Women's Hoops Resumes Sun Belt Play Saturday in Jonesboro

Contact: Matt Hebert

Game Notes (PDF)

GAME CENTER
Date: Saturday, Dec. 22, 2012
Location: Jonesboro, Ark.
Opponent: Arkansas State (4-7, 1-1 Sun Belt)
Site: Convocation Center (10,563)
Game Time: 1:05 p.m.
Live Stats/Video: www.AStateRedWolves.com

LOUISIANA-ARKANSAS STATE SERIES
The Series: Arkansas State leads 43-12
In Jonesboro: Arkansas State leads 22-5
Series Streak: Arkansas State – won 9
Last Meeting: Arkansas State 57, Louisiana 50 (Cajundome // Feb. 11, 2012)
Noteworthy: J. Kelley Hall was the last Cajuns coach to defeat ASU, posting a 62-59 win in the semifinal round of the 2007 Sun Belt Tournament in Lafayette at the Cajundome.

LOUISIANA
12-13 Record____________________    6-5
12-13 Sun Belt Record____________     0-2
Last Game______________________      Dec. 19, 2012
                                                                             at Tulane W, 65-64 (OT)
Head Coach____________________        Garry Brodhead
   UL Record____________________        6-5 (1^st Season)
   Career Record_________________       Same
Web Site_______________________       www.RaginCajuns.com

ARKANSAS STATE
12-13 Record____________________     4-7
12-13 Sun Belt Record____________      1-1
Last Game______________________     Dec. 19, 2012
                                                                             vs. Nicholls State W, 66-58
Head Coach____________________       Brian Boyer
   ASU Record____________________    215-191 (14^thSeason)
   Career Record_________________      Same
Web Site_______________________     www.AStateRedWolves.com

Game Night Story Lines
>>> With non-conference play complete, the Ragin' Cajuns women's basketball team resumes Sun Belt Conference play on Saturday, Dec. 22 in Jonesboro, Ark., against Arkansas State. It's the first of 18 straight SBC games to finish the season.
>>> Louisiana is coming off one of the biggest road victories in recent memory, a 65-64 overtime win at Tulane (entered game 7-1). That capped off a 6-3 non-conference record, giving the program a winning non-conference mark for the second time in the past three seasons (went 7-6 in 2010-11).
>>> The Ragin' Cajuns seek the first Sun Belt win of the Garry Brodhead era. Louisiana dropped decisions to Middle Tennessee (L, 45-72) and North Texas (L, 59-71) one month ago during the opening week of league play.
>>> Louisiana is 3-1 since returning from final exams break (Dec. 2-10).
>>> Assistant coach Jennifer Sullivan, a Jonesboro native, returns home. Sullivan spent the previous three seasons as an assistant on the Arkansas State staff before joining Garry Brodhead's inaugural staff at Louisiana.
>>> Saturday's game marks the 56th meeting all-time between the two programs. The Red Wolves hold a decisive 43-12 lead in a series that dates back to January 1983.
>>> After halting a lengthy losing skid to Tulane on Wednesday, the Cajuns seek to break a rather long losing streak against Arkansas State. The Cajuns have lost the last nine meetings with ASU (last win was a 62-59 decision in 2007 SBC Tournament).
>>> The Ragin' Cajuns lead the Sun Belt and rank 21st nationally in steals per game.
>>> With the next win, the Ragin' Cajuns will equal their total from last season (7-23).
>>> Freshman Sylvana Okde ranks Top 10 in the Sun Belt in scoring (13.5 ppg) and leads the league averaging 3.2 three-point makes per outing. Okde buried seven treys in Wednesday's triumph at Tulane and has made at least three in a game six times.

AN ADDED MEANING
>>> For the remainder of the 2012-13 season (18 games total), the Ragin' Cajuns will be playing to position themselves for seeding in the 2013 Sun Belt Tournament.
>>> Saturday's contest with Arkansas State is the first of 18 straight Sun Belt games to close out the inaugural season under Garry Brodhead.

SHOW STOPPER
>>> Louisiana's 65-64 overtime win at Tulane brought an end to the Green Wave's 15-game win streak over Louisiana schools. Ten (10) days earlier, Tulane had defeated SEC-foe LSU 66-64 in Baton Rouge.
>>> It was also the Cajuns first win over the Green Wave since Jan. 30, 1991

MISS CLUTCH
>>> Brandi Schambough's last-second triple to pull out the win at Tulane on Wednesday brought back memories of a similar finish back on Feb. 20 vs. Nebraska-Omaha.
>>> In the team's 2011-12 non-conference finale, Schambough buried a trey with eight seconds left to pull UL out of a 60-59 deficit and to a win that halted a 17-game losing skid.

SHE HAS THE TOUCH
>>> Freshman Sylvana Okde continues to impress with her abilities from three-point range, continuously hitting treys from 22-23 feet away and in clutch moments.
>>> Okde enters the ASU game off a season-high seven makes from beyond the arc including one as time expired to send the Tulane contest into overtime.
>>> The Houston native, whose parents hail from Lebanon, is shooting a sparking 43.2 percent from three-point range (35-of-81).

DOUBLE THE TROUBLE
>>> The freshman duo of Keke Veal and Kia Wilridge are the leading force behind the Ragin' Cajuns forcing the opposition into an average of 23.6 turnovers per game.
>>> Wilridge tops the squad with 35 steals, while Veal is a close second with 29 steals.

THE BALL HOG
>>> The Cajuns are hopeful to regain the services of Byronesha Santiago soon. The JUCO transfer from Ruston, La., has missed the last two games with injury and that's had an impact on the Cajuns rebounding figures.
>>> Santiago tops the squad at 8.3 rebounds, having hauled in five-plus each of her last five outings (three double digit efforts).
>>> Her last outing came on Dec. 13 vs. New Orleans. In the eight games she's played, the Cajuns average 40.1 rebounds per game. In the two recent games she's missed (UC Riverside and Tulane), the team's rebounding total dipped to 34.5 and the opposition has grabbed an average of 46.0 boards per game.

TURNING UP THE “D”
>>> Thus far this season, the Cajuns defense has forced the opposing teams into 23.6 turnovers per game while UL averages 18.3, giving the squad a +5.3 turnover margin.
>>> 262 of the 696 points scored this season have been points off turnovers (38 percent).
>>> The Cajuns recorded a season high of 36 points off turnovers against New Orleans.

LAST SEASON VS. ARKANSAS STATE
>>> The Red Wolves swept the series, winning 55-52 in Jonesboro and 57-50 in Lafayette.
>>> UL was done in by 22 turnovers on Jan. 21, which proved costly in a three-point loss. Krystal Motley hit a three with 1:02 left to cut the ASU lead to 53-52, then Brooklyn Arceneaux collected a steal to set up a chance to take the lead. However, a turnover gave ASU the ball and Jane Morrill hit both free throws. Megan Whittaker's three-point attempt at a tie fell short as the final horn sounded.
>>> On Feb. 12 at the Cajundome, the Cajuns started a 16-5 run at the 11:57 mark of the second half to cut a double-digit deficit down to 52-50 following a Brooklyn Arceneaux basket with 3:57 remaining. The Cajuns couldn't get a shot to fall in the rest of the way and Jane Morrill made a basket at 3:46 and a triple at 2:29 to finish off the scoring.

HOMEGROWN TALENT
>>> Cajuns roster features eight players who hail from the state of Louisiana.
>>> To go a step further, six athletes prepped in the greater Lafayette area (Brandi Schambough – St. Thomas More; Brooklyn Arceneaux – St. Thomas More; Robbie Brown – St. Thomas More; Kia Wilridge – St. Thomas More; Adrienne Prejean – Lafayette HS; Keke Veal – St. Thomas More).

REUNITED AND IT FEELS SO GOOD
>>> For the first time since the 2010-11 academic year, sophomores Brooklyn Arceneaux and Robbie Brown and freshmen Kia Wilridge and Keke Veal are teammates.
>>> The quartet powered local St. Thomas More High to a state championship in 2011.
>>> Last season, Wilridge and Veal carried on the championship caliber effort, winning another state title in 2012.

RETURNING HOME
>>> Three of the Cajuns four coaches are alums of the University of Louisiana, head coach Garry Brodhead (1980), Sallie Guillory (2005), and Deacon Jones (1999).
>>> For Brodhead, it represents a return to the city where many of his coaching successes occurred, including his stint at Teurlings Catholic High School where he posted a 297-78 record from 1998-2007.

REUNITED, PART 2
>>> Not only were teammates reunited this season, but members of the coaching staff were as well – Jennifer Sullivan rejoining Garry Brodhead and Sallie Guillory.
>>> The trio were assistant coaches at McNeese State during the 2008-09 campaign. Brodhead and Guillory remained at McNeese through 2011-12, while Sullivan spent 2009-10 through 2011-12 at Arkansas State.

CHANGING OF THE GUARD
>>> Garry Brodhead became the 12th head coach in UL program history on April 2, 2012. The 1980 UL graduate is a 16-year veteran of women's basketball coaching.
>>> Brodhead replaced Errol Rogers who compiled a 38-113 record over five seasons (2007-08 through 2011-12).

THE LONE RANGER
>>> Reserve guard Brandi Schambough is the lone senior on Garry Brodhead's inaugural squad in Cajun Country.
>>> She's also the most experienced in terms of years in a collegiate uniform having played each of the previous three seasons.

DOUBLE THE PLEASURE FOR RAGIN' CAJUNS FANS
>>> There will be five home doubleheaders in the Cajundome this year featuring the Ragin' Cajuns men's and women's basketball teams.
>>> The first doubleheader comes on Dec. 29 when Louisiana hosts UALR. Arkansas State is the guest on Jan. 12 and UL plays UL-Monroe (Feb. 10), Florida Atlantic (Feb. 16) and Western Kentucky (Feb. 23) on successive weekends in February.

SERIES HISTORY (Arkansas State leads 43-12)
>>> The first meeting between the two schools took place on Jan. 24, 1983. The Ragin' Cajuns were victorious in the contest, 85-66 in Jonesboro.
>>> Louisiana won the first four series meetings and held an 8-6 advantage over ASU following the 1989-90 season.
>>> Since 1990-91 season, the Red Wolves have had the decided edge in the series having won 37 of the last 41 contests.
>>> J. Kelley Hall was the last Cajuns coach to defeat ASU, posting a 62-59 win in the semifinal round of the 2007 Sun Belt Tournament in Lafayette at the Cajundome.
>>> The Cajuns last victory in Jonesboro came on Feb. 17, 2000 (W, 74-71 under Gay Nix).
>>> Two programs have been conference foes since series started (Southland 1983-87, American South 1987-91, Sun Belt 1991-present).

UP NEXT FOR LOUISIANA
>>> Following a week-long break for the Christmas holiday, Louisiana is back in action on Saturday, Dec. 29 hosting UALR in the final contest before the calendar flips over to 2013.
>>> The game will be held at the Cajundome and is scheduled to start at 5 p.m. It's the opening part of a doubleheader with the Cajuns and Trojans men's squads.
>>> The UALR contest will mark the first Cajundome game of the Garry Brodhead era and first of five appearances in the facility this season.

-- Ragin' Cajuns --

Women's Hoops Resumes Sun Belt Play Saturday in Jonesboro

Next Event

Footer

University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics