Cajuns Wrap Up Non-Conference Action Tuesday

Game 10 - Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns (7-2) vs. Alcorn State Braves (2-7)
Series History: Louisiana leads 2-1
Tuesday, December 29, 2015 • 7 p.m. (CST) • Cajundome – Lafayette, La.
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Louisiana Women's Basketball Home Page l Alcorn State Women's Basketball Home Page
Louisiana Game Notes

LAFAYETTE – The Ragin' Cajuns play their final non-conference game of the regular season hosting Alcorn State at 7 p.m., inside the Cajundome Tuesday, Dec. 29. The two programs are meeting for the third consecutive season. Following Tuesday's contest, Louisiana resumes Sun Belt competition by squaring off against Appalachian State at the Cajundome on Saturday, Jan. 2 at 5 p.m. In their last outing, the Cajuns had a five-game win streak snapped on Dec. 19 at Louisiana Tech. Overall, Louisiana has won eight of its past 10 non-conference games.

Senior Keke Veal scored a season-high 23 points in the loss at Louisiana Tech. The 23 points gave her 1,190 for her career, three shy of moving past Alyson Habetz for sole possession of sixth place on the Cajuns all-time scoring ledger.

The Cajuns defense is holding opponents to a Sun Belt-best 53.8 points per game this season. Louisiana currently ranks 23rd nationally in scoring defense.

Setting the Scene: The Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns (7-2) women's basketball team closes out their non-conference schedule with a matchup against the Braves of Alcorn State Tuesday, Dec. 29 at the Cajundome. Louisiana is in search of their third straight win in the all-time series with the Braves and second in Lafayette.

Louisiana enters the contest with the best scoring defense, statistically, in the Sun Belt Conference. The Cajuns are holding opponents to just 53.8 points per contest. They are also plus-15.0 in scoring margin, averaging 68.8 points per game.

Senior Keke Veal (15.1 ppg) and junior Jaylyn Gordon (14.6 ppg) currently hold the fifth and sixth spots, respectively, in scoring average per game among Sun Belt Conference players.
Alcorn State enters the contest having lost seven of their last eight games. The Braves are also 1-7 away from Lorman, MS this season.

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 (54). He needs four 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 fell three spots to No. 22 in last week's CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 Poll. The Cajuns garnered 153 total points in the rankings.

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 4.1 points and 3.8 rebounds (third on team) in six games as a starter and nine games overall. She is shooting 37.2% (16-of-43) from the floor and has come up with seven steals on the defensive end of the floor. Okde has appeared in four games this season. She scored two points and picked up an assist in six minutes in the win over Dillard back on Dec. 12.

Heavy Minutes: Junior Jaylyn Gordon is playing the fifth-most minutes per game this season (33.0) among Sun Belt Conference players. The 33.0 minutes per game is on pace to become a career high for the Edgard, La., native, who averaged 32.6 minutes in 34 games last season.

Winning the Turnover Battle: Through the first nine games of the season, the Ragin' Cajuns are ranked fifth in the nation with a turnover margin of plus-9.0.

Wilridge Assist Watch: Senior guard Kia Wilridge picked up three assists in the last game at Louisiana Tech on Dec. 19, bumping her career total to 254. She is eight helpers shy of passing Alicia McDaniel for sole possession of sixth place on the Cajuns' all-time list.

Gordon from Deep: Junior guard Jaylyn Gordon enters the week leading the Sun Belt Conference with an average of 2.6 three-pointers made this season (23 total). Last season she made 73 three-pointers in 34 games, an average of 2.1 per contest.

No Doubt About It: The Cajuns are currently outscoring opponents by an average of 15.0 points per game (68.8-53.8 average), which is first in the Sun Belt Conference. Nationally, the Cajuns are tied for 47th (Central Arkansas) in scoring margin this season.

Veal Seeing Double: Senior guard Keke Veal has scored in double-figures in 23-straight games dating back to last season.

What's Next? The Cajuns resume Sun Belt Conference play this Saturday, Jan. 2 for a 5 p.m. tip-off against Appalachian State in the Cajundome.

Cajuns Wrap Up Non-Conference Action Tuesday

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Players Mentioned

Brooklyn Arceneaux

Jaylyn Gordon

Sylvana Okde

Keke Veal

Kia Wilridge

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