Cajuns Begin Homestand Saturday Against South Alabama

Game 15 - Louisiana (10-4, 2-3 SBC) vs. South Alabama (3-12, 0-6 SBC)
Saturday, Jan. 17, 2014 • 5 p.m. (CT) • Lafayette, La. – Cajundome (11,550)
Live Stats l Live Video l Radio: ESPN 1420 AM (PxP - Steve Peloquin)
Twitter Updates: @RaginCajunWBB
Louisiana WBB Home Page l South Alabama WBB Home Page
Louisiana Game Notes l South Alabama Game Notes

LAFAYETTE, La. – The Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns women's basketball team will begin a three-game homestand Saturday at 5 p.m. when the Cajuns take on South Alabama at the Cajundome. Fans can follow live scoring and video on RaginCajuns.com and also listen to the action on ESPN 1420 AM and on espn1420.com with Steve Peloquin calling the action. Pregame will begin at 4:45 p.m.

Kim Perrot Weekend Celebration
- At halftime of Saturday's game, the Louisiana Athletic Department and the Ragin' Cajuns women's basketball program will honor the greatest to ever wear the Vermilion and White, Kim Perrot, with the unveiling of a banner at the Cajundome as well as a special presentation to the Perrot family
- 25 years after hanging up her Cajuns jersey, Perrot still holds 19 school records with seven career records including 2,157 points, 654 assists and 421 steals to top the Louisiana record books
- Perrot led the nation with 30.0 points per game during her senior season in 1989-90, putting together one of the best scoring performances in NCAA Division I Women's Basketball history with 58 points vs. Southeastern Louisiana on Feb. 5, 1990, a total that still ties for second all-time in the NCAA record books
- After playing overseas for seven years throughout Europe and Asia, Perrot returned to the United States to compete in the inaugural season of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) in 1997, helping the Houston Comets claim titles in 1997 and 1998
- Louisiana retired Perrot's No. 12 jersey at halftime of the Cajuns' game vs. Louisiana Tech on Feb. 26, 1998
- After winning her second title with the Comets, Perrot was diagnosed with a rare form of lung cancer and passed away just six months later on Aug. 19, 1999 at the young age of 32
- The Comets retired Perrot's No. 10 jersey on July 29, 2000 while the WNBA named two awards in her honor, the Kim Perrot Leadership Award and the Kim Perrot Sportsmanship Award
- In June 2003, the Houston Rockets organization founded "Kim's Place" at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston as a recreational facility for patients and visitors ages 15-30 battling life-threatening illnesses. Perrot's No. 10 Comets jersey is displayed at the entrance to the facility

Last Time Out
- Keke Veal led the Cajuns with a season-high 22 points while the scrappy Louisiana defense forced Georgia Southern into 22 turnovers for a 69-57 victory over the Eagles on Thursday in Statesboro
- Kia Wilridge (14) and Jaylyn Gordon (10) joined Veal in double figures while Gabby Alexander recorded a career-high 10 boards as the Cajuns outrebounded the Eagles 44-34 with a 19-6 edge on the offensive side
- It was the ninth game this season that a Louisiana opponent committed more than 20 turnovers as teams are averaging more than 21 turnovers per game against the Cajuns this season. Louisiana scored 20 points off GSU's 22 turnovers
- Louisiana shot 37.0 percent (27-of-73) from field while GSU was 43.8 percent (21-of-48) shooting

A Look at the Jaguars
- South Alabama enters Saturday afternoon's game with a 3-12 overall mark and a 0-6 record in Sun Belt Conference play. USA is on a 10-game losing streak with its last win coming Dec. 2 in a 69-42 victory over Spring Hill
- The Jaguars have yet to win a game away from Mobile, suffering four 20-plus point defeats in their last six road contests
- USA is averaging 54.9 points per game, last in the league, while giving up 66.3 per contest, which ranks seventh in the SBC
- Senior guard Breanna Hall leads the Jaguars with 16.2 points and a 42.3 percentage from behind the arc (33-of-78)
- Freshman guard Marquita Daniels is second for USA in scoring, averaging 7.6 points, while freshman post Chyna Ellis is the team's top rebounder with 6.9 boards while averaging 6.7 points per game

