University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics
Veal, Wilridge Earn All-LSWA Women’s Team Honors, Brodhead Named Coach of the Year
4/15/2016 11:00:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Veal, Wilridge take home All-LSWA honors for the second straight season, Brodhead earns LSWA Coach of the Year accolades for first time in his career
Veal, a senior from Opelousas, La., played in 35 games and averaged a team-high 17.7 points with a team-high 87 steals and 89 assists. She scored a career-high 34 points at Troy on Feb. 25. Veal was a three-time LSWA Player of the Week honoree. By season's end, Veal moved into second place on the Cajuns all-time scoring list this season and ended her career at UL with 1,674 points. She also moved into fifth place in Cajuns history in assists with 283 and was named WBI MVP after spearheading the Cajuns' run to a second straight WBI title, pouring in a team-high 23.5 points with 5.0 rebounds per game in the four contests. She led the Cajuns in steals (16) and assists (13), and knocked down 44.6% (29-of-65) of her shots from the field to earn WBI Tournament MVP honors for the second straight season.
Wilridge, a senior from Crowley, La., was the only Cajun to start in all 35 games this season, finishing with 11.8 points per game on a career-high 42.8% shooting from the floor to pair with a team-high 5.4 rebounds per contest. She passed the 100-assist-plateau, handing out a career-high 101 helpers. She was the first Ragin' Cajun to earn LSWA Player of the Month accolades under fourth year head coach Garry Brodhead, picking up the honor in November. In five November games, she averaged 14.0 points per contest (second on team) and led the Cajuns with 16 assists. Wilridge garnered All-WBI Tournament Team honors after averaging 15.0 points, a team-high 6.5 rebounds and collecting 13 steals and seven assists in four games to help the Cajuns capture the WBI Tournament championship. She closed out her four-year career ranked fourth in UL history in points (1,285), third in steals (256), fifth in assists (330) and 10th in rebounds (562).
Brodhead guided the Cajuns to a 25-10 record, tying the program record for most wins in a season (2006-07). Brodhead moved into second place on the Cajuns' all-time wins list for coaches with 72. Two of the team's 25 wins came against SEC opponents (Ole Miss, Arkansas), marking the first time the Ragin' Cajuns defeated two opponents from the SEC in the same season. The Cajuns claimed back-to-back postseason championships for the first time in program history and won double-digit home games in back-to-back seasons for the first time since 2005-06 and 2006-07.
First Team All-State
Brandi Wingate,LA Tech, Senior, Forward (Columbia, Maryland) (17.2 ppg, 7.6 rpg, 1.5 apg, 1.0 spg) (337 points)
Keke Veal, UL-Lafayette, Senior, Guard (Opelousas, La.) (17.0 ppg, 3.6 rbg, 76 assists, 71 steals) (309 points)
Kolby Morgan, Tulane, Sophomore, Guard (New Orleans, La.) (17.1 ppg, 4.6 rpg, 2.2 spg, 2.3 apg) (286 points)
Janelle Perez, Northwestern St, Senior, Guard (El Paso, Texas) (15.8 ppg; 4.0 apg; 3.7 apg; 1.1 spg) (261 points)
Jalyn Johnson, McNeese State, Senior, Guard (Jennings, La.) (15.3 ppg, 1.7 rpg., 5.2 APG, 1.5 SPG) (237 points)
Second Team All-State
Whitney Gathright, Xavier, Senior, Guard (New Orleans, La.)
Alexis Hyder, LSU, Junior, Forward (Austin, Texas)
Reagan Maricle, LSU-Alexandria, Senior, Guard (Fairview, La.)
Kourtney Pennywell, LSU-Shreveport, Senior, Forward (Shreveport, La.)
Alayshia Hunter, ULM, Senior, Forward (Killeen, Texas)
Third Team All-State
Shakyla Hill, Grambling State, Freshman, Guard (Little Rock, Ark.)
Randi Brown, New Orleans, Sophomore, Guard (Houma, La.)
Allison Baggett, McNeese State, Senior, Guard (Iota, La.)
Taylor Maricle, LSU-Alexandria, Senior, Guard (Fairview, La.)
Kia Wilridge, UL-Lafayette, Senior Guard (Crowley, La.)
Honorable Mention
Liann McCarthy, Nicholls; Briana Oglesby, Loyola-New Orleans; Pearl Paulo, LSU-Alexandria; Nanna Pool, Southeastern Louisiana; Brooke Pumroy, LA Tech;; Quiana Tucker, LSU-Shreveport; Leslie Vorpahl, TulanePlayer of the Year
Brandi Wingate, LA Tech(Wingate 10, Keke Veal 6, Kolby Morgan 5, Janelle Perez 3, Whitney Gathright 2, Alexis Hyder 1)
Freshman of the Year
Shakyla Hill, Grambling State(Hill 20, Cassidy Barrios 5, Megan Worry, 2)
Newcomer of the Year
Alexis Hyder, LSU(Hyder 17, Brooke Pumroy 8, Quianna Tucker 2)
Coach of the Year
Garry Brodhead, UL-Lafayette(Brodhead 11, Lisa Stockton 9, Kellie Kennedy 4, Nadine Domond 2, Bo Browder 1)
