TIP-OFF    
• The ULM women's basketball team, winners of six-straight Sun Belt Conference games, begins February at home hosting Troy, winners of eight-straight SBC games, on Thursday (Feb. 1) at 6:30 p.m. from Fant-Ewing Coliseum.

• The upstart ULM women's basketball team has recorded 15 wins so far this season, the most in program history since the 2010-11 season. The program won a total of 14 games in the previous three seasons. ULM's current six-game conference winning streak is the longest in ULM history in 19 years. With Saturday's win over Coastal Carolina, the Warhawks earned the longest conference winning streak since the 2004-05 team, who won 11-straight conference games to conclude the regular season.

• Jakayla Johnson netted a game-high 31 points as the ULM women's basketball team  completed a 71-68 comeback victory over Coastal Carolina (7-15, 1-8) after trailing by as many as 12 points in the game and by 10 points in the fourth quarter to win its sixth-straight game on Saturday afternoon inside Fant-Ewing Coliseum. Johnson made 11 shots from the field and a pair of 3-pointers to go along with five rebounds and four steals. It marked the second time this season Johnson scored above the 30-point mark. Her three-point play inside the final minute tied the score at 64-64. Johnson's teammate Sania Wells made the go-ahead 3-point bucket with under 30 seconds in the game to put ULM ahead by two points. Wells totaled 15 points, seven boards and a pair of steals and assists. Katlyn Manuel reached double figures with 10 points and shot 5-of-10 from the field. Nunu Bradford added seven points and nine rebounds while Kyjai Miles contributed five points and six boards.

• Jakayla Johnson was selected was voted the Louisiana Sports Writers Association Women's Basketball Player of the Week, the association revealed on Monday (Jan. 29). Last week, Johnson turned in a pair of double-digit scoring performances in a 2-0 weekend for the Warhawks. In Thursday night's 84-76 win versus Arkansas State, Johnson scored 15 points on a 5-for-9 shooting night and a trio of 3-pointers. She added six rebounds and three assists versus the Red Wolves. On Saturday, Johnson was an integral piece in ULM's comeback win over Coastal Carolina. Johnson finished with a game-high 31 points, which included eight points in the final 3:15 of game time. Johnson tied the game with 34 seconds to go with a three-point play. It marked the second time this season she scored above 30 points. Johnson collected five boards, four steals, one block and one assist versus the Chanticleers

• The Warhawks appeared in the Women's Mid Major Top 25 for the second time this season on Tuesday (Jan. 30). ULM was ranked No. 22 in the poll. Marshall (19) and James Madison (20) also appeared in the latest poll representing the SBC.

• Brianna Harris is set to play versus her former team on Thursday night. The Troy transfer appeared in 20 games for the Trojans last season and averaged 14.1 minutes per game. Harris scored in double figures in three of her first four games and helped Troy advance to the Women's National Invitation Tournament last season. Harris also played at Louisiana Tech.

THURSDAY'S GAME BASICS
ULM and Troy will meet for the 30th time in history Saturday afternoon at Fant-Ewing Coliseum in Monroe. Troy leads the all-time series, 15-14, and has won the previous 10 matchups, dating back to 2016.

Thursday night's game will be broadcast on ESPN+ with Chris Harris (play-by-play) and Mike Vining (analyst) with the call. The game also will air on KMLB 105.7 FM/540 AM and the TuneIn app on the Warhawk Radio Network from Learfield with Ben Milam on the play-by-play.

PREVIEWING TROY
After a 3-8 start to its season, Troy went undefeated in January, ripping off eight-straight SBC wins. The Trojans defeated Arkansas State inside Trojan Arena on Saturday, 91-84, in its last game, with Tai'Sheka Porchia scoring a season-high 35 points. Porchia's point total was good for the 10th-highest single game point total in Troy DI history.

Including Porchia, Troy's starting rotation features four seniors, all of whom average above 10 points per game. Makayia Hallmon leads the Trojans in scoring and averages 16.4 points per game. Porchia averages 15.1 points per game while Ja'Mia Hollings averages 13.0 ppg and Nia Daniel enters Thursday's game averaging 12.1 points per game. Hollings holds the top rebounding mark for Troy with 8.2 boards per game. The fifth projected starter for Troy is junior Shaulana Wagner, who facilitates the offense with a team-high 4.7 assists per game mark.

Chanda Rigby is in her 12th season at the helm of Troy women's basketball. In her tenure leading the Trojans, Rigby has led her team to seven 20+ win seasons, a trio of SBC Tournament Championships and a pair of SBC regular season crowns. Rigby began her college coaching career at Pensacola State and mentored four NJCAA All-Americans. She also has coaching experience at Holmes Community College and Tabor College at the collegiate level. The Southeastern Louisiana University graduate began her basketball coaching journey at Loranger High School and began her head coaching career at Northwest Rankin High School in Mississippi.

UP NEXT
The Warhawks will play the Ragin' Cajuns for the second time this season on Saturday (Feb. 3) inside Fant-Ewing Coliseum at 2 p.m.