First Cajundome Contest of Brodhead Era Set for Saturday

Contact: Matt Hebert

Game Notes

GAME CENTER
Date: Saturday, Dec. 29, 2012
Location: Lafayette, La.
Opponent: UALR (10-1, 3-0 Sun Belt)
Site: Cajundome (11,550)
Game Time: 5:00 p.m.
Live Stats/Video: www.RaginCajuns.com
Radio: Sports Radio ESPN 1420-AM (Steve Peloquin)

LOUISIANA-UALR SERIES
The Series: UALR leads 12-7
In Lafayette: Louisiana leads 6-5
Series Streak: UALR – won 10
Last Meeting: UALR 55, Louisiana 41 (Earl K. Long Gym // Feb. 8, 2012)
Noteworthy: Ragin' Cajuns won the first six meetings in Lafayette – all at Earl K. Long Gym. Trojans have been victorious their past five trips to Lafayette (streak started in 2007-08 season).

LOUISIANA
12-13 Record____________________     6-6
12-13 Sun Belt Record____________       0-3
Last Game______________________      Dec. 22, 2012
                                                                              at Arkansas State L, 53-77
Head Coach____________________        Garry Brodhead
   UL Record____________________        6-6 (1^st Season)
   Career Record_________________       Same
   Brodhead vs. UALR_____________        First Meeting
Web Site_______________________     www.RaginCajuns.com

UALR
12-13 Record____________________     10-1
12-13 Sun Belt Record____________       3-0
Last Game______________________     Dec. 22, 2012
                                                                             at South Alabama W, 49-40
Head Coach____________________       Joe Foley
   UALR Record_________________      183-106 (10^thSeason)
   Career Record_________________       639-187 (26^th Season)
   Foley vs. UL___________________       11-3
Web Site_______________________     www.UALRTrojans.com

Game Night Story Lines
>>> The Ragin' Cajuns are set for their first Cajundome contest of the Garry Brodhead era on Saturday, Dec. 29 as Louisiana hosts UALR in the opening game of a doubleheader with the Cajuns and Trojans men's teams.
>>> Louisiana is 4-2 at home, all games thus far taking place at Earl K. Long Gym.
>>> Saturday's game is the first of two scheduled with the Trojans in 2012-13. Louisiana visits Little Rock on Thursday, Feb. 28, 2013.
>>>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, then fell at Arkansas State last Saturday in Jonesboro (L, 53-77) when league play resumed in earnest.
>>> Louisiana is 3-2 since returning from final exams break (Dec. 2-10).
>>> 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 15 in the Sun Belt in scoring (12.6 ppg) and leads the league averaging 2.9 three-point makes per outing. Okde buried seven treys in the triumph at Tulane (12/19) and has made at least three in a game six times.
>>> UALR has had the upper-hand in the series with Louisiana in recent years, bringing a 10-game win streak over the Cajuns into Saturday's game that dates back to the 2007-08 season.
>>> Saturday's game marks the first time Louisiana and UALR meet at the Cajundome.
>>> Garry Brodhead has coached a collegiate game in the Cajundome. As a member of McNeese State's coaching staff, Brodhead and the Cowgirls defeated the Cajuns 56-46 on Dec. 2, 2008.

STRENGTH OPPOSING STRENGH
>>> Rebounding will be a key factor in the Cajuns-Trojans matchup. Louisiana is tops in the Sun Belt in offensive rebounds (18.8 orpg), while UALR is second in the league in defensive boards (28.7 drpg).

DEFENDING THE HOME COURT
>>> The Ragin' Cajuns have yet to lose back-to-back games, hold opponents to 52.7 points per game and a .380 shooting percentage at home in 2012-13.
>>> Louisiana dropped its last home outing, falling 55-37 to UC-Riverside on Dec. 17.

