Louisiana Women Returns to the Cajundome for Thursday Tilt with South Alabama

Louisiana Returns to the Cajundome for Thursday Tilt with South Alabama

By: UL Athletics

LAFAYETTE – The Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns Women’s Basketball team seeks to claim its first conference winning streak of the season on Thursday, January 12, hosting South Alabama in a Sun Belt Conference game at 6:00 p.m. on We Back Pat Night at the Cajundome.

The Ragin’ Cajuns (8-8, 2-2 SBC) enter the contest coming off a solid road win last Saturday at Texas State, downing the Bobcats 71-51 to halt a two-game losing streak.

The matchup with the Jaguars (4-11, 0-4 SBC) is the lone home game of the week for Louisiana. The team travels to Troy on Saturday.

Thursday’s game will be streamed live on ESPN+ with Dan McDonald (pxp) and Byron Starks (analyst) providing the commentary. Fans in the Acadiana region can listen to call of the game by Steve Peloquin on 103.3 FM The Goat and 1420 AM and worldwide on the Varsity Network. Live stats will be provided by CajunStats.com.

Admission to the game – and all home games throughout the entire season – is free of charge for all and open to the public. The team will wear orange warmup shirts as part of We Back Pat Night to help raise awareness for effective treatments, prevention and, ultimately, a cure for Alzheimer's disease.

The Ragin’ Cajuns and Jaguars are set up for the first of two bouts on the hardwood this season. Louisiana returns the visit on February 9 in Mobile, Alabama.

Louisiana is back home at the Cajundome for the first time since SBC Opening Weekend (Dec. 29-31). The win at Texas State allowed the squad to gain a split of last week’s road trip and shake off the heartbreaking one-point loss at Southern Miss.

The Ragin’ Cajuns are 5-2 on their home court and look to return to their winning ways after a hot-shooting Coastal Carolina team surprised them in a 68-57 setback on New Year’s Eve.

Momentum resides with Louisiana, with the team recording its highest shooting percentage (47%) and points total (71) in Sun Belt play in defeating Texas State the last time out. Conversely, South Alabama enters Thursday’s contest having dropped the first two games of its four-game road trip.

While the offense found its footing in San Marcos, the Ragin’ Cajuns defense has been constant all year and from the onset of Sun Belt play. Louisiana has held the opposition to less than 60 points in three of the four outings in SBC play so far – each time yielding no more than 51 points.

The USA game provides UL the chance to return its record back above the .500 mark and move into the top half of the pack in the SBC standings. Presently, the Ragin’ Cajuns are among seven teams sporting a 2-2 SBC record and in a tie for fifth place.

For the season, Tamera Johnson paces the Ragin' Cajuns in scoring (10.5) and rebounding (6.6). The Lafayette native has generated eight double-digit scoring performances and three double-doubles. Lanay Wheaton, who turned in back-to-back 20-plus point games right before the Christmas break, is the team’s second-leading scorer (9.7).

In Sun Belt play, Louisiana has relied on Johnson (11.0), Wheaton (9.5), Destiny Rice (8.5) and Sherry Porter (8.3) for its offensive production. Rice scored a career-high 21 points (12-of-12 free throws) at Texas State.

The Ragin' Cajuns defense, which ranks Top 20 nationally and leads the Sun Belt forcing 21.4 turnovers per game, is led by Wheaton's 31 steals with Johnson right behind at 29 steals. Rice moved into the team lead in assists (29) following her solid SBC-opening weekend performance.

South Alabama, coming off an 8-18 (2-10 SBC) mark in 2021-22, was picked to finish 13th in the Sun Belt Conference preseason poll. Freshman Kelsey Thompson has recorded double digits five times this season and leads the Jaguars in scoring averaging 8.9 points per game. Nadia Howard, who has scored double figures seven times, is a close second averaging 8.1 points per game.

GAME INFORMATION

LOUISIANA (8-8, 2-2 SBC) vs. SOUTH ALABAMA (4-11, 0-4 SBC)

Date / Time: Thursday, January 12, 2023 / 6:00 p.m. (CST)

Site: Lafayette, La.

Arena: Cajundome (12,362)

RADIO/TVRadio: The GOAT 103.3 FM / 1420 AMTalent: Steve Peloquin (PxP)TV: ESPN+ [espn.com]Talent: Dan McDonald (PxP); Byron Starks (Analyst)

LIVE STATS/SOCIAL MEDIALive Stats: CajunStats.com [statb.us]Twitter Updates: @RaginCajunsWBB [twitter.com] | #GeauxCajuns

SERIES HISTORYOverall: South Alabama leads, 40-19In Lafayette: USA leads, 14-12Streak: Louisiana +2

Last Meeting: UL 71-64, 1/15/22 (Mobile, Ala.)

Noteworthy: Meeting for the 60th time overall … all but three of the meetings have taken place in the Sun Belt era … conference foes since the 1991-92 season … first matchup at the Cajundome in over three years; last meeting in the facility was on Jan. 9, 2020 (UL won 73-68) … only the second regular season matchup post-COVID restrictions … Louisiana won the lone regular season matchup in the 2021-22 season in Mobile last January … Ragin’ Cajuns have won three of the last five meetings and are 9-8 vs. South Alabama in the Garry Brodhead era … series dates back to November 1987 in a matchup at the LSU Invitational in Baton Rouge … SBC partnership started in January 1992, and the two programs regularly met twice per season through the 2005-06 season.