WBB Game 26 Preview: at UT Arlington

Game 26 • Louisiana at UT Arlington
Saturday, Feb. 21 • 5 p.m.
Arlington, Texas • College Park Center (7,000)
TV: None • Radio: Talk 960 AM • Talent: Jay Walker, PxP
Live Stats/Video: UTAMavs.com/ • Twitter: @RaginCajunsWBB
Series History: Louisiana leads, 10-4 • Last Meeting: UTA 57, UL 51 (2/7/15)

LOUISIANA RAGIN' CAJUNS
2014-15 Record: 17-8, 9-7 SBC
Head Coach: Garry Brodhead • Alma Mater: Louisiana, 1980
Record at UL: 41-45, 3rd season • Career Record: Same

UT ARLINGTON MAVERICKS
2014-15 Record: 14-10, 8-7 SBC
Head Coach: Krista Gerlich • Alma Mater: Texas Tech, '93
Record at UTA: 18-35, 3rd season • Career Record: 186-88, 8th season

ARLINGTON, Texas - Two of the Sun Belt Conference's top defensive units will square off for the second time in two weeks when the Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns face UT Arlington in a crucial league contest on Saturday (Feb. 21) at College Park Center. Tipoff is scheduled for 5 p.m.

Last Time Out
- Keke Veal scored a season-high 24 points to lead four players in double figures and the Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns women's basketball team allowed its fewest points in a Sun Belt Conference game since the 2008-09 season after claiming a 64-41 victory over Texas State on Thursday at the Cajundome.
- Kia Wilridge and Jaylyn Gordon scored 12 points each while Robbie Brown came off the bench with 10 points for Louisiana (17-8, 9-7 SBC), which recorded season-lows in points allowed, field goals allowed (9) and opponent's field goal percentage (20.5 percent). The Ragin' Cajuns dominated a bigger Texas State (15-10, 10-6 SBC) team in the paint, outscoring the Bobcats, 32-6, while limiting them to 3-for-22 aim (13.6 percent) in the first half and 9-for-44 for the game.
- Louisiana, which held UALR to 39 points in the 2008-09 regular-season finale, scored the game's first six points and pushed its lead to double digits when Gordon scored on a layup with 10:14 remaining in the first half for a 12-2 lead.
- A jumper by Brown and an eventual shot-clock beating 3-pointer by Veal gave the Ragin' Cajuns a 17-3 lead with 7:40 remaining before Texas State made its first field goal of the game on a Ericka May jumper with 7:18 left in the first half.
- But Texas State never got closer than 13 points for the remainder of the game and trailed 34-15 at halftime after Gordon sank a pair of free throws in the final seconds of the half and Veal converted a three-point play with 2.2 seconds left after a steal by Wilridge on the Bobcats' ensuing inbounds play.

A Look at UT Arlington
- A big second half lifted UT Arlington over Appalachian State 55-45 Thursday night at College Park Center in Sun Belt Conference play.
- The Lady Mavericks (14-10, 8-7) outscored the Mountaineers 35-24 in the second to overcome a one-point deficit at the break. The win was UTA's fifth in the last six games and lifted UTA over .500 in conference play for the first time since Jan. 8.
- The 21-point first half and 24-point second were the lowest scoring halves of the season for the Mountaineers as they turned the ball over 25 times. UTA was able to convert the turnovers into 19 points, outscoring its opponent by 13 in points off of turnovers.
- UTA featured three that reached double-digit scoring. LaShanda Green and Morgan Holly each led with 12 points, while Cierra Johnson added 10. Holly's point total was a new career high, besting a nine-point effort against Northern Arizona on Nov. 26.

Series History
- Today's game will be the 15th meeting between the schools with Louisiana holding a 10-4 lead.
- UTA claimed a 57-51 victory in the previous meeting between the schools on Feb. 7 at the Cajundome, rallying from a 14-point halftime deficit.
- The Mavs have won two straight in the series dating back to last season's 73-54 victory (2/6/14) at College Park Center.

Up Next
- Louisiana will return home for its final two home games beginning Saturday, Feb. 28 against Georgia Southern in a 5 p.m. contest at the Cajundome.
- The Ragin' Cajuns will then close out their home schedule on Thursday, March 5 against league-leader UALR in a 5 p.m. contest.

Stifling Defense
- As a team, the Cajuns defense has caused many problems for opponents this season, limiting teams to 58.9 points per game for 77th in the nation.
- The Cajuns have forced opponents to 20-plus turnovers on 16 different occasions as teams are forcing 21.2 turnovers per game this season. In 23 of 25 games, a team has committed at least 15 turnovers with Louisiana Tech (14) and UT Arlington (10) being the only exceptions.
- Louisiana ranks tied for fifth nationally in turnover margin with teams recording 6.9 more turnovers per game than the Cajuns
- Louisiana is 42nd in the country in steals per game, averaging 10.4 on the season.
- Junior guard Kia Wilridge's tenacious defense this season has her ranked among the best in the country.
- Wilridge has totaled 73 steals on the season for an average of 2.9 per game for first in the Sun Belt Conference and 25th 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 (+6.9), second in steals (10.4) and opponent turnovers per game (21.2), and third in scoring defense (58.9)
- In league play, the Cajuns lead the conference in turnover margin (+7.5), and are second in both opponent turnovers per game (21.1) and steals per game (10.3).The have held teams to 61.5 points per game to rank third behind UALR (45.8) and UT Arlington (58.2).

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 second in three-pointers per game (2.4), fifth in free-throw percentage (81.3%), seventh in minutes played (33.0), eighth in scoring (14.3 ppg) and eighth in steals (1.9 spg).
- Veal ranks sixth with 2.1 steals per game but is third overall in SBC play with 2.5 per game. She is sixth in the SBC with 3.5 assists per game and eighth with a 1.1 assist-to-turnover ratio
- Wilridge appears four times in the SBC rankings, coming in first in steals (2.8 spg), ninth in minutes (32.0 mpg), 11th in assists (2.5 apg) and 13th in scoring (12.7 ppg)

Cajuns Climbing the Record Books
- As the season progresses, several Cajuns are ranked in or nearing the top 10 in the career record books:
- With an appearance tonight, Robbie Brown will move past Shaunda Johnson-Bedel (1986-91) for seventh-place with 114 games played.
- Kia Wilridge is ninth in school history in steals (166) and is ninth in assists (210).
- Keke Veal is ranked 10th in school history in steals (160).
- Jaylyn Gordon is the final Cajun that ranked in the career top 10 list as her 94 made 3-pointers are the ninth-best total in school history.

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Players Mentioned

Robbie Brown

Jaylyn Gordon

Keke Veal

Kia Wilridge

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