Cajuns Wrap Up Home Stand Against ULM Tuesday

Game 20 - Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns (15-4, 8-2 SBC) vs. ULM Warhawks (9-10, 3-7 SBC)
Series History: Warhawks lead 43-9
Tuesday, February 2, 2016 • 5 p.m. • Cajundome – Lafayette, La.
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LAFAYETTE – The Ragin' Cajuns women's basketball team picked up their eighth conference win in 10 tries last Saturday afternoon vs. UT Arlington, after coming away with a 63-52 victory at the Cajundome.

Louisiana is off to their best conference start since 1983-84 (8-2) when the team started 8-2 (finished 9-3 in Southland Conference that season).

Fourth-year head coach Garry Brodhead passed Ross Cook for sole possession of second place for most wins in program history with 58 in the Cajuns' 56-39 win at Georgia Southern on Jan. 14. Brodhead is currently at 62 career wins and trails only J. Kelley Hall (86 wins) on the Cajuns all-time coaching ledger.

The Cajuns defense has held its last six opponents to under 60 points.

Junior guard Taylor Washington splashed five three-pointers to finish with a career-high 19 points against the UT Arlington Mavericks in last Saturday's 63-52 win.

Setting the Scene: The Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns (15-4, 8-2 SBC) conclude their five-game home stand against the ULM Warhawks at the Cajundome this Tuesday, Feb. 2 at 5 p.m. Louisiana won the season's first meeting back on Dec. 3, 71-52. Three Cajuns (Jaylyn Gordon – 21, Keke Veal – 14, Kia Wilridge – 14) scored in double-figure points on the evening. The Louisiana offense outscored the Warhawks, 35-24 in the third and fourth quarters in that win.
The Cajuns are holding opponents to a conference-best 54.4 points per contest in 19 games this season. Their offense isn't too far behind, ranking fourth in scoring per game at 65.1 points per outing.

ULM comes into the game coming off a 63-59 win against Texas State this past Saturday in Monroe. Senior forward Alayshia Hunter had game-highs of 23 points and 11 rebounds in the victory. Hunter leads the Warhawks in scoring with 17.3 points per game. Her 7.5 rebounds per game is good for second among ULM players.

Cajuns guard Keke Veal leads all UL scorers this season with 14.9 points per game. She is first in steals (40) and tied for second in assists (45).

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 passed Ross Cook (57) to move into sole possession of second place on the program's all-time wins list with his 58th victory on January 14. Brodhead trails only J. Kelley Hall (86) for the most wins by a coach in Ragin' Cajuns history.

Cajuns In the Rankings: The Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns women's basketball team maintained its hold on the 22nd spot in the CollegeInsider.com Top 25 Women's Mid-Major rankings, released this past Tuesday. The Cajuns and Arkansas State (No. 10) are one of two Sun Belt Conference schools among the Top 25 in this week's rankings. This week's rankings will be released Tuesday evening.

Turnover Margin Numbers: Entering the week, the Cajuns rank sixth in the NCAA in turnover margin at plus-7.4 (257 turnovers vs. 404 turnovers forced).

Top 25 Defense: Louisiana is ranked 23rd in scoring defense in the NCAA with their 54.4 points allowed per game. They are also tied for 12th in the nation in turnovers forced at 21.26 per contest.

Veal Continues Points Chase: Cajuns senior guard Keke Veal brings 1,338 career points into the Texas State game this Thursday. She is 20 points away from tying Teena Cooper (1,358) for third place in the Cajuns record books.

Rebound Shortage: The Cajuns pulled down a season-low 14 rebounds in the win against UT Arlington last Saturday. Their previous season-low was 26 at Louisiana Tech on Dec. 19.

Defense in Conference Games: Through 10 conference games, the Cajuns are holding opponents to a conference-low 54.1 points per contest (second to Little Rock at 52.7).

Free Throw Success: The Cajuns knocked down 19 free throws last Saturday against the Mavericks, their highest total since Jan. 16 at Georgia State. Prior to Saturday, Louisiana hit a total of 30 free throws in the previous three games.

Opponent Woes: Louisiana's defense has held three of its last four opponents under 40% shooting from the floor. The Cajuns limited Texas State to a .293 shooting percentage last Thursday, the third-lowest total for a UL opponent this season.

Comfortable at Home: The top two scorers for Louisiana this season have excelled at home this season against conference competition. Senior Keke Veal is averaging 12.6 points and 3.7 rebounds per game in conference action. She has also talled 22 assists and a team-high 26 steals. Senior guard Kia Wilridge is averaging 11.0 points, 5.8 rebounds per game and has recorded 17 assists, four blocks, and 14 steals.

What's Next? The Cajuns travel to Appalachian State to play the Mountaineers this Thursday, Feb. 4 for a 5 p.m. tip-off.

Cajuns Wrap Up Home Stand Against ULM Tuesday

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Players Mentioned

Jaylyn Gordon

Keke Veal

Taylor Washington

Kia Wilridge

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