Series History
- South Alabama leads Louisiana, 34-12, in a series that dates back to 1987
- The Cajuns swept the Jaguars last season, snapping a 10-game losing streak to South Alabama by earning a 65-60 road victory and pulling out a 68-61 overtime win in Lafayette
- Louisiana is 8-13 at home versus the Jaguars

Up Next
- Louisiana will host ULM on Monday at 5 p.m. before wrapping up its homestand Thursday with a 5 p.m. tip-off against Arkansas State at the Cajundome

Cajuns in the National Rankings
- As a team, the Cajuns defense has caused many problems for opponents this season, limiting teams to 57.1 points per game for 44th in the nation
- The Cajuns have forced opponents to 20-plus turnovers on nine different occasions as teams are averaging 21.4 turnovers per game this season
- Louisiana ranks in the top 15 nationally in turnover margin with teams recording 6.6 more turnovers per game than the Cajuns
- In 13 of 14 games, a team has committed at least 15 turnovers with Louisiana Tech being the one exception (14)
- Junior guard Kia Wilridge's tenacious defense through the first 14 games of the season has her ranked among the best in the country
- Wilridge has totaled 38 steals on the season for an average of 2.7 per game for first in the Sun Belt Conference and 31^st in the country

Louisiana Among Sun Belt Schools
- Defense is what has stood out this season for the Cajuns, and their numbers have placed them near the top in the Sun Belt in several categories
- Among Sun Belt schools, Louisiana ranks first in turnover margin (+6.6), and third in scoring defense (57.1 ppg), three-point field goal defense (29.1%) and steals (10.3 spg)
- In league play, the Cajuns lead the conference with 9.8 steals per game and have held teams to 59.8 points per game to rank third behind UALR (45.2 ppg) and UT Arlington (58.8 ppg)

Gordon, Wilridge in the Sun Belt Rankings
- Jaylyn Gordon and Kia Wilridge are making several appearances in the SBC top-10 individual rankings
- Wilridge is first in steals (2.7 spg), ninth in assists (2.6 apg) and free-throw percentage (75.9%) and 10th in scoring (12.9 ppg)
- Gordon also appears four times in the SBC rankings, coming in second in free throw percentage (84.9%), fourth in three-pointers per game (2.2) and eighth in scoring (13.9 ppg) and minutes (31.8 mpg)

Veal Dishing It Out
- With Gordon and Wilridge providing help on the offensive side of the ball this season, Keke Veal has made an impact on the Cajuns offense with her passing while averaging 11.9 points per game
- Veal is seventh in the SBC with 3.2 assists per game and a 1.1 assist-to-turnover ratio to lead the Cajuns this season

Cajuns Picked Sixth in the Sun Belt
- After tying for seventh in the Sun Belt Conference a season ago, the league's 11 head coaches tabbed the Cajuns sixth with 64 points in the SBC Preseason Poll
- Arkansas State was picked first with 118 points, receiving nine of the 11 first-place votes, while UALR was a close second with 112 points and two first-place votes
- Texas State (93), Georgia State (82) and Troy (70) rounded out the top five in the poll

Veal, Wilridge Named All-SBC Preseason
- Junior guards Keke Veal and Kia Wilridge were selected to the All-Sun Belt Conference Preseason Team, voted on by the league's head coaches
- Veal was named to the second team while Wilridge earned a spot on the third team
- Louisiana was joined by Arkansas State, Georgia State, South Alabama, Texas State and UALR in placing a league-high two players on the preseason team

-- RaginCajuns.com --

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Players Mentioned

Gabby Alexander

Jaylyn Gordon

Keke Veal

Kia Wilridge