Louisiana Hosts FIU at E.K. Long Gym in Lone Game of the Week

Contact: Matt Hebert

Game Notes

GAME CENTER
Date: Wednesday, Jan. 23, 2013
Location: Lafayette, La.
Opponent: FIU (11-7, 5-4 Sun Belt)
Site: Earl K. Long Gym (1,121)
Game Time: 7:00 p.m. (CST)
Live Stats/Video: www.RaginCajuns.com
Radio: SportsRadio ESPN 1420-AM (Steve Peloquin)

LOUISIANA-FIU SERIES
The Series: FIU leads 17-6
In Lafayette: FIU leads 6-3
At Earl K. Long Gym: FIU leads 4-2
Series Streak: FIU – won 7
Last Meeting: FIU 63, Louisiana 47 (Miami, Fla. // Jan. 5, 2013)
Noteworthy: Two programs first met in FIU's inaugural season in the Sun Belt (1998-99). FIU won initial meeting, 81-60 at Earl K. Long Gym. Wednesday's game marks the final regular season meeting as Sun Belt foes.

LOUISIANA
12-13 Record____________________     7-12
12-13 Sun Belt Record_____________ 1-9
Last Game______________________      Jan. 19, 2013
at Middle Tennessee L, 36-72
Head Coach____________________ Garry Brodhead
   UL Record____________________ 7-12 (1^st Season)
   Career Record_________________ Same
   Brodhead vs. FIU_______________ 0-1
Web Site_______________________     www.RaginCajuns.com

FIU
12-13 Record____________________     11-7
12-13 Sun Belt Record_____________ 5-4
Last Game______________________     Jan. 19, 2013
vs. Troy W, 82-76
Head Coach____________________       Cindy Russo
   FIU Record____________________ 641-336 (34^thSeason)
   Career Record_________________ 681-358 (36^th Season)
   Russo vs. UL___________________ 22-6
Web Site________________________ www.FIUsports.com

Game Night Story Lines
>>> The Ragin' Cajuns close out January with back-to-back Wednesday evening home games at Earl K. Long Gym. First up is a rematch with FIU on Wednesday, Jan. 23 at Earl K. Long Gym at 7 p.m. (FIU posted a 63-47 victory on Jan. 5 in Miami)
>>> The FIU-NT homestand opens a stretch in which six of the next eight games will be played in Lafayette
>>> Louisiana is 5-4 at home in Garry Brodhead's inaugural season (4-3 Earl K. Long Gym/1-1 Cajundome)
>>> The freshman class of Sylvana Okde (11.3), Keke Veal (10.8), Kia Wilridge (9.1), Jasmin Mills (4.3) and Adrienne Prejean (1.4) – the foundation class on which Garry Brodhead plans to rebuild the program – averages 36.9 points per game (65 percent of the team's offensive production).
>>> Freshman Sylvana Okde ranks Top 20 in the Sun Belt in scoring (11.3 ppg) and leads the league averaging 2.7 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 eight times.
>>> Sylvana Okde is on pace for 81 three-point field goals made, which would land in the program's all-time, single-season Top 5 list. The last Cajuns player to convert 80-plus three-point field goals was Rhonda McCullough back in 1989-90
>>> Filling in for Kia Wilridge (shoulder injury) last week on the WKU-MT trip, Keke Veal averaged 12 points, six rebounds and five assists per game in garnering her first consecutive starts of the season
>>> For the third straight week, Keke Veal averaged double figures (12.0 ppg on FAU-FIU trip and 11.5 ppg on USA-ASU homestand previous week).
>>> Louisiana has committed more turnovers than the opposition only six times in 19 contests. UL ranks fifth (4th) in the SBC in turnover margin (+2.3).

LAST TIME OUT: Middle Tennessee 72, Louisiana 36 at Murphy Center (Murfreesboro, Tenn.)
Playing short-handed for a second straight game, the Ragin' Cajuns fell behind by 18 points just 10 minutes into the game and could not rebound, falling 72-36 to Middle Tennessee.
The Cajuns played the game without starting point guard Kia Wilridge, who missed her second straight contest after suffering a shoulder injury in practice earlier this week. Starting forward Ashley Benjamin also missed the game, sitting out for disciplinary reasons. The losses left Louisiana with just seven healthy players.
Robbie Brown led UL in scoring with nine points. Keke Veal added seven points, eight rebounds and five assists. Adrienne Prejean came off the bench to lead UL with nine rebounds.
Middle Tennessee raced out to a 10-2 lead by the 15:54 mark before the Cajuns rallied, scoring five of the next seven points to make it a 12-7 contest following a three-pointer by Brandi Schambough with 14:23 left.
The Blue Raiders then ran off 13 unanswered points and 22 of the next 25 to take control, leading 34-10 with 4:08 left in the opening half. The deficit continued to grow for the Ragin' Cajuns as Middle Tennessee led 46-13 at halftime.
The Cajuns struggled against the Blue Raider full-court press, turning the ball over 11 times in the first 10 minutes with Middle Tennessee scoring 18 points off those miscues during that time frame.
The offensive struggles continued at the start of the second half as MT scored the first 12 points of the second half to take a 58-13 lead (16:19) – the largest margin of the contest.
Louisiana would play stronger offensively the rest of the way, outscoring the Blue Raiders, 23-14.

