The Series: Louisiana Tech leads the all-time series with Nicholls State 11-0. The series started in 1974-75 with the Lady Techsters winning 95-71 and 85-62. Tech's 97-75 win in 1975-76 and 79-57 win in 1998-99 are the closest games over the course of the series.
1974-75 LT 95-71 1978-79 LT 90-51 LT 85-62 1979-80 LT 108-501975-76 LT 97-75 1987-88 LT 92-42 LT 90-58 1998-99 LT 87-501976-77 LT 90-67 LT 79-57 LT 94-50
The Opponent: The Lady Colonels are 0-4 on the season after dropping contests against Tulane (73-54), Samford (64-52), New Mexico (83-41) and Cal St. Northridge (90-54). Coach Do Bonin's squad is led by Dana Kelley who is averaging 9.0 points a contest. NSU has struggled from the field through the first four games, shooting only 26 percent for the year. Bonin, who enters her seventh season at Nicholls State, is 32-130 during her tenure at the Southland Conference school.
wnit champs: For the second time in five seasons, Louisiana Tech captured the Preseason Women's National Invitation Tournament by defeating No. 4 ranked Purdue 68-63 in West Lafayette, Indiana. Tech advanced to the championship game with a 72-59 win over No. 13 Virginia. Tech is now a perfect 8-0 all-time in the preseason WNIT.
MVP Showing: Junior forward Ayana Walker earned the MVP honors at the WNIT after recording double-doubles in both the semifinals and finals. Walker scored 15 points and grabbed 10 rebounds against Virginia and added a career-high 24 points and 10 rebounds against Purdue.
All-Tournament, Too: In addition to Walker's great showing at the WNIT, junior guard Brooke Lassiter earned all-tournament team honors for her performance. Lassiter recorded her first career double-double with 12 points and 11 assists against Virginia before adding 12 points and four assists against Purdue.
SBC Player of the Week: Junior Ayana Walker earned the Wilson Sun Belt Conference Player of the Week award Nov. 27 for her efforts in Tech's first five games of the season.
Where they rank: Louisiana Tech currently ranks No. 8 in the USA Today/ESPN Coaches Top 25 Poll and No. 9 in the Associated Press Top 25 Poll.
Coach Leon Barmore: Barmore enters his 19th season as head coach of the Louisiana Tech Lady Techsters. He began at Tech as an assistant coach in 1977-78 under Sonja Hogg and was promoted to associate head coach in 1980-81 and then co-head coach in 1982-83. In 1985-86 Barmore took over as the lone head coach. In his 18-plus seasons, Barmore has compiled a career record of 524-78 (.871), the highest winning percentage among active Division I mens or womens coaches.
Elite Group: By winning 30-plus games last season, Louisiana Tech Head Coach Leon Barmore became one of only three coaches in the history of mens or womens basketball to post five consecutive seasons of 30 or more victories. Barmore joined former Tech coach Sonja Hogg (6 straight) and Connecticut Head Coach Geno Auriemma as the only threesome to accomplish the feat.
Assisting Barmore: The offseason was a busy one for Barmore who hired two new coaches and an administrative assistant. Kurt Budke joins the Lady Techsters as the associate head coach after leading Trinity Valley Community College to four national titles in the past seven seasons. Stacy Johnson joins the staff as an assistant after leading Cameron University for the past three seasons. Former Lady Techster letter winner Katie Cochran rounded out the new coaching staff as the administrative assistant. Chris Long returns for his second year at Tech as an assistant.
No. 600: Louisiana Tech head coach Leon Barmore coached his 600th career contest Nov. 17 against Michigan in Ann Arbor.
recapping last season: Louisiana Tech posted a 31-3 mark and advanced to the Midwest Regional Finals in Kansas City. Along the way, Tech won its eighth straight Sun Belt Conference regular season title and its fifth straight SBC tournament title. Head Coach Leon Barmore recorded his 500th career victory against South Alabama Jan. 10, 2000, in Ruston. Tamicha Jackson became the 16th Kodak All-American in the history of the program. Betty Lennox also earned numerous All-American honors and was named the SBC Player of the Year. Jackson, Lennox and Shaka Massey were all selected in the WNBA draft, making Tech the only school to have three players drafted.
Frierson out: Louisiana Tech sophomore sensation Catrina Frierson suffered a season-ending knee injury in a pickup game in mid-September and is out for the year. The Vicksburg, Miss., native averaged 10.5 points and 4.6 rebounds a contest as a freshman. Frierson increased her production drastically during the postseason, averaging 15.1 points and 5.4 rebounds in the SBC and NCAA Tournaments.
Exhibitionists: Louisiana Tech posted impressive victories over the Houston Jaguars (84-68) and against Spartak Moscow (88-50) in its two exhibition games.
Preseason Honors: Louisiana Tech was the unanimous choice to win the East Division of the Sun Belt Conference this season in the preseason coaches poll. Lady Techsters Ayana Walker and Takeisha Lewis also earned preseason All-Sun Belt Conference honors.
East Division West DivisionLouisiana Tech (12) 72 Denver (10) 68Western Kentucky 56 North Texas 53Florida International 48 New Orleans 45Arkansas State 32 New Mexico State (2) 40Middle Tennessee 31 Louisiana-Lafayette 31Arkansas-Little Rock 13 South Alabama 15
The New Sun Belt: The Sun Belt Conference added three new schools this season as Middle Tennessee, New Mexico State and North Texas joined. Thus the 12-member conference is now divided into an East Division (Tech, Western Kentucky, Arkansas State, Arkansas-Little Rock, Middle Tennessee and Florida International) and West Division (Denver, New Mexico State, North Texas, Louisiana-Lafayette, New Orleans and South Alabama).
WAC .... 2001: 2000-01 marks the final year for Louisiana Tech in the Sun Belt Conference. Starting in the fall of 2001, the school will make and all-sports move to the Western Athletic Conference.
Seniorless: Louisiana Tech's 14-member roster this season has one glaring -- yet promising -- feature as it contains zero seniors. Leon Barmore's squad features seven juniors, four sophomores and three freshmen.
Home, Sweet, Home: Louisiana Tech has dominated opponents for the past 18-plus seasons in the Thomas Assembly Center (8,000). Over the course of that time, the Lady Techsters have posted a 269-15 record at home. Seven of those 15 losses came in a two-year span in the early '90s. Tech currently owns a 28-game winning streak at home and has been victorious in 79 of the last 80 games at the TAC.
Lucky No. 8: Louisiana Tech claimed its eighth straight Sun Belt Conference regular season title last year. The Lady Techsters have won every title since the 1991-92 season when the Techsters finished third. Tech also won its fifth straight tournament title.
Double Trouble: All-America candidate Ayana Walker leads Louisiana Tech with three double-doubles this season and eight for her career. Junior guard Brooke Lassiter posted her first career double-double against Virginia Nov. 19 with 12 points and 11 assists.
Player 00-01 CareerTakