Game 26 - at Louisiana-Lafayette Game Notes (.pdf)
LAFAYETTE, La. – The University of South Alabama women's basketball team will travel to take on Louisiana-Lafayette for its final regular-season road game Sunday night at the Cajundome. Tip-off versus the Ragin' Cajuns is set for 5:30 p.m. and the game will be aired on the Sun Belt Network and can be seen on either CSS (Comcast/Charter Sports Southeast or ESPN3.
Live stats and video and of the contest versus Louisiana-Lafayette can be accessed at www.USAJaguars.com.
South Alabama (7-18, 5-10 SBC) enters Sunday's televised Sun Belt match up looking to break out of a recent slump. On Wednesday, USA dropped its sixth-straight contest and seventh in its last eight outings with a 76-70 loss at Louisiana-Monroe.
The Jags trailed by as much as 10 points in the second half and nearly rallied back to take the victory, cutting the deficit to one with less than three minutes to go, but ULM was solid at the foul line, hitting 10 of their last 12 opportunities in the final two minutes, to hold on for the six-point win.
With the loss, the Jaguars now sit one game back of the Warhawks for the final spot in next month's tournament. Following this weekend's game versus Troy, ULM will close out the season with a pair of games on the road at Arkansas State and at Arkansas-Little Rock, while USA will host Texas State and Texas-Arlington after its road game versus the Ragin' Cajuns. Should the two clubs end the regular season tied, South Alabama would hold the tiebreaker as of this moment.
"There still is time for us to get into the tournament," South Alabama head coach Terry Fowler said. "We have three games remaining on the schedule with two of those at home where we play fairly well. Louisiana-Lafayette is the first one of those three games and we have to go over there and give it our best shot and play to the best of our abilities. There's a lot of basketball left though and there's a lot of parity in this league where anything can happen."
In the first meeting this season between the two clubs, Louisiana-Lafayette forced the Jags into a season-high 30 turnovers as the Ragin' Cajuns took the meeting 65-60 in Mobile.
"The biggest thing for us heading into this game is our toughness," Fowler said. "We've got to have good ball security and value the basketball. We have to be mentally tough with the ball and have players that have to want the ball. (Louisiana-Lafayette) plays the passing lanes really well. They got steals against us that led to uncontested baskets and we have to do a better job of preventing those opportunities for them and manage those situations better."
Breanna Hall led the way in the loss as she posted a career-high 26 points on 8-of-15 shooting. Hall was also 5-of-9 from the three-point line and 5-of-6 at the charity stripe. Over the course of the last 11 games, Hall has recorded double-digits in nine games and averaged 14.7 points per game. The Mesquite, Texas, native has also been outstanding at the foul line as of late. Dating back to USA's game at Georgia State on Jan. 31, Hall has connected on 44 of her 48 free throw attempts (.917).
Senior guard Meghan Dunn also had another solid outing for the Jaguars versus ULM as she recorded her 10th-straight game in double figures with a 15-point outing. Dunn did most of her work in the second half as she scored 12 of her points in the period, including a string of seven-straight to lead USA back from the 10-point deficit.
Dunn leads the club and ranks 10th in the conference in scoring with 13.1 points per game. She is also second in the conference in treys per game (1.9) and fourth in three-point shooting (.410). In conference play, Dunn is shooting 48.6 percent from the field, 44.1 percent from the arc and 84.8 percent from the free-throw line in 36.4 minutes of action per game.
Sophomore guard Rachel Cumbo (9.0 ppg) continues to lead the conference from beyond the arc as she is knocking down 49.4 percent of her attempts.
As a team, South Alabama leads the Sun Belt in three-pointers per game (6.8), three-point shooting (.368) and three-point field-goal defense (.290).
Louisiana-Lafayette (13-13, 6-9 SBC) comes into the weekend sitting in seventh in the league standings as the Ragin' Cajuns hold the tiebreaker over Louisiana-Monroe.
After losing eight-straight games earlier in the season, ULL is currently one of the hotter teams in the conference as it has won three-straight, including a 77-76 win over SBC leader Arkansas State. The game will be the first for the Cajuns in over a week as they last played on Feb. 22 at Georgia State.
ULL has been without the services of its leading scorer and top defensive player Keke Veal for much of the conference season as the sophomore guard has missed the last 10 games.
In her absence, a number of players have stepped up with the main one being Brooklyn Arceneaux, a red-shirt sophomore. Arceneaux comes into the game averaging 10.3 ppg and shooting 44.7 percent from the field. The 5-9 guard though has been even better in Sun Belt play, leading the club with 13.4 points and 6.1 rebounds per game. Arceneaux recorded a game-high 19 points in ULL's five-point victory over the Jags earlier this season in Mobile.
"You watch (Arceneaux) on film and you can tell that she's just playing with more confidence every game," Fowler stated. "Everyone on their team is playing with great confidence. They have a lot of weapons and can really shoot it. We have to have a total team effort and everyone on our team has to give us the entire 40 minutes on Sunday. One of the things that we've been talking to our players about lately is that we've got to make every possession dependable."
Overall, fellow sophomore Sylvana Okde leads the team and is tied with Arkansas State's Jalen O'Bannon for 15th in the league in scoring. Okde is the top outside shooter for the Ragin' Cajuns as she has 61 treys - 2.3 per game - and is shooting 33.5 percent from the arc.
As a team, Louisiana-Lafayette leads the conference in turnover margin (+5.5) and is third in steals (8.9) and three-point defense (.298).
For more information about South Alabama athletics, check back with www.usajaguars.com, and follow the Jaguars at www.twitter.com/USAJaguarSports. Season tickets for all Jaguar athletic events can be purchased by calling (251) 461-1USA (1872).
NOTES: The meeting between South Alabama and Louisiana-Lafayette will be the 46th in the all-time series. South Alabama holds a huge advantage in the all-time series, leading the Ragin' Cajuns 34-11 and has won 10 of the last 11 meetings in the series. The Jags are 12-7 in the series in games played in Lafayette. ULL took the first meeting this season, defeating the Jags, 65-60 in Mobile. The win for the Ragin' Cajuns snapped a 10-game skid in the series and was Louisiana-Lafayette's first win in Mobile since the 2005-06 season. USA is 1-1 in televised games this season and 1-0 on the SBC-TV. The Jaguars have been on either national or regional television 25 times in their 39-year history. USA's all-time record on the tube is 9-16.
—USA—
