Cajuns Back Home Saturday to Take on Southern Miss

LAFAYETTE – The Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns Women's Basketball team tests its win streak on Saturday, January 11 in a 2:00 p.m. game with Southern Miss at the Cajundome. Admission is free and open to the public.

The Ragin' Cajuns (7-6, 3-1 SBC) are returning home after collecting their second SBC road win, scoring a season-high 76 points and recording their largest margin of victory this season on Thursday at South Alabama.

The USA win was UL's second straight and kept the team above .500 in conference play. Now, the Cajuns seek to match their season-best win streak of three games and look to post a second straight win over Southern Miss (5-10, 1-3 SBC) for the first time ever.

It's the first of two matchups between the teams in SBC play, with Louisiana returning the visit in Hattiesburg, Mississippi in the regular season finale on February 28.

Louisiana is armed with the SBC's leading scorer in conference play, Erica Lafayette (19.0), and this week regained the services of Jaylyn James who was the team's leading scorer in SBC play last season. The Cajuns have outscored SBC foes by 40 points in the first half and are averaging 68.8 in league play.

Looking to snap a three-game skid, the Lady Eagles' are paced by fifth-year center Melyia Grayson (14.9), a career 1,000-point scorer, and Nyla Jean (12.5) in her second year after transferring from Georgia State.

GAME INFORMATION
LOUISIANA (7-6, 3-1 SBC) vs. SOUTHERN MISS (5-10, 1-3 SBC)
Date/Time: Saturday, January 11, 2025 / 2:00 p.m.
Site: Lafayette, La.
Arena: Cajundome (12,362)

Radio: The GOAT 103.3 FM/1420 AM
Talent: Dawson Eiserloh

TV: ESPN+
Talent: Dan McDonald (pxp), Eric Mouton (analyst)

Live Stats: CajunStats.com
Social Updates: @RaginCajunsWBB | #GeauxCajuns

Series Record: Southern Miss leads leads, 16-4
In Lafayette: Southern Miss leads, 5-3
Streak: UL, +1

BOUNCE PASSES

Louisiana seeks to match its season-best win streak of three games and its first 4-1 SBC start since 2021-22.
Through four SBC games, the Cajuns have upped their scoring average to 68.8 points per game (season average is 60.5) while improving their shooting to 45 percent.
In all three SBC wins, UL's defense has held foes to under 20 field goal makes and below 35 percent shooting.
Louisiana ranks first with a +12.5 scoring margin (68.8-56.3) in Sun Belt Conference play.
Louisiana seeks its first win streak over Southern Miss since the Lady Eagles joined the SBC, and in the overall series history. The 58-57 overtime win at the Cajundome last March earned Garry Brodhead his 200th career win.
Saturday's game continues a string of six straight games against the SBC's western half.
In the SBC era of the series, neither UL or USM has reached the 60-point mark in regulation.
UL regained the services of Nubia Benedith and Kamryn Jones plus Skylah Travis made her season debut last Thursday vs. JMU, giving the team 11 available players – the most active since the Nov. 29-30 Big Easy Classic.
Erica Lafayette has scored double digits in seven straight games, averaging 17.1 points during the stretch. She's taken over the team lead in scoring at 13.5 points per game.
Erica Lafayette has scored 17-plus all three SBC games and has averaged 11 ppg in the first half in helping UL build a halftime lead each time. She is the leading scorer in SBC play averaging 19.0 ppg.
UL scored 60-plus the first three SBC games with Tamiah Robinson averaging 3.0 ppg and Jaylyn James, last season's leading scorer in SBC play (12.1), having not played.
Tamiah Robinson enjoyed her SBC-play breakout at South Alabama, netting a career-high tying 22 points.
UL's defense held USA's Amyria Walker, tied for lead in scoring in SBC play (19.7), to two points on free throws.
The 27 points off turnovers vs. JMU marked the most gained since Nov. 8 vs. Loyola (30). The Cajuns matched the mark again two days later against Georgia State.
The Ragin' Cajuns rank Top 25 nationally in turnovers forced (22.1), turning the opposition over 20-plus times in 11 of 13 games, including forcing No. 4 LSU into a season-high tying 21 turnovers and Auburn into 25 miscues.
UL held its first five foes to 60 or below, has yielded 70-plus only once and is holding foes to 59.1 ppg.
UL led the SBC in scoring defense – and ranked Top 60 nationally – holding foes below 60 ppg the last two seasons.

UP NEXT FOR LOUISIANA
Louisiana enters a stretch of four games solely against Arkansas State and Troy that wraps up the first half of Sun Belt Conference play.

The first set of matchups occurs on the road from January 15-18 followed by the Red Wolves and Trojans return trips to the Cajundome from January 23-25.

The ASU-Troy stretch begins on Wednesday, January 15 in Jonesboro, Arkansas when the Ragin' Cajuns and Red Wolves meet at 7:00 p.m. in First National Bank Arena. That will be followed by a trip to Troy, Alabama on Saturday, January 18 for a 3:30 p.m. tilt with the Troy Trojans.

Live coverage is available on ESPN+, the Ragin' Cajuns Radio Network (The Goat 103.3 FM/1420 AM and Varsity Sports app) and CajunStats.com.

FOLLOW THE RAGIN' CAJUNS
Follow the Ragin' Cajuns on Twitter (@RaginCajunsWBB), Facebook (/RaginCajunsWBB) or Instagram (@RaginCajunsWBB) to stay up-to-date on all that is happening with Louisiana Women's Basketball.

Fans are also encouraged to stay engaged with the Ragin' Cajuns by downloading the #GeauxCajuns app. Click here for iOS/Apple platforms and here for Android platforms.

- www.RaginCajuns.com -

Cajuns Back Home Saturday to Take on Southern Miss

Players Mentioned

Nubia Benedith

Jaylyn James

Kamryn Jones

Erica Lafayette

Tamiah Robinson

Skylah Travis

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University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics

Cajuns Back Home Saturday to Take on Southern Miss

Players Mentioned

Nubia Benedith

Jaylyn James

Kamryn Jones

Erica Lafayette

Tamiah Robinson

Skylah Travis

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