Ragin' Cajuns Open Regular Season at Ole Miss

Game 1 - Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns (0-0) at Ole Miss Rebels (0-0)
Sunday, November 15, 2015 • 7 p.m. (CT) • C.M. Tad Smith Coliseum (8,867) – Oxford, MS
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Louisiana Game Notes

LAFAYETTE - After a perfect 2-0 mark in exhibition play, the Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns women's basketball team begins the 2015-16 regular season on the road against the SEC's Ole Miss Rebels on Sunday, November 15 for a 7 p.m. CST tip-off.

Led by fourth-year head coach Garry Brodhead, the Cajuns will make their 2015-16 debut with nine returning players and five starters, headlined by Preseason All-Sun Belt selections Keke Veal and Kia Wilridge.

All-Time Series History: The Ole Miss Rebels lead the all-time series, 4-0, with three of the four games taking place in Oxford. The last time these two schools met was November 19, 2008 in Lafayette with the Rebels prevailing, 75-48. This is the first matchup between the two schools under their current head coaches, Garry Brodhead (Louisiana) and Matt Insell (Ole Miss).

Setting the Scene: The Ragin' Cajuns look to snap a four-game losing streak to Ole Miss in the 2015-16 season opener. The Cajuns begin the campaign with nine returning letterwinners, including all five starters from a squad that finished 23-12 and claimed the WBI Tournament Championship. The Ragin' Cajuns are led by seniors Keke Veal (14.9 ppg last season) and Kia Wilridge (12.3 ppg last season), and junior guard Jaylyn Gordon (13.4 ppg last season). On the opposing side, Ole Miss, picked to finish seventh in the SEC Preseason Coaches Poll, returns seven letterwinners, including two starters. Junior guard Erika Sisk is the top scoring returner. Starting in all 33 games last season, she averaged 9.2 points and pulled down 3.1 boards per game. Sophomore guard A'Queen Hayes also returns to Oxford, coming off a season of 7.3 points, 4.3 rebounds and 2.7 assists in 33 contests, including 24 starts.

Preseason honors: Seniors Keke Veal (First Team) and Kia Wilridge (Second Team) were selected to the Preseason All-Sun Belt Team. Last season, Veal earned All-SBC Preseason honors for the third straight season. The honor marked Veal's debut on the All-Sun Belt Conference Preseason First Team. Last season, she paced the Cajuns offense with an average of 14.9 points per game. The Opelousas, La. native has led the Cajuns in scoring in two of her three seasons. She was also named the 2015 Women's Basketball Invitational (WBI) MVP after averaging a team-high 21.0 points and 5.8 rebounds per contest, helping lead Louisiana to the WBI Championship.
For Wilridge, it is the second consecutive Preseason All-Sun Belt Second Team honor of the Crowley, La. native's career. She is coming off a season in which she tallied 12.3 points per contest. She was also tied for the second-most blocked shots on the defense with seven. Wilridge was the first Cajun to record 100-plus steals in a season since 1989-90 (Kim Perrot).

"Opening" with a Bang!: The Ragin' Cajuns have won six of their last seven season openers coming into Sunday night's matchup. Recently, they have defeated Southern in 2012, LSU-Shreveport in 2010 and Texas Southern in 2009. The Cajuns won their first six games last season, also defeating Lamar to start the campaign. Their last two season opening victories have been by double-digit margins. They won the 2014-15 opener 75-55 over Lamar and the 2013-14 opener 80-68 against Nebraska-Omaha.

Coach Brodhead at the Helm: Louisiana head coach Garry Brodhead is entering his fourth season at the helm of the Ragin' Cajuns women's basketball program, finishing with 23 wins last season, the most in a single season since 2006-07 (25). Brodhead guided the team to 15 victories at home in 2014-15, a program record. He enters this season as the third-winningest head coach in Cajuns history (47). He needs 11 wins to pass Ross Cook (57) for second on the program's all-time list.

Everyone Is Back: All five starters from 2014-15 are on the roster for the 2015-16 season. Fields (31), Gordon (31), Prejean (31), Veal (30), Wilridge (35) all started in at least 30 games a season ago. The Cajuns also return key reserves junior Gabby Alexander (3.7 points per game last season) and sophomore Jodi Quinn (34 games played last season).

Welcome Back: Returning from redshirt seasons are senior Brooklyn Arceneaux and junior Sylvana Okde. In 2013-14, Okde averaged 10.9 points and drained a team-high 74 three-pointers. That season, Arceneaux finished as the team's second-leading scorer (among players in at least 25 games played) averaging 10.5 points and adding 5.2 rebounds per contest.

From Downtown: Junior guard Sylvana Okde enters the 2015-16 campaign ranked fifth on the Cajuns' all-time three-point field goals made list with 148. She needs 12 more to pass Bernette Tolston (159) for fourth-most in program history. In 2013-14, she became the first player since Rhonda McCullough with 70-or-more three-pointers in a season in 1989-90. McCullough also holds the all-time record for three-pointers in a season, knocking down 102 triples in the 1987-88 season.

What's Next? Louisiana will make its 2015-16 home debut next Thursday, November 19 against Southern-New Orleans for a 7 p.m. tip-off at Earl K. Long Gym. The Cajuns lead the all-time series 5-0 and are 4-0 at home. The most recent meeting was Dec. 13, 2014, a 58-52 victory for the Ragin' Cajuns.

Ragin' Cajuns Open Regular Season at Ole Miss

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Players Mentioned

Gabby Alexander

Brooklyn Arceneaux

Jaylyn Gordon

Sylvana Okde

Jodi Quinn

Keke Veal

Kia Wilridge

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