Louisiana Returns to Comforts of Home, Hosts USA Wednesday

Contact: Matt Hebert

Game Notes

GAME CENTER
Date: Wednesday, Jan. 9, 2013
Location: Lafayette, La.
Opponent: South Alabama (9-6, 2-4 Sun Belt)
Site: Earl K. Long Gym (1,121)
Game Time: 7:00 p.m. (CST)
Live Stats/Video: www.RaginCajuns.com
Radio: Sports Radio ESPN 1420-AM (Steve Peloquin)

LOUISIANA-SOUTH ALABAMA SERIES
The Series: USA leads 32-10
In Lafayette: USA leads 12-7
In Earl K. Long Gym: USA leads 8-5
Series Streak: USA – won 8
Last Meeting: South Alabama 72, Louisiana 68 (Earl K. Long Gym. // Jan. 11, 2012)
Noteworthy: Nearly half of the series meetings have been decided by single digits (19 of 42). Under former head coach J. Kelley Hall, the Cajuns and Jaguars had a stretch of eight straight games with a single-digit margin (2002-03 season through 2006-07 season).

LOUISIANA
12-13 Record____________________     7-8
12-13 Sun Belt Record_____________ 1-5
Last Game______________________      Jan. 5, 2013
at FIU L, 47-63
Head Coach____________________        Garry Brodhead
   UL Record____________________        7-8 (1^st Season)
   Career Record_________________       Same
   Brodhead vs. USA______________ First Meeting
Web Site_______________________     www.RaginCajuns.com

SOUTH ALABAMA
12-13 Record____________________     9-6
12-13 Sun Belt Record____________      2-4
Last Game______________________     Jan. 5, 2013
vs. Middle Tennessee L, 39-60
Head Coach____________________       Rick Pietri
   USA Record____________________    212-160 (13^thSeason)
   Career Record_________________      Same
   Pietri vs. UL___________________      18-3
Web Site_______________________     www.USAJaguars.com

Game Night Story Lines
>>> The Ragin' Cajuns women's basketball team closes out January by playing four of the next six games at home, starting with the South Alabama-Arkansas State homestand this week.
>>> Louisiana is 5-2 at home in Garry Brodhead's inaugural season (4-2 Earl K. Long Gym/1-0 Cajundome).
>>> The Cajuns have held six of seven opponents below 60 points in home contests. The Cajuns have held opponents to 36.9 percent shooting and forced 25.4 turnovers per game on their home floor.
>>> In the Florida trip finale at FIU on Saturday, Garry Brodhead started the combination of Brandi Schambough, Robbie Brown, Kia Wilridge, Ashley Benjamin and Jasmin Mills, a unit that has opened three straight games for the Cajuns.
>>> Keke Veal finished as the team's leading scorer for the fourth time in her rookie campaign, tallying 14 in the contest with FIU. Veal led Louisiana in scoring in both games of the Florida swing, finishing the trip with an average of 12.0 points per game.
>>> The Ragin' Cajuns are tied for second in the Sun Belt and rank 29th nationally in steals per game.
>>> The Ragin' Cajuns are undefeated (6-0) when holding opponents below 40 percent shooting. Held UALR to a season-low 31.7 percent (20-of-63).
>>> Freshman Sylvana Okde ranks Top 15 in the Sun Belt in scoring (11.2 ppg) and leads the league averaging 2.5 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.
>>> At the halfway point of the season, the Ragin' Cajuns have already equaled their win total from last season (7-23).

LAST TIME OUT: FIU 63, Louisiana 47 at U.S. Century Bank Arena (Miami, Fla.)
Size proved to be the difference for the Ragin' Cajuns during the final game of their swing through south Florida on Saturday as FlU used 14 offensive rebounds to score 16 second chance points and 40 points in the paint to hand Louisiana a 63-47 setback .
Keke Veal came off the bench to lead Louisiana in scoring for the second straight game, tallying 14 points, while Kia Wilridge added 10 points and a team-best six rebounds. The FIU trio of Jerica Coley (16 points), Fina Mansare (15) and Kamika Idom (14) led the Panthers with Coley narrowly missing a triple-double, adding 15 rebounds and eight assists.
The Cajuns duo of Sylvana Odke and Brandi Schambough, who had combined to make 50 three-pointers in the first 14 games, combined to go just 2-for-17 from behind the arc as part of a 7-for-25 effort by UL.
The Louisiana defense worked hard, making nine steals but the Panthers presented the Cajuns with few opportunities, turning the ball over just 11 times and shooting .482 from the field (27-56), including a 15-for-28 effort in the first half (.536).
The first six minutes featured two ties and three lead changes. The Golden Panthers took a 10-9 lead on Arielle Durant jumper at the 13:43 mark, starting an 11-2 burst that put FIU ahead, 19-11 with 8:58 left in the opening stanza. The Cajuns would pull to within 25-20 late in the first half, but two straight baskets inside by Coley helped FIU hold a 31-23 lead at the break.
A three-pointer by 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 as Louisiana would come no closer than nine points the rest of the night.

SERIES HISTORY (USA leads 32-10, overall; USA leads 12-7 in Lafayette; USA leads 8-5 at E.K. Long)
>>> Series became a mainstay on each team's schedule when the American South Conference merged with the Sun Belt Conference for the 1991-92 season.
>>> Tonight's contest marks the 20th overall in the city of Lafayette and 14th at Earl K. Long Gym. South Alabama holds a 12-7 lead in Lafayette, which includes an 8-5 record at E.K. Long.
>>> USA has won 18 of the previous 21 meetings since Rick Pietri took charge of the program in 2000-01. The Jaguars carry an eight-game win streak into Wednesday's contest.
>>> Nearly half of the series meetings have been decided by single digits (19 of 42). Under former head coach J. Kelley Hall, the Cajuns and Jaguars had a stretch of eight straight games with a single-digit margin (2002-03 season through 2006-07 season).
>>> The Ragin' Cajuns last series victory came on Jan. 17, 2007 at Earl K. Long Gym (W, 69-61).
>>> First meeting took place Nov. 27, 1987 (USA won 63-61) at LSU Invitational in Baton Rouge.

NOTING SOUTH ALABAMA
>>> The Jags are holding opponents to just 21.4 percent from three-point range, tops in the Sun Belt. South Alabama ranks second in the SBC in scoring defense (53.7) and field goal percentage defense (38.4).
>>> In 13-plus seasons under Rick Pietri, USA has posted a 158-51 record (.756) when holding opponents below 60.
>>> Mary Nixon continues to pace the Jaguars in scoring with 12.3 points per game. The senior guard is knocking down 39.4 percent of her attempts from the field and 35.1 of her three point field goals - seventh in the SBC.
>>> As a team, the Jags lead the league with 6.5 three-pointers per game.
>>> Ronneka Robertson leads USA and is ninth in the Sun Belt in rebounding (7.1 rpg). She has posted six or more boards in 11 of her last 14 games.

LAST SEASON VS. SOUTH ALABAMA
>>> South Alabama won the season's lone meeting, posting a 72-68 victory at Earl K. Long Gym on Jan. 11, 2012.
>>> Louisiana was led in scoring by senior Krystal Motley who scored a career-high 36 points. Motley shot 16-of-28 from the floor (4-of-5 from three-point range).
>>> A three-point play by Megan Whittaker gave UL a 46-41 lead with 11:03 remaining. The Jags, who led 35-29 at the break, recaptured the momentum with a 19-5 scoring spree that gave the visitors a 60-51 lead with 2:28 on the clock.
>>> Back-to-back triples from Whittaker and Motley lowered the USA lead to 70-68 in the final seconds. Sarda Peterson made two freebies with seven seconds to ice the game.

THE COMFORTS OF HOME
>>> Not only are four of the next six games at home, but Louisiana begins the season stretch run with eight of the next 12 in Lafayette through Feb. 23.

CARRYING THE BENCH
>>> Keke Veal has come off the bench each outing since Arkansas State (Dec. 22) and delivered an average 10.3 points per game.
>>> Veal's production will be vital for the Cajuns to combat the Jaguars' points off the bench season average of 21.3 points per game.

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.
>>> Schamough'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.

NO HEIGHT, NO PROBLEM
>>> Despite having only one player listed above 6-foot on the roster, the Cajuns have an uncanny ability to rebound the basketball. UL has held its ground with the opposition, with a slim 39.6-39.0 deficit through the first 15 games (-0.6 rebounding margin).
>>> UL rebounds on both ends (268 offensive rebounds and 317 defensive rebounds).

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 39.6 percent from three-point range (38-of-96).

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 21.8 turnovers per game.
>>> Wilridge tops the squad with 41 steals, while Veal is a close second with 36 steals.

TURNING UP THE “D”
>>> Thus far this season, the Cajuns defense has forced the opposing teams into 21.8 turnovers per game while UL averages 18.3, giving the squad a +3.5 turnover margin.
>>> 318 of the 896 points scored have been points off turnovers (35 percent).

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
>>> The Ragin' Cajuns take part in their second Cajundome doubleheader with the men's team, hosting Arkansas State at 5 p.m. in the facility on Saturday, Jan. 12.
>>> Louisiana is 1-0 at the Cajundome in Garry Brodhead's inaugural season, topping two-time Sun Belt champion UALR 56-54 in double-overtime back on Dec. 29.
>>> Saturday's game is a rematch with the Red Wolves and will mark the first completion of a home-and-home with a Sun Belt school this season. ASU won the first matchup, at the Convocation Center in Jonesboro, Ark., by a 77-53 count on the strength of shooting a season-high 59 percent from the field. Sylvana Okde was limited to two points on two field goal attempts.

-- Ragin' Cajuns --

Louisiana Returns to Comforts of Home, Hosts USA Wednesday

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