University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics
Wednesday, March 23
Lafayette
5 p.m.
Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns
24-10
69
vs
49
Youngstown State
21-13
1
2
3
4
F
Youngstown State
17
16
6
10
49
Louisiana
21
17
13
18
69
Wilridge’s Career Night Propels Cajuns Into WBI Finals
3/23/2016 8:10:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Senior guard Kia Wilridge nets career-best 22 points in 69-49 win over Youngstown State in WBI Semifinals in the Cajundome
LAFAYETTE – The Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns women's basketball team advanced to their second straight WBI Championship behind a career-high 22 points from senior guard Kia Wilridge Wednesday night at the Cajundome in a 69-49 victory over Youngstown State.
The win was the Cajuns' 24th this season, one shy of matching the program record (2006-07).
"I thought the third quarter for us was big for us defensively," Ragin' Cajuns head coach Garry Brodhead said. "We knew they could shoot the three and we wanted to cover them. The way we defended them and didn't give Youngstown State many looks in the second half. That finished the game for us by not giving up many more three-point attempts."
Senior guard Keke Veal added 19 points and eight rebounds, while sophomore forward Simone Fields finished with 16 points and eight boards.
Youngstown State provided themselves with a 13-8 lead with 3:56 to go in the first quarter, but the Cajuns finished the stanza with a 13-4 scoring surge behind nine points from Fields (5) and Veal (4).
Louisiana maintained its lead for the remainder of the game. Veal stroked a three-pointer at the 6:49 mark of the second quarter to extend UL's lead to 13 at 32-19.
The Penguins scored 14 of the next 20 points to close the gap to 38-33 at halftime. The Cajuns shot 51.6% from the field (16-of-31), and were guided by Veal, who had 11 points and Wilridge, who reached 10 points by the intermission.
Youngstown State pulled to within 38-35 after a three-pointer by Nikki Arbanas with 8:30 to go in the third. The Penguins received a second trey from Arbanas to keep it a three-point contest with 6:23 on the clock (42-39).
Seven of the Cajuns next nine points came courtesy of Veal and Fields. UL's lead stood at 51-39 through three quarters.
Louisiana's largest lead reached 24 twice (65-41) at 5:34 and at 4:40 (67-43). The Ragin' Cajuns held Youngstown State to just 16 points on 20.8% (5-of-24) shooting from the field in the second half.
The Cajuns will host No. 7 Weber State from the other side of the WBI bracket. The WBI Championship game will be Saturday, March 26 at EK Long Gymnasium for a 4 p.m. tip-off.
"Once we find out our opponent, we will get our coaches together tonight and start scouting them," Brodhead said. "Tomorrow we should have a scouting report on what they do offensively and defensively and hopefully we can match up to it."
The win was the Cajuns' 24th this season, one shy of matching the program record (2006-07).
"I thought the third quarter for us was big for us defensively," Ragin' Cajuns head coach Garry Brodhead said. "We knew they could shoot the three and we wanted to cover them. The way we defended them and didn't give Youngstown State many looks in the second half. That finished the game for us by not giving up many more three-point attempts."
Senior guard Keke Veal added 19 points and eight rebounds, while sophomore forward Simone Fields finished with 16 points and eight boards.
Youngstown State provided themselves with a 13-8 lead with 3:56 to go in the first quarter, but the Cajuns finished the stanza with a 13-4 scoring surge behind nine points from Fields (5) and Veal (4).
Louisiana maintained its lead for the remainder of the game. Veal stroked a three-pointer at the 6:49 mark of the second quarter to extend UL's lead to 13 at 32-19.
The Penguins scored 14 of the next 20 points to close the gap to 38-33 at halftime. The Cajuns shot 51.6% from the field (16-of-31), and were guided by Veal, who had 11 points and Wilridge, who reached 10 points by the intermission.
Youngstown State pulled to within 38-35 after a three-pointer by Nikki Arbanas with 8:30 to go in the third. The Penguins received a second trey from Arbanas to keep it a three-point contest with 6:23 on the clock (42-39).
Seven of the Cajuns next nine points came courtesy of Veal and Fields. UL's lead stood at 51-39 through three quarters.
Louisiana's largest lead reached 24 twice (65-41) at 5:34 and at 4:40 (67-43). The Ragin' Cajuns held Youngstown State to just 16 points on 20.8% (5-of-24) shooting from the field in the second half.
The Cajuns will host No. 7 Weber State from the other side of the WBI bracket. The WBI Championship game will be Saturday, March 26 at EK Long Gymnasium for a 4 p.m. tip-off.
"Once we find out our opponent, we will get our coaches together tonight and start scouting them," Brodhead said. "Tomorrow we should have a scouting report on what they do offensively and defensively and hopefully we can match up to it."
Team Stats
YSU
UL
FG%
.360
.484
3FG%
.286
.250
FT%
.556
.889
RB
30
37
TO
18
9
STL
3
12
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
22
FGM
10
3FGM
0
FTM
2
Pts
16
FGM
6
3FGM
0
FTM
4
Pts
8
FGM
4
3FGM
0
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
F
/ Women's BasketballPG
/ Women's BasketballGarry Brodhead, Skylah Travis, and Nubia Benedith Media Availability (Feb 26, 2025)
Thursday, February 27
Garry Brodhead Media Availability (Feb 24, 2025)
Monday, February 24
Garry Brodhead Media Availability (Feb 17, 2025)
Monday, February 17
Garry Brodhead, Erica Lafayette, and Skylah Travis Media Availability (Feb 15, 2025)
Saturday, February 15
