Game 19 - vs. Louisiana-Lafayette Game Notes (.pdf)

MOBILE, Ala. – The University of South Alabama women's basketball team will host Sun Belt Conference rival Louisiana-Lafayette Thursday morning in its annual "Pack the House" game.  Tip-off versus the Ragin' Cajuns is set for 11 a.m. at the Mitchell Center.  Over 2,000 students from the local area have been invited and are expected to attend the game.  

"Anytime you play in front of the type of expected crowd that we are looking at having on Thursday, the game is always exciting, especially for our young players who haven't experienced that environment before," South Alabama head coach Terry Fowler said.  "Everybody coming to the game better bring some ear plugs, because it's going to be very loud in the Mitchell Center."

This season marks the fourth year of the "Pack the House" event.  USA is 2-1 when hosting the event and had an announced attendance of 2,396 versus Arkansas State at last year's game.

Live stats, the Jaguars' audio broadcast and web streaming of the contest versus Louisiana-Lafayette can be accessed at www.USAJaguars.com.

South Alabama (3-15, 0-9 SBC) enters the game versus the Ragin' Cajuns after dropping its 13th-straight contest, falling 70-59 at Appalachian State last Thursday night.  

USA shot 40 percent from the field, but turned the ball over 25 times – the 10th time this season, the Jags have had 20 or more turnovers in a game.

The Jaguars' leading scorer, Breanna Hall, returned to action versus the Mountaineers after missing South Alabama's previous game versus Arkansas-Little Rock due to injury.

Hall leads the team and ranks third in the conference in scoring with 15.7 ppg, while also ranking among the league leaders in free-throw shooting (fourth – .812), three-point shooting (second – .425) and three-pointers per game (Tied-second – 2.3).  She has also scored double figures in 26 of her last 30 games dating back to the '13-14 season.

A pair of freshmen rank behind Hall offensively for the Jaguars.  Marquita Daniels is second on the club with 7.4 ppg, while Chyna Ellis is close behind her with 7.1 ppg.  Ellis also ranks 10th in the conference in rebounds (6.8) and her 1.7 blocks per game are tied for third in the Sun Belt.

During its current 13-game skid, the Jaguars have been held to 53 points or fewer eight times and are shooting 34.4 percent from the field, while averaging 51.1 ppg.  USA's opponents are averaging 67.5 ppg and shooting 43.6 percent during that same time.

Louisiana-Lafayette (13-5, 5-4 SBC) comes into Thursday's game versus the Jaguars after picking up 63-56 win at Georgia State over the weekend.  The Ragin' Cajuns used a 21-4 first-half run to take control for good and held on for the seven-point victory.

ULL also captured an upset win over second-place Arkansas State last week, defeating the Red Wolves 69-57 in Lafayette.  

Against the Panthers on Saturday, Louisiana-Lafayette forced GSU into 20 turnovers, marking the 13th time this season the Cajuns have forced their opponent into 20 or more turnovers in a game.

The Ragin' Cajuns rank second in the Sun Belt Conference in steals (10.4) and have three players – Kia Wilridge, Keke Veal and Jaylyn Gordon ranked in the top 10 in the league individually in that category.  Wilridge leads the SBC and ranks 28th nationally with 2.8 steals per game, while Veal (2.3) is in a four-way tie and Gordon (1.8) is tied for ninth in the conference.  ULL also paces the rest of the conference in turnover margin (+6.7), which is 10th-best in the most recent NCAA rankings.  

Defensively, UL-Lafayette also ranks third in the Sun Belt in scoring defense, holding its opponents to 57.6 ppg.

The Ragin' Cajuns picked up a 65-58 win over the Jaguars in the first meeting of the year.  South Alabama knocked down a season-high nine three-pointers in that meeting, but ULL was 14-of-21 at the charity stripe, while USA was just 5-of-13.  The Jaguars missed six-straight free throws at one point, including the front end of a pair of one-and-one opportunities.  The Jags shot 44.9 percent from the field in the loss and connected on nine of its 15 three-point attempts.

"When we played Louisiana-Lafayette at their place, it was probably the most complete game that we've played all year," Fowler said.  "Hopefully we can duplicate that and just make a few more plays towards the end.  Keke Veal made three big time plays at the end that helped them stretch it out and take control of the game.  We've got to be able to use our size (advantage) against them.  Hopefully we can shoot the ball as well against them as we did in the first meeting."

On the offensive side of the ball, the trio of Gordon, Wilridge and Veal also rank among the scoring leaders in the conference.  Gordon is ninth in the SBC in that category with 13.6 points per outing, while Wilridge is 10th with 12.8 ppg and Veal is 13th with 12.4 ppg.

The trio combined to record 44 of ULL's 65 points in the first meeting with South Alabama this season, while also carding 10 of the Ragin' Cajuns 13 steals in the contest.  Gordon and Veal each had 15 points and three steals apiece, while Wilridge finished with 14 points and a game-high four steals.

"I thought other than a few stretches (in the first meeting) that we handled Louisiana-Lafayette's pressure better than we had against other opponents that use similar pressure," Fowler said.  "We've got to make sure we get lined up right in our press attacks and just execute from there.  The biggest thing though is for us to get stops at the defensive end of the floor.  If you get stops, they can't press."

Gordon also ranks among the conference leaders in free-throw shooting and three-pointers per game.  The sophomore guard is tied for second with 2.3 treys per game and sixth at the charity stripe, knocking down 80.3 percent of her attempts.  

Wilridge is 12th in the Sun Belt at the foul line, hitting 73.3 percent of her attempts.  Veal is tied for fifth in assists, dishing out 3.4 per contest.

Simone Fields leads the club on the glass, pulling down 5.2 boards per game.

NOTES: The meeting between South Alabama and Louisiana-Lafayette will mark the 38th in the all-time series between the two programs.  South Alabama holds a 34-13 advantage in the series.  Louisiana-Lafayette has won the last three meetings in the series, including picking up a 65-58 win in Lafayette earlier this month.  The Jaguars hold a 17-4 lead in games played in Mobile.  USA is 1-17 in its last 18 Sun Belt Conference outings.  This year marks the fourth year of the program's annual "Pack the House" event.  South Alabama had an announced attendance of 2,396 at last season's game against Arkansas State.  The Jaguars have had an average attendance of 3,034.  The largest attendance for the event was back during the 2012-13 season where USA drew 3,487 fans against Troy.

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).

—USA—