SERIES HISTORY (FIU leads 17-6, overall; FIU leads 6-3 in Lafayette; FIU leads 4-2 at E.K. Long Gym)
>>> Two programs first met in FIU's inaugural season in the Sun Belt (1998-99). FIU won initial meeting, 81-60 at Earl K. Long Gym.
>>> Panthers came away victorious in the first nine meetings (streak ran through 2002-03 season). Cajuns first-ever win in series took place Jan. 24, 2004 at Earl K. Long Gym (W, 58-48) under the direction of J. Kelley Hall.
>>> All of Louisiana's wins came in J. Kelley Hall Era. The Cajuns went 6-3 with Hall at the helm.
>>> Teams meet for the seventh time at Earl K. Long Gym, with Panthers holding a 4-2 edge in prior meetings held at the facility.
>>> FIU carries a seven-game win streak into Wednesday's contest (last UL win - 3/3/07 W, 67-49).
>>> Cajuns and Panthers have met four times in the Sun Belt Tournament, the most recent occurrence coming last season in Hot Springs (FIU won 74-53 on 3/3/12 in Hot Springs, Ark.).

NOTING FIU
>>> Junior Jerica Coley has scored 1,724 career points, a mark which ranks fifth all-time at FIU. Coley, who has scored in double-figures in 17 of 18 contests this season and in 74 of 84 career games, leads the SBC and ranks third in the country in scoring (23.8 ppg).
>>> Head Coach Cindy Russo's 681 career victories rank ninth among active Division I coaches and 16th on the all-time winningest coaches list.
>>> FIU leads the SBC in rebounding margin (+7.7), a mark which ranks 28th in the country.
>>> Junior Marita Davydova leads the Panthers and ranks third in the Sun Belt in rebounding (8.4 rpg).
>>> Marita Davydova notched her second-straight and seventh-career double-double versus Troy on Saturday, posting a career-high tying 18 points and a game-high 11 boards.
>>> FIU leads the SBC and ranks 16th in the country in free throw percentage (237-of-311 – 76.2 percent).

LAST TIME VS. FIU (Jan. 5, 2013 – U.S. Century Bank Arena/Miami, Fla.)
>>> FlU used 14 offensive rebounds to score 16 second chance points and 40 points in the paint to hand Louisiana a 63-47 setback.
>>> The Cajuns duo of Sylvana Odke and Brandi Schambough, who had combined to make 50 three-pointers entering the game, combined to go just 2-for-17 from behind the arc.
>>> Louisiana was within single digits the entire night and a three-pointer by Keke Veal closed the gap to 36-30 with 16:43 left, but FIU then ran off eight straight points to open a 44-30 lead with 13:14 remaining in the contest. That run proved to be the difference.

VALUABLE EXPERIENCE
>>> The wins and losses may not be satisfactory, but several key freshmen on this year's Cajuns squad are building toward a strong future.
>>> Three of the five freshmen have garnered double figure starts and average over 20 minutes per game – Sylvana Okde (15 starts/32.2 mpg), Kia Wilridge (15 starts/31.8 mpg) and Jasmin Mills (14 starts/23.6 mpg).
>>> Keke Veal averages 23.8 minutes and has six starts, while Adrienne Prejean has seen action in 19 contests averaging 13.8 minutes.

EACH TEAM HAS ITS STRENGTH AND WEAKESS
>>> Louisiana is one of the Sun Belt's top three-point shooting teams with 90 makes (31.3%). UL has had difficulties at the free throw line, shooting 58.9 percent (178-of-302).
>>> FIU tops the Sun Belt in rebounding with a +7.7 advantage and shoots 76.2 percent from the charity stripe. The Panthers shoot 24.5 percent and have made just 46 three-pointers.

TURNING UP THE “D”
>>> Thus far this season, the Cajuns defense has forced the opposing teams into 20.3 turnovers per game while UL averages 17.9, giving the squad a +2.4 turnover margin.
>>> 357 of the 1,078 points scored have been points off turnovers (33 percent).

NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK
>>> Not only is the coaching staff in their first season at UL, but six of the nine players on the roster are in their first Division I season.

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 MAKES THE DIFFERENCE AGAIN
>>> It was only fitting that Brandi Schambough hit the winning shot in the second overtime with UALR, given the Nebraska-Omaha and Tulane heroics.
>>> Schambough's trey with 27 seconds left gave UL a 56-54 lead in a win that ended a 10-game losing streak to the rising SBC West power UALR.

SHE HAS THE TOUCH
>>> Freshman Sylvana Okde continues to impress with her abilities from three-point range.
>>> 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 39.5 percent from three-point range (51-of-129).

DOUBLE THE TROUBLE
>>> The freshman duo of Keke Veal and Kia Wilridge is the leading force behind the Ragin' Cajuns forcing the opposition into an average of 20.3 turnovers per game.
>>> Wilridge tops the squad with 44 steals, while Veal is a close second with 41 steals.

ALREADY PROVING THEM WRONG
>>> The preseason pollsters selected Louisiana last in the Sun Belt West. Only four games into the 2012-13 league schedule, the Cajuns registered a victory over SBC West favorite and two-time defending league champion UALR on Saturday, Dec. 29, 2012.

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.

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.

UP NEXT FOR LOUISIANA
>>> This Saturday marks the first of two “bye” dates for Louisiana in the Sun Belt schedule (other is Wednesday, Feb. 6) as the Ragin' Cajuns do not have a contest scheduled for Jan. 26.
>>> January concludes on Wednesday, Jan. 30 against North Texas. The Cajuns and Mean Green complete their Sun Belt home-and-home at 7 p.m. that evening in Earl K. Long Gym (NT won 71-59 in Denton on Dec. 1).

-- Ragin' Cajuns --

Louisiana Hosts FIU at E.K. Long Gym in Lone Game of the Week

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