WBB Game 20 Preview: at Texas State

Game 20
Louisiana at Texas State
Saturday, Jan. 31 • 2 p.m. • San Marcos, Texas • Strahan Coliseum (7,200)
TV: None • Radio: ESPN 1420 AM • Talent: Jay Walker, PxP
Live Stats/Video: TXStateBobcats.com/ • Twitter: @RaginCajunsWBB
Series History: TXST leads, 5-2 • Last Meeting: TXST 70, UL 64 (2/8/14)

Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns
2014-15 Record: 13-6, 5-5 SBC
Head Coach: Garry Brodhead • Alma Mater: Louisiana, 1980
Record at UL: 37-43, 3rd season • Career Record: Same

Texas State Bobcats
2014-15 Record: 12-7, 7-3 SBC
Head Coach: Zenarae Antoine • Alma Mater: Colorado St., '98
Record at TXST: 55-57, 4th season • Career Record: Same

Last Time Out
- Keke Veal and Kia Wilridge combined to score 26 points, but the Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns women's basketball team shot a season-low 24 percent from the floor and dropped a 57-47 decision at South Alabama in a Sun Belt Conference game on Thursday at the Mitchell Center.
- Veal scored a game-high 14 points for Louisiana (13-6, 5-5 Sun Belt) while Wilridge chipped in with 12. The Ragin' Cajuns forced South Alabama (4-15, 1-9 Sun Belt) into 26 turnovers, but scored 16 points off Jaguar miscues while finishing 16-for-67 (23.9 percent) from the floor and 3-for-21 (14.3 percent) from behind the 3-point line.
- South Alabama scored the first seven points of the game as Breanna Hall hit a 3-pointer with Marquita Daniels and Chyna Ellis converting on layups. Louisiana, which went 5-for-33 (15.2 percent) from the floor in the opening half, got as close as 9-8 on a bucket by Veal with 14:30 remaining before South Alabama scored the next six points for a 15-8 lead.

A Look at the Bobcats
- The Bobcats are currently riding three-game winning streak and own an overall record of 12-7 and conference mark of 7-3.
- In the victory against Appalachian State last Saturday, freshman guard Taeler Deer recorded a career-high 23 points for Texas State. In the last three games, Deer has been averaging over 14 points per game and has made seven three-pointers for the Bobcats.
- Also against Appalachian State, Kileah Mays scored a career-high 16 points while snagging a team-high 10 rebounds. Ericka May also snagged 10 rebounds for Texas State, marking a career-high for her.
- With 49 made three's so far this season, Meghan Braeuer has moved into eighth all-time for three-pointers in a season at Texas State. She needs 15 more to move into the top three in school history.
- Against Appalachian State, the Bobcats recorded 10 steals, which marks the highest mark for the 2014-15 season. Seven people in the victory on Saturday recorded a steal for Texas State.
- Texas State was picked to finish third in the SBC after finishing in a tie for third-place last season. The Bobcats look to improve upon last season's semifinal finish at the conference tournament and first-ever WBI appearance, the first postseason appearance for Texas State since the 2008 season.
- This preseason, juniors Peoples and Anderson were both chosen to All-SBC Preseason Teams. Peoples, a 6-0 guard from Little Rock, Ark., was named to the First-Team while Anderson, a 5-3 guard from Irving, Texas, was named to the Third-Team.
- The Bobcats are led by head coach Zenarae Antoine who is currently in her fourth season at the helm of Texas State.

Series History
- Texas State leads the all-time series, 5-2, that dates back to the 1973 season. The Bobcats swept the season-series last year, including a 70-64 victory in San Marcos on Feb. 8, 2014.

Up Next
- Louisiana will return home for a pair of games beginning Thursday (Feb. 5) against Appalachian State in a 5 p.m. contest. The Ragin' Cajuns will close out the homestand on Feb. 7 against UT Arlington in a 5 p.m. tipoff.

Stifling Defense
- As a team, the Cajuns defense has caused many problems for opponents this season, limiting teams to 57.6 points per game for 46th in the nation.
- The Cajuns have forced opponents to 20-plus turnovers on 14 different occasions as teams are forcing 21.5 turnovers per game this season. In 18 of 19 games, a team has committed at least 15 turnovers with Louisiana Tech being the one exception (14).
- Louisiana ranks 10th nationally in turnover margin with teams recording 7.3 more turnovers per game than the Cajuns.
- Louisiana is 51st in the country in steals per game, averaging 10.5 on the season.
- Junior guard Kia Wilridge's tenacious defense this season has her ranked among the best in the country.
- Wilridge has totaled 52 steals on the season for an average of 2.8 per game for first in the Sun Belt Conference and 28th 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 (+7.3), second in steals (10.4) and opponent turnovers per game (21.5), and third in scoring defense (57.6).
- In league play, the Cajuns lead the conference in steals per game (10.5), turnover margin (+8.6), and opponent turnovers per game (21.4), and have held teams to 59.4 points per game to rank third behind UALR (44.6 ppg) and UT Arlington (58.6 ppg).

Guards in the Sun Belt Rankings
- Guards Jaylyn Gordon, Keke Veal and Kia Wilridge are making several appearances in the SBC top-10 individual rankings.
- Gordon comes in fourth in three-pointers per game (2.3), sixth in free-throw percentage (79.7%), ninth in scoring (13.3 ppg) and 10th in steals (1.8 spg).
- Veal ranks fifth with 2.3 steals per game but leads the league in SBC play with 3.0 per game. She is seventh in the SBC with 3.4 assists per game and a 1.1 assist-to-turnover ratio.
- Wilridge appears four times in the SBC rankings, coming in first in steals (2.8 spg), tied for seventh in minutes (31.1 mpg), eighth in assists (2.9 apg) and 10th in scoring (13.2 ppg).

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Players Mentioned

Jaylyn Gordon

Keke Veal

Kia Wilridge

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