Cajuns To Face North Texas At SBC WBB Tournament

Game Notes

GAME CENTER
Date: Friday, March 8, 2013
Location: Hot Springs, Ark.
Opponent: North Texas (11-18, 10-10 Sun Belt)
Site: Summit Arena (6,200)
Game Time: 2:30 p.m. (CST)
Live Stats/Video: www.SunBeltSports.org
Radio: SportsRadio ESPN 1420-AM (Jay Walker)

LOUISIANA-NORTH TEXAS SERIES
The Series: North Texas leads 19-16
Neutral: North Texas leads 1-0
Series Streak: North Texas – won 4
Last Meeting: North Texas 64, Louisiana 46 (Lafayette, La. // Jan. 30, 2013)
Noteworthy: The only neutral site meeting between North Texas and Louisiana took place in the first ever meeting at the AIAW Regional Tournament. The Mean Green won the contest 62-56.

LOUISIANA
12-13 Record____________________     9-20
12-13 Sun Belt Record____________      3-17
Last Game______________________      March 2, 2013
                                                                    at UL-Monroe L, 50-64
Head Coach____________________       Garry Brodhead
   UL Record____________________       9-20 (1^st Season)
   Career Record_________________      Same
   Brodhead vs. NT_______________     0-2
Web Site_______________________     www.RaginCajuns.com

NORTH TEXAS
12-13 Record____________________     11-18
12-13 Sun Belt Record____________      10-10
Last Game______________________     Feb. 27, 2013
                                                                    vs. Arkansas State W, 53-51
Head Coach____________________       Mike Petersen
   NT Record___________________      11-18 (1^stSeason)
   Career Record_________________      324-268 (20^th Season)
   Petersen vs. UL_______________    2-0
Web Site________________________    www.MeanGreenSports.com

Game Night Story Lines
>>> The Ragin' Cajuns open the 2013 Women's Basketball Sun Belt Championship with a first round game against sixth seeded North Texas. Tip is set for 2:30 p.m. at Summit Arena in Hot Springs, Ark.
>>> North Texas has won the last four meetings between the two teams sweeping the season series in back-to-back years.
>>> With one more win, Garry Brodhead would become the first Cajuns coach to reach double digits wins in their inaugural campaign since Mike Doucet won 10 games in the 1988-89 season.
>>> Louisiana is looking to end a five-game skid at the Sun Belt Conference Tournament. The last time the Cajuns posted a SBC tournament win was in 2007 when UL reached the championship game vs. Middle Tennessee defeating FIU (67-49) and Arkansas State (62-59).
>>> The freshman class of Keke Veal (12.2), Sylvana Okde (10.3), Kia Wilridge (8.4), Jasmin Mills (4.3) and Adrienne Prejean (1.7) – the foundation class on which Garry Brodhead plans to rebuild the program – averages 36.9 points per game (66 percent of the team's offensive production).
>>> Sylvana Okde is on pace to finish the season with 71 three-point field goals made, which would rank fifth all-time in a single season and be the first Cajuns player with 70-plus triples since Rhonda McCullough in 1989-90 (McCullough made 88).
>>> Keke Veal registered a career-high 25 points on Feb. 28 at UALR and 21 at UL-Monroe. Veal has posted 20-plus points in three of the last five contests. Since Jan. 1, Veal is averaging a team-best 14.3 points per game.
>>> Louisiana has committed more turnovers than the opposition only seven times in 29 contests (UL ranks third in the SBC in turnover margin at +2.7).

LAST TIME OUT: UL-Monroe 64, Louisiana 50 in Monroe, La.
Despite playing with an injured knee that almost kept her out of the game, Keke Veal was the only Ragin' Cajuns player that scored in double figures, scoring 21 points, her second 20-point game of the week. Jasmin had a career-high 14 rebounds.
After the Cajuns battled back from nine points down in the second half to make it a 46-44 game on a short jumper by Robbie Brown with 6:10 left, ULM quickly ran off nine points, starting with two straight baskets by Tugler to open up a 55-44 lead with 4:19 left.
After a free throw by Benjamin, Tugler made another trey and Simmons scored four straight points to extend the lead to out the game away, leading 62-45 with 2:15 left.
Louisiana struggled offensively all game, shooting just. 210 from the field (13-62), including a four-for-22 effort from three-point (.182). The only good news was at the foul line where UL was 20-for-26 (.769).
ULM had a good day shooting, going 25-for-53 from the field (.472) and 11-for-14 from the line (.786) while owning a 44-37 rebounding advantage.
The Cajuns forced 23 ULM turnovers while committing just 13, owning a 13-8 edge in points off turnovers and 16-5 lead in second chance points. Neither were enough to overcome the 40-16 edge that ULM had scoring in the paint.
The Cajuns had early leads of 3-0 and 8-7 (14:10) on treys by Veal and Schambough, respectively before the Warhawks ran off five straight to open up a 12-8 lead with 12:32 left.
The lead would grow to 20-14 on a Jasmine Taylor basket inside with 7:19 remaining, but Veal would score a pair of field goals and after a ULM basket by Ashleigh Simmons, Schambough knocked down a long trey to pull Louisiana to within 22-21 with 3:43 left in the half.

SERIES HISTORY (UL-Monroe leads 40-6, overall; UL-Monroe leads 18-1 in Monroe)
>>> Series has featured two distinct eras – Southland Conference (1983-84 through 1986-87) and Sun Belt Conference (2000-01 to present).
>>> North Texas holds a 15-11 edge in games contested as Sun Belt Conference foes. The Mean Green has won the last four contests in the series.
>>> The Mean Green have swept the Sun Belt season series five times after tabbing a 64-46 win at Earl K. Long Gym on Jan. 30.
>>> The only neutral site contest between the two teams was the first ever meeting which took place on March 8, 1974 in the AIAW Regional Tournament. North Texas won the meeting 62-56.
>>> North Texas owns the longest win streak in the series having won five straight from Feb. 19, 1987 to Jan. 24, 2002. The Mean Green could match that mark with a win in Sun Belt Conference Tournament.

NOTING NORTH TEXAS
>>> Mike Petersen is in his first year as the head coach of North Texas. Petersen, a coaching veteran who is entering his 20th season overall, has 324 career wins.
>>> The Mean Green is led by two true freshmen in scoring (Alexis Hyder - 13.8 ppg & Loryn Goodwin - 13.0 ppg).
>>> Both Hyder and Goodwin received Sun Belt All-Conference honors as Hyder was named to the All-Conference team while Goodwin was named the SBC Freshman of the Year.
>>> Loryn Goodwin has 64 3-pointers and 83 steals. She is hitting 36.4 percent of her 3-pointers on the year, which is the best 3-point FG percentage by a freshman since 1995-96.
>>> North Texas ended a three-game skid in their last outing defeating Arkansas State 53-51.

UP NEXT FOR LOUISIANA
>>> With a win against sixth seeded North Texas, the Cajuns would face third seeded Western Kentucky in the second round of the Sun Belt Conference tournament. Tip is at 2 p.m. in the Convention Center.

-- Ragin' Cajuns --

Cajuns To Face North Texas At SBC WBB Tournament

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