Cajuns Look For Fifth SBC Road Win at Appalachian State

Game 21 - Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns (16-4, 9-2 SBC) at Appalachian State Mountaineers (6-13, 3-7 SBC)
Thursday, February 4, 2016 • 4 p.m. (CST) • Holmes Center – Boone, N.C.
Series History: Louisiana leads series 2-1
Live Stats l Live Video l Radio: ESPN1420 (Steve Peloquin)
Twitter Updates: @ULRaginCajuns • @RaginCajunWBB
Louisiana Women's Basketball Home Page l Appalachian State Women's Basketball Home Page

LAFAYETTE – The Ragin' Cajuns women's basketball team plays on the road for the first time since Jan. 16 this Thursday, Feb. 4 at Appalachian State. The Cajuns have won their past two games after finishing a 4-1 home stretch.

The Cajuns won the season's first meeting with Appalachian State back on Jan. 2 in Lafayette, 60-51.

Louisiana is off to their best conference start in program history with a 9-2 record.

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 seven opponents to under 60 points.

Sophomore forward Simone Fields is coming off a career performance against the ULM Warhawks after scoring a career-high 19 points and tying her career best with 10 rebounds.

Setting the Scene: The Cajuns rank fourth in scoring in the Sun Belt averaging 65.1 ppg. Defensively, Louisiana is first in point allowed at 54.4 ppg and is second in the Sun Belt Conference in scoring margin at plus-10.6.

Appalachian State has dropped five of their last six contests. They lost to South Alabama last Saturday, Jan. 30 by a 71-55 final.

Cajuns guard Keke Veal leads all UL scorers this season with 14.6 points per game. Senior Kia Wilridge has handed out 47 assists, second among Cajuns 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 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 fell two spots to No. 24 in the CollegeInsider.com Top 25 Women's Mid-Major rankings, released this past Tuesday. The Cajuns and Arkansas State (No. 9) are one of two Sun Belt Conference schools among the Top 25 in this week's rankings.

Turnover Margin Numbers: Entering the week, the Cajuns rank sixth in the NCAA in turnover margin at plus-6.9 (275 turnovers vs. 413 turnovers forced).

Top 25 Defense: Louisiana is ranked 19th in scoring defense in the NCAA allowing 53.7 points per game. They are also tied for 22nd in the nation in turnovers forced at 20.65 per contest.

Veal Continues Points Chase: Cajuns senior guard Keke Veal brings 1,345 career points into the Texas State game this Thursday. She is 13 points away from tying Teena Cooper (1,358) for third place in the Cajuns record books.

Defensive Numbers: Louisiana's defense held ULM to 40 points last Tuesday and did not allow more than 12 points in any quarter in the game (allowed eight points in the fourth quarter).

Shooting Efficiency: In the last two games, the Cajuns have shot 44.2% and 45.8% from the floor. They made 19-of-43 shots against UT Arlington and 22-of-48 baskets against ULM.

From Beyond the Arc: In the win against ULM last Tuesday, the Cajuns hit just one three-point field goal, the fourth time this season they were held to either one or zero three-point shots made.

Opponent Woes: Louisiana's defense has held four of its last five opponents under 40% shooting from the floor. The Cajuns limited ULM to 23.9% shooting from the floor last Tuesday, a season-low for UL in 2015-16.

Road Warriors: The Cajuns are 4-1 in conference road games this season. Two of their four wins have been by 19 (at ULM) and 20 points (at Georgia State).

What's Next? The Cajuns return home to play Arkansas State next Thursday, Feb. 11 for a 5 p.m. tip-off at the Cajundome.

Cajuns Look For Fifth SBC Road Win at Appalachian State

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Simone Fields

Keke Veal

Kia Wilridge

Footer

University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics