Ragin' Cajuns Begin Final Road Trip at UT Arlington

Game 24 - Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns (16-7, 9-5 SBC) at UT Arlington Mavericks (21-11, 7-6 SBC)
Series History: Louisiana leads 11-5
Thursday, February 18, 2016 • 2 p.m. • College Park Center – Arlington, Texas
Live Stats l Live Video l Radio: ESPN1420 (Jay Walker)
Twitter Updates: @ULRaginCajuns • @RaginCajunWBB
Louisiana Women's Basketball Home Page l UT Arlington's Women's Basketball Home Page | L ouisiana Game Notes

LAFAYETTE – The Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns (12-11, 7-6 SBC) begin their final road trip of the 2015-16 regular season this Thursday, Feb. 18 at UT Arlington. Tip-off is set for 11:30 a.m. at the College Park Center in Arlington.

The Cajuns won the season's first meeting with the Mavericks back on Jan. 30 by a 63-52 final. Senior Keke Veal and junior Taylor Washington teamed up to score 40 of their team's 63 points.

Louisiana enters Thursday's game with a 5-4 record on the road, and have won four of six conference road matchups. They are averaging 64.3 points per contest in the nine road contests, and are outscoring opponents in each quarter but the fourth (outscored 159-137).

The Cajuns are currently in third place in the Sun Belt Conference standings and sit a game behind Little Rock for second place at 9-5.

Setting the Scene: The Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns (16-7, 9-5 SBC) travel to Texas this week to take on UT Arlington on Thursday, Feb. 18 and Texas State in San Marcos on Saturday afternoon. The Cajuns come into this week a game behind Little Rock for second place in the conference standings after falling, 58-49 last Saturday to the Trojans at the Cajundome.
UT Arlington is currently in the midst of a four-game win streak since losing to the Cajuns back on Jan. 30. The Mavericks have struggled at home this season with a 4-6 record. Rebekah VanDijk leads the team in scoring with 11.7 points per contest. In the season's first meeting, VanDijk turned in a double-double with 17 points and 11 rebounds. Cierra Johnson has come up with a team-leading 71 steals and team-high 11 blocked shots.
The Cajuns look to snap a season-high three game losing streak on Thursday. The offense is paced by senior guards Keke Veal (15.4 points per game) and Kia Wilridge (12.2 points per game). Wilridge also leads the Cajuns in rebounds per game with 5.0 per contest.
Veal scored a team-high 21 points in the 63-52 win over UT Arlington back on Jan. 30. Junior Taylor Washington netted a career-high 19 points and drained five three-pointers in the victory.

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.

Road Success: The Ragin' Cajuns are one of three Sun Belt Conference schools with a winning record on the road this season (5-4). Arkansas State (9-3) and UT Arlington (8-5) are the others.

Cajuns Defense Remains Strong: The Cajuns have maintained one of the best scoring defenses throughout this season and continue to carry that strength into this week. Louisiana is first in defensive scoring in the conference, holding opponents to 55.7 points per game.

Okde Three-Point Watch: Cajuns redshirt junior guard Sylvana Okde has made 152 three-point shots in her career, seven shy of tying Bernette Tolston for fourth all-time in UL history (159).

Fields Career Game: Sophomore forward Simone Fields scored a career-high 19 points against ULM back on Feb. 2. Fields is the only other Cajun besides Keke Veal, Kia Wilridge and Jaylyn Gordon to lead Louisiana in scoring in a game this season (accomplished twice - vs. SUNO on Nov. 19). She also tied her career high in rebounds with 10 against the Warhawks in that game.

Held Under 50 Points: In the last game against Little Rock, the Cajuns were held to under 50 points (49) for just the second time this season. They scored 42 points against Texas State on Jan. 28.

Three-Point Drought: In the last four games, the Cajuns offense has made just four three-pointers in 31 attempts (12.9%). In the three previous games from Jan. 23-28, the Cajuns made 14 three-pointers.

Cajuns Vs. Texas Opponents: In the two games this season against schools reigning from the state of Texas (UT Arlington, Texas State), the Cajuns are averaging 52.5 points per game and shooting 35.1% (34-of-97) from the floor. They have come up with 17 steals, 13 assists and two blocked shots in those games as well.

Double-Double Numbers: Sophomore forward Simone Fields recorded a double-double against ULM back on Feb. 2, finishing with 19 points and 10 rebounds. It was just the second double-double for a Cajuns player this season. Senior Kia Wilridge had the first such game on Dec. 15 against UC Santa Barbara with 14 points and 13 rebounds.

What's Next? The Cajuns continue their road trip at Texas State Saturday, Feb. 19 at 2 p.m.

Ragin' Cajuns Begin Final Road Trip at UT Arlington

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Players Mentioned

Simone Fields

Jaylyn Gordon

Sylvana Okde

Keke Veal

Taylor Washington

Kia Wilridge

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