Cajuns Return To Cajundome, Host Dillard On Wednesday

LAFAYETTE – After spending the past two weekends on the road, the Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns women's basketball team finally returns to the Cajundome for a midweek game against the Dillard Bleu Devils, an NAIA school, on Nov. 22, with tip scheduled for 7 p.m.

For Dillard (4-2) the game will count as an exhibition game, while for the Cajuns the game will count towards their record. It's the first time the Cajuns have played the Bleu Devils since Dec. 12, 2015 and the Cajuns hold a 9-3 against Dillard.

Louisiana brings a 1-2 record into Wednesday's game, having dropped their last two games. They lost, 83-62, to the No. 20 Texas A&M Aggies in College Station, Texas on Nov. 12 and Louisiana followed that up with a loss to the Toledo Rockets, on Nov. 18, 79-55 in Toledo, Ohio. And the Cajuns will look to snap that two-game losing streak with a big win Wednesday night against the Bleu Devils at the Cajundome.

WHO'S LEADING THE CAJUNS: So far, this season the Cajuns have had balanced scoring, with three women averaging at least double figures.

Senior Kendra Howard has started all three games for the Cajuns, and she's been a consistent scorer for Louisiana. In those three games, she's averaging 10.3 points per game while shooting a solid 47 percent from the field. She's backed that up with a 33 percent shooting line from three-point range, going 3-9 during those three games.

Seniors Simone Fields and Nekia Jones have been solid as well, with Fields starting all three games averaging 10.3 points per game while leading the Cajuns in rebounds with 19 averaging 6.3 per game.

As for Jones, she's been a consistent performer off the bench, averaging 9.0 points per game, while shooting 39 percent from beyond the arc, on 5-13 shooting. Jones' been moving the ball for the Cajuns as well, averaging 2.0 assists per game with only one start under her belt.

GOODWIN HAS SURPRISED: Freshman Skyler Goodwin has had one heck of a start to her college career. Despite missing the game against Toledo, due to an injury, Goodwin has been one of the key contributors for Louisiana so far, this season.

She's averaging 13.0 points per game in the two games that she's played, filling in for sophomore Jasmine Thomas, and she's done that shooting 48 percent from the field with a team leading 67 percent tilt from beyond the arc.

Goodwin has crashed the boards strong as well, leading all Cajuns guards with 3.5 boards per game, putting her second on the team in that category.

FIELDS GETS 1,000: 15 seconds into the fourth quarter against Toledo, Fields nailed a jumper to get to 1,000 points in her career. She's now sitting at 1,003 points on her career and is only 83 points away from catching Aronji Johnson (1984-86) who sits in 10th place on the Cajuns all-time scoring list with 1,086 points.

WHAT THE BLEU DEVILS BRING: Dillard brings a one game winning streak into the game, having won their previous game against the University of Mobile, 58-56, on Nov. 14. They're averaging 68.5 points per game while shooting 44 percent from the field.

Defensively the Bleu Devils have held their opponents to 32 percent shooting while keeping their opponents under 60 points per game holding them to an average of 58,3 points per game.

Junior guard Alyssa Washington is leading the Bleu Devils in scoring averaging 13.8 points per game having started all six of their games so far while shooting 44 percent from the field. Washington is averaging 4.0 assists per game to go along with 5.0 rebounds per game.

Shaelynn Moore, a junior guard, is averaging 12.8 points per game while averaging 2.2 steals per game. Junior forward Pearl Jones is leading the Bleu Devils with 8.3 rebounds per game while averaging 10.0 points per game having started all six games for Dillard so far.

CAJUNS PRESEASON WNIT RUN COMES TO AN END: With the loss at Toledo, the Cajuns run in the Preseason Women's National Invitation Tournament came to an end. They finished the tournament with a 1-2 record, having played some tough competition along the way.

They beat New Orleans on Nov. 10, 66-57 at home, then they had a quick turnaround and headed to No. 20 Texas A&M for a second-round matchup against the Aggies. Louisiana lost that game 83-62, which put them in a consolation round matchup against Toledo.

Louisiana was shorthanded in their game against Toledo, having played without Goodwin, and they lost 79-55 to the defending MAC Champions in Toledo, to end their three-game run in the tournament.

HOME SWEET DOME: The Cajuns haven't played a game at home since opening the regular season in the first round of the Preseason WNIT on Nov. 10. The Cajuns won that game, 66-57, so they're bringing a 1-0 record at home into the game on Wednesday night.

MEDIA CHANGES AT THE DOME: Starting on Wednesday and going forward for the remainder for the season, the media will now be placed in section 103 opposite of the Cajuns Band. Radio will now be placed on the scorer's table side of the court. Home radio will be next to the Cajuns bench, while visitor radio will be at the opposite end next to the visitor's bench.

The side opposite the scores table will sit only the video personal who are working either the in-house Ragin' Cajuns Digital Network stream or whatever TV personal are broadcasting the game.

CLEAR BAG POLCY: In the interest of public safety and following the National Center for Spectator Sports Safety and Security (NCS4) Best Practices Guide, the Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns Athletics Department is implementing a clear bag policy at all venues that host ticketed events effective with the 2017-18 competition season. Information about this new policy can be found by visiting www.RaginCajuns.com/clearbag.

HOW TO WATCH/LISTEN TO THE CAJUNS: The game will be broadcast on 960 AM with Steve Peloquin on the call with pregame starting at 6:45 p.m. As for streaming the game the Ragin' Cajuns Digital Network will carry the game for free on RaginCajuns.com. Live stats are also available via RaginCajuns.com.

FOLLOW THE RAGIN' CAJUNS: Follow the Cajuns on twitter @RaginCajunsWBB for updates during the game and links to the video stream, radio and recap following the game.

#GEAUXCAJUNS

Cajuns Return To Cajundome, Host Dillard On Wednesday

Players Mentioned

Simone Fields

Skyler Goodwin

Kendra Howard

Nekia Jones

Jasmine Thomas

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