UL Women’s Basketball Hosts Georgia St.: Preview & Keys To Victory

Louisiana's Ragin' Cajun women's basketball team returns to the hardwood on Thursday, playing host to the Georgia St. Panthers, in Sun Belt Conference action.

The game will mark the front part of a day/night, women's/men's doubleheader at the Cajundome.

Louisiana, who lost on the road to the Troy Trojans, 87-75, last Saturday, has still won six of their last eight, and currently stands at 10-6, overall, and 3-2 in Sun Belt Conference play.

That 3-2 league mark puts the Cajuns in a four-way tie for second place, with Georgia St., WKU, ULM, and Texas St.

Georgia St., who is 7-10, overall, to go along with their 3-2 league mark, has won two-straight, including a 61-59 win over UALR last saturday.

Offensively, UL is currently sixth in the conference, scoring 65.6 points-per-game, while Georgia St. ranks fifth, averaging 67.1 points a contest.

Defensively, the Cajuns rank second in the league, allowing 62.4 points-per-game, while the Panthers are giving up 73.3 points a tilt, which ranks ninth in the ten-team league.

Louisiana is led by sophomore guard Sylvana Okde, who is averaging 11.9 points-per-game, while Georgia St. is paced by senior guard Kendra Long, who is scoring at a 13.7 points-per-game clip.

This will be the second all-time meeting between the two schools, with the Panthers winning, 68-58, back in 2008, in the only previous game

Tonight's game marks the first of three games that the Cajuns will play at home, over their next four.

Tip-off time is scheduled for 5 o'clock, with the men's game approximately 35 minutes after the  conclusion.

You can hear all the play-by-play action on Sports Radio ESPN 1420, and espn1420.com, beginning with the pre-game show at 4:45 pm.

Keys to victory:

If the UL women's are going to defeat Georgia St., they have to shoot the basketball well. In the loss to Troy on Saturday, the Cajuns had a stretch where they went 0-26. It cost them in that meeting, and it would cost them tonight, if the don't shoot better.

Because Georgia St. ranks 9th in scoring defense, ninth in field-goal percentage defense, and last in three-point field-goal percentage defense, UL should get some good looks. The key is taking advantage of those look.

As always, the Cajuns will have to rely on their defense to help them win. They rank first in the conference in turnover margin, it's vital that they force the Panthers to make some mistakes tonight.