Now that the weather is dropping and the days are getting colder, it means everyone is starting to move indoors. And for the Cajuns, that means we are going from Our Lady of Lourdes Stadium to the Cajundome.
The men’s basketball team kicked off their season at home with a 75-61 loss to the Akron Zips, but it wasn’t all bad. The Cajuns got Jamoryn Keller back, the Oklahoma State transfer who played just two games last season before going down with a season-ending injury. He ended the night with 26 points.
Trent Middleton Jr. and Dani Pounds, two players the Cajuns brought in through the transfer portal prior to this season, were both in double-figures. Last year, the men finished just 11-22, but what really hurt then was the slow start before conference play.
The Cajuns went into conference play with a 1-9 record before conference play opened. This year, with a roster that has 10 new additions, it may take some time for the Cajuns to mesh together and find their footing. If they can find that footing, the season can look much different than the 11-22 finish from last season.
The women’s basketball team opened their season the following night with a 77-72 win over the Xavier University of Louisiana Gold Nuggets. A balanced attack with six players scoring at least eight points propelled the Lady Cajuns to the win.
The Lady Cajuns were able to build a 10-point lead going into halftime, and were able to maintain that lead for the rest of the game. Two of the 10 new additions to the women’s team, Malaya Jones and Bailey Timmons, led the way with 16 and 14 points respectively. The Lady Cajuns were able to build a 10-point lead going into halftime, and were able to maintain that lead for the rest of the game.
Of the 10 new additions, seven of them are freshmen. As the Lady Cajuns had a roster of just 11 players last year, having extra bodies this year, especially with the wear and tear of the conference schedule, should be able to bring some extra wins.
Similarly to the men, the Lady Cajuns also got off to an extremely slow start in pre-conference play, having a record of 0-9 when conference play opened. Finishing with a record of 5-26 shows that there’s plenty of room to grow. But a win to open the season is something that the team can use as an early season momentum boost before conference play.
Two nights later, they traveled to College Station to play the Texas A&M Aggies. This was the first defeat of the season for the Lady Cajuns, a 62-51 loss. The road environment clearly affected the Lady Cajuns, as they shot just 26% from the field and 19% from three-point range.
In the home win over XULA, they shot 45% from the field and from three. Aminata Sowe, one of the freshmen for the Lady Cajuns, led the way with a double-double, logging 13 points and 15 rebounds.
One of the biggest keys to this season will certainly be figuring out how to mesh with all of the roster turnover from last season. However, if the Lady Cajuns can find a way to gel quickly, there is a lot of potential for a promising season.
As the Cajuns continued their early-season schedule, they welcomed the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Islanders to the Cajundome on Thursday night. The men would suffer their second defeat of the season, falling 67-60 to the Islanders.
Despite the loss, Keller continued to be a bright spot for the Cajuns, leading the team with 19 points. Senior guard Mekhi Cooper also contributed 17 points, providing another strong offensive performance. However, Middleton Jr. played just six minutes before going down with an injury.
Yet again, the Cajuns have lost one of their key transfers early in the season to injury. We just have to hope this year the injury doesn’t keep Middleton Jr. out all season. Something the Cajuns will have to improve on is their fouling habits, as Corpus Christi attempted 32 free throws, and Akron attempted 23 in the opener.
Both the lady’s and men’s basketball teams are looking at a lot of new faces. Building chemistry quickly and finding roles will be important for both teams. If they can figure that out, both teams will hopefully be looking at playing much further into March than last year.