A lot has happened in these parts since the UL women's basketball team lost a 67-65 overtime heartbreaker at Arkansas State last Wednesday.
Despite not being able to practice Tuesday and Wednesday because of the historic snow storm across South Louisiana, the Ragin' Cajuns are seeking revenge when they meet the Red Wolves at 6 p.m. Thursday in the Cajundome.
"It was a tough game," UL coach Garry Brodhead of last week's losses to Arkansas State and Troy. "Both teams were good. We had opportunities to win both games. Hopefully we can kind of regroup and get it done this week."
The Cajuns, who will then play Troy on Saturday, stand 8-8 overall and 4-3 in Sun Belt play. Arkansas State is 10-7 and 6-1 in league play.
On the surface, it looked like UL's coaching staff made major adjustments at halftime of the loss in Jonesboro. After all, the Red Wolves led by as much as 20 in the second quarter and took a 37-23 lead into the locker room.
In the third quarter, UL outscored Arkansas State 19-4 to get back into the game.
"You think we held them to four points, so we made some adjustments, but we didn't," Brodhead said. "We just did what we were supposed to do - jump switch. In the first half, we did not jump switch, like we were supposed to and they got a lot of open 3s. That allowed us to come back."
The Red Wolves made 10 3-pointers in the first half and only two in the second half and overtime period. UL only made one 3-pointer in the entire game.
"The thing we should have worked on a little bit more on (in Monday's practice) was to work on that jump switch, so they don't have to think about it," Brodhead said. "When your man sets a screen, we're going to jump switch it. We did not do a good job with that in the first half, but did a good job with it in the second. Can we be efficient at it? Can we be early on the defense?"
The other obstacle for the Cajuns are the injuries. With Uniyah Franklin (knee), Aasia Sam (back) and Jasmine Matthews (Achilles) all out for the last road trip, the Cajuns are looking at no Jaylyn James (9.1 pts, 3.8 rebs) again with a concussion for this homestand.
Somehow Brodhead is hoping the Red Wolves don't shoot it as well in the Cajundome. Of course with Arkansas State's new approach, it's more about quantity than quality.
The 12 3-pointers last Wednesday came out of 41 attempts for just 29.3%, but was enough to offset UL's advantage at the free throw line - 24 made to only 12 for the Red Wolves.
"They're playing just like Marshall," Brodhead said. "They're really shooting it well at their place. They're pretty good at it already, so we'll see.
"It should be a little bit more difficult for them. If we play our defense that we planned to play in the first game, it can be a little more difficult."
The Red Wolves had four double-figure scorers in the last game. Nubia Benedith led the Cajuns with a season-high 20 points on 10-of-11 at the line, followed by Erica Lafayette with 14.