Cajun women ready for the kids, No. 14 Mississippi State

The UL women’s basketball team is 6-2, losing only at Sam Houston State and — most recently — 69-66 at North Texas.

Now, after a week off for final exams, the Ragin’ Cajuns really are about to get tested.

And coach Garry Brodhead is all about that.

In their final two games before Christmas, the Cajuns will play No. 14 Mississippi State on Monday morning at the Cajundome and, on Friday night, fellow SEC-member Ole Miss on the road.

The CST-televised Mississippi State game is UL’s so-called Education Game — one in which thousands of screaming school kids will watch at the Cajundome.

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Brodhead likes the idea of playing a particularly tough opponent in such a raucous atmosphere, and so too, apparently, does Mississippi State coach Vic Schaefer.

“Me and Vic talked about it,” Brodhead said, “and he wanted it.

“Our kids love it, man. Our players just absolutely love the fact that you’ve got excited kids that are just yelling for any situation, whether we foul somebody or they foul us.”

The Bulldogs played in the same noisy Education Game in 2014, beating the Cajuns 66-51 while Mississippi State was ranked No. 20 at the time.

“At halftime we were up by (two),” Brodhead said, “and it made it really tough.

“(His team) was talented, but he was young, so it put his kids in a (challenging) position.

“So when we decided on a date this time, he asked about the Education Game,” added Brodhead, who had another opponent in mind before accommodating Mississippi State. “He said that, ‘I’m young again, and I wouldn’t mind putting my kids in that situation.’”

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Brodhead — whose Cajuns have two double-digit scorers in Brandi Williams (16.3 points per game) and Ty’Reona Doucet (13.1 ppg, team-high 7.4 rebounds per game) — does not mind, either.

“It’s a tough game … they’re a lot better opponent … but I think it’s good for us,” he said. “It gets those kids to see how talented women’s basketball can be.”

The six victories for Brodhead’s Cajuns, meanwhile, include ones over Southland Conference members Southeastern Louisiana, New Orleans and Lamar.

But the next two games will be the only ones this season against teams from the SEC for UL, which after visiting Jackson State on Dec. 29 will open Sun Belt Conference play Jan. 2 at Georgia State.

For a team that has cut down on turnovers compared to last season and that is making better on-court decisions too, it will be a good barometer.

“I think they’ve gotten better at handling the ball and handling pressure,” Brodhead said of his Cajuns. “I don’t think we’ve been in one game this season that they (opponents) haven’t put pressure on us and pressed.

“It helps us on the defensive side, because now we’re able to play 5-on-5. We’re able to get back. Offensively, I think we’re better too.”

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UL is averaging 67.8 points per game this season, up from 61.9 when a much-younger team went 7-23 in 2018-19.

“You could just see that everybody that played last year is just so much more comfortable (in the offense),” Brodhead said.

That comfort zone, however, will be put through the ringer in the next week.

Mississippi State is coming off a 71-65 loss to West Virginia — its first non-SEC home loss since 2014, ending a 45-game streak.

Prior to that, it lost 67-61 to now-No. 1 Stanford.

But the Bulldogs opened their season on an eight-game win streak, including victories over Southern Miss, Troy and Marquette.

Ole Miss was 5-4 as of Friday with wins including ones over UL Monroe, Louisiana Tech and Sam Houston State.

“I find kids today, players today, they love playing … somebody better,” Brodhead said. “They play with more effort, and it’s easier to motivate them to play harder because of the circumstances.

“So I think it’s good for us, you know?”

But there are worries.

“The thing that concerns me going to Ole Miss is our last game (before Christmas),” Brodhead said. “The kids finally get a break … and I hope they don’t start thinking about the break before we play.”