Cajuns Travel to Houston to Play Cougars on Sunday

Game 3 - Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns (2-0) at Houston Cougars (0-2)
Sunday, November 22, 2015 • 2 p.m. (CT) • Hofheinz Pavilion • Houston, Texas
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Louisiana Game Notes

LAFAYETTE – Off to a 2-0 start for the fourth consecutive season, the Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns women's basketball team travels to the Lone Star State to battle the University of Houston this Sunday for a 2 p.m. tip-off at Hofheinz Pavilion. Sunday's game is the first of four games away from Lafayette for the Cajuns, who will head to Guaynabo, Puerto Rico next week for the San Juan Shootout and play a conference contest at ULM on December 3.

The Cajuns and Cougars have not played a head-to-head game since November 23, 1999, a 74-70 victory for Louisiana at home.

Setting the Scene: The Ragin' Cajuns (2-0) aim for their second consecutive 3-0 start for the first time in program history this Sunday at the University of Houston. The Cajuns enter the contest with the second-highest scoring average in the Sun Belt Conference (81.5 points per game), trailing only Troy, who is averaging 86.0 points per game through two contests. Junior guard Jaylyn Gordon (19.0 points per game) and senior guard Keke Veal (15.5 points per game) have been a solid 1-2 punch in the Cajuns offense through the season's first two games.
Houston senior guard Alecia Smith leads the Cougars offense with an average of 9.0 points through two games. Junior guard Kierra Graves has pulled down a team-high 6.5 boards this season.

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).

Gordon Earns Weekly Sun Belt Conference Honors: Ragin' Cajuns junior guard Jaylyn Gordon was named the Sun Belt Conference Student-Athlete of the Week, as announced by the conference office Tuesday. Gordon is the first Cajun to earn the weekly honor since Mercedes Johnson on February 15, 2010, and is the first honoree under fourth-year head coach Garry Brodhead. Nineteen of Gordon's team-high 29 points came in the first half allowing the Cajuns to open a 20-point lead over the Rebels at halftime. She shot 7-of-17 from the floor (4-of-9 from three-point). The Edgard, La., native also added six rebounds (tied for team high), three assists and two steals.

Coach Brodhead at the Helm: Louisiana head coach Garry Brodhead is in 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 is currently the third-winningest head coach in Cajuns history (49). He needs nine wins to pass Ross Cook (57) for second on the program's all-time list.

Veal at the Line: Veal is 8-of-11 from the free throw line this season. The eight made free throws bumped her career total to 234, moving her past Mary Douglas into sixth place on the Cajuns' all-time list. Veal needs to make 22 more free throws to move into sole possession of fourth place, which would pass Lisa Merritt and Anna Petrakova (255).

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. Arceneaux has averaged 5.0 points and 5.0 rebounds in two games as a starter this season.

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 travel to Guaynabo, Puerto Rico to play in the San Juan Shootout next week. They are scheduled to play the University of Arkansas next Friday, November 27 at 1:30 p.m. CST and will end the weekend with a matchup against Sacred Heart next Saturday, November 28 for a 1:15 p.m. CST tip-off.

Cajuns Travel to Houston to Play Cougars on Sunday

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Players Mentioned

Brooklyn Arceneaux

Jaylyn Gordon

Sylvana Okde

Keke Veal

Kia Wilridge

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