiana to attend the game. Mackenzie Bourg, a native of Lafayette, La., will be performing at halftime. Bourg was on Season 3 of the hit singing competition, "The Voice."

Setting the Scene: The Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns (6-1) women's basketball team closes out a brief two-game, non-conference home stint Tuesday morning against UC Santa Barbara at the Cajundome. The Cajuns are in search of their fifth-straight win and second-consecutive 7-1 start to the open the season.
Louisiana's defense limited the Dillard Bleu Devils to 36 points, the second-lowest total this season. In six non-conference contests this season, the Cajuns are outscoring opponents by an average of 19.0 points (70.8-51.8 average score). The Cajuns have dominated the first quarter of non-conference action, outscoring the opposition, 122-67.
UC Santa Barbara comes into Tuesday's matchup with a 1-9 record and are losers of their last seven games. Makala Roper paces the offense with a team-high 11.8 points per game and is shooting 35.3% from the floor.

Coach Brodhead at the Helm: Louisiana head coach Garry Brodhead is in his fourth season at the helm of the Ragin' Cajuns women's basketball program, finishing with 23 wins last season, the most in a single season since 2006-07 (25). Brodhead guided the team to 15 victories at home in 2014-15, a program record. He is currently the third-winningest head coach in Cajuns history (53). He needs five wins to pass Ross Cook (57) for second on the program's all-time list.

Cajuns In the Rankings: The Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns women's basketball team held onto its spot at No. 19 in the latest CollegeInsider.com Women's Mid-Major Top 25 Poll, released Tuesday. The Cajuns garnered 229 total points in this week's rankings and are one of three Sun Belt Conference schools among the Top 25 (No. 10 Arkansas State, No. 14 Little Rock). This week's poll will be released Tuesday, December 15.

Welcome Back: Returning from redshirt seasons are senior Brooklyn Arceneaux and junior Sylvana Okde. In 2013-14, Okde averaged 10.9 points and drained a team-high 74 three-pointers. That season, Arceneaux finished as the team's second-leading scorer (among players in at least 25 games played) averaging 10.5 points and adding 5.2 rebounds per contest. Arceneaux has averaged 5.0 points and 4.5 rebounds (leads team) in five games as a starter this season. She is shooting 40.6% (13-of-32) from the floor, the third-highest percentage among Cajuns with at least 30 shot attempts. Okde has appeared in two games this season. She scored two points and picked up an asssist in six minutes in the win over Dillard last Saturday.

Tale of a First Half: In the first and second quarters this season, Louisiana has outscored their opponents, 132-82 and 127-85 respectively. In comparison, the Cajuns have outscored opponents in the third and fourth quarters, 112-99 and 112-86, a plus-92 point differential in comparison to a plus-39 point margin in the first half of games.

Winning the Turnover Battle: Through the first seven games of the season, the Ragin' Cajuns have finished with fewer turnovers than their opponents in each contest.

Shutdown D: In last Saturday's win against Dillard, the Cajuns held the Bleu Devils to a .231 shooting percentage (12-of-52), the lowest for a Louisiana opponent this season.

Gordon from Deep: Junior guard Jaylyn Gordon enters the week leading the Sun Belt Conference with 19 three-point field goals, an average of 2.7 per game. Last season she made 73 three-pointers in 34 games, an average of 2.1 per contest.

Alexander the Great: Junior Gabby Alexander scored a season-high 11 points off the bench in the 84-36 win against Dillard last Saturday. She was 4-of-6 from the floor and knocked down all three of her free throw attempts. Alexander finished with a season-best eight rebounds, second most on the team in the victory.

Veal Seeing Double: Senior guard Keke Veal has scored in double-figures in 21-straight games dating back to last season.

What's Next? The Cajuns will travel to Ruston, La., to play Louisiana Tech Saturday, Dec. 19 for a 6 p.m. tip-off.

Cajuns Host UC Santa Barbara in Education Game Tuesday

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Players Mentioned

Gabby Alexander

Brooklyn Arceneaux

Jaylyn Gordon

Sylvana Okde

Keke Veal

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