A TURNAROUND TREND
>>> Louisiana has sizzled at the free throw line lately, shooting a combined 23-of-27 (85.2%) last week in games at Tulane and Arkansas State.
>>> Team had shot below 60 percent at charity stripe previous three outings (29-of-61)

LAST SEASON VS. UALR
>>> The Trojans swept the series, winning 56-45 in Little Rock and 55-41 in Lafayette.
>>> In Little Rock on Jan. 18, the Cajuns trailed 33-32 with 15:26 remaining. The Cajuns would make only one field goal over the next 14 minutes and UALR pulled away, starting with a 12-0 over the next six minutes. The Trojans closed out shooting 10-of-19 compared to 3-of-17 for the Cajuns.
>>> In Lafayette on Feb. 8, it was a similar script. A 7-0 Cajuns run in the second half lowered a double digit deficit to four points, 33-29 with 14:47 remaining. UALR's lead was 41-35 at the 9:55 mark, then the Trojans embarked on a 14-0 scoring run over the next five-plus minutes to take their largest lead of the night at 55-35 with 4:31 on the clock.

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 Dec. 19 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 ticks 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 converted 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 23.2 turnovers per game.
>>> Wilridge tops the squad with 38 steals, while Veal is a close second with 29 steals.

THE BALL HAWK
>>> The Cajuns are hopeful to regain the services of Byronesha Santiago soon. The JUCO transfer from Ruston, La., has missed the last three 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, UL averaged 40.1 rebounds per game. In the three recent games she's missed (UCR, Tulane, ASU), the team's rebounding total dipped to 33.7 and the opposition has grabbed an average of 43.3 boards.

TURNING UP THE “D”
>>> Thus far this season, the Cajuns defense has forced the opposing teams into 23.2 turnovers per game while UL averages 18.1, giving the squad a +5.1 turnover margin.
>>> 278 of the 749 points scored have been points off turnovers (37 percent).

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 (UALR leads 12-7, overall; Louisiana leads 6-5 in Lafayette)
>>> Series began when UALR resurrected its program back in the 1999-2000 season.
>>> The first meeting between the two schools was played back on January 29, 2000. The Ragin' Cajuns were victorious in the contest, 66-63, in Little Rock.
>>> Ragin' Cajuns won the first six meetings in Lafayette – all at Earl K. Long Gym. Trojans have been victorious their past five trips to Lafayette (streak started in 2007-08 season).
>>> UALR has won the last 10 meetings to erase a 7-2 Cajuns series lead. The Trojans enter Saturday's contest holding a 12-7 lead in the series.
>>> UL's last series victory came on Dec. 28, 2006 at Earl K. Long Gym (W, 65-61).
>>> During the Cajuns early success in the series with the Trojans, the program was 3-1 vs. UALR under Gay Nix and 4-1 in the J. Kelley Hall era.

NOTING UALR
>>> The Trojans' 10-game winning streak against the Ragin' Cajuns is their longest current winning streak against any Sun Belt Conference school.
>>> The next league win will be UALR's 100th Sun Belt Conference win under head coach Joe Foley.
>>> After an 11-31 SBC record in his first three seasons, Joe Foley is 88-19 in the last seven years. During those seven years (including 2012-13), Foley's teams are averaging 12.6 SBC wins per year.
>>> During its current nine-game winning streak, UALR is only surrendering 47.1 points per game.
>>> In its 10 wins this season, UALR has only trailed a total of 25:26 of a possible 320 minutes. UALR has not faced a deficit in 4-of-5 games the entire month of December.

UP NEXT FOR LOUISIANA
>>> The Ragin' Cajuns depart New Year's Day for a “Sunshine State” trip to face the Sun Belt's Florida schools.
>>> First up is a meeting with Florida Atlantic on Wednesday, Jan. 2 in Boca Raton, Fla., with a 6:00 p.m. (CST) tipoff. The Cajuns were victorious in their last trip to FAU Arena, claiming an 85-78 triumph on Feb. 12, 2011 behind a career-high 39 points from Krystal Motley. Louisiana and FAU have split four previous SBC contests in Boca Raton.
>>> The venture to Florida concludes on Saturday, Jan. 5 as the Cajuns meet FIU in a 4:30 p.m. (CST) contest at U.S. Century Bank Arena. The game is the first contest of a doubleheader with the UL-FIU men's squads. Louisiana is 2-8 all-time in Miami.

-- Ragin' Cajuns --

First Cajundome Contest of Brodhead Era Set for Saturday

Next Event

Footer

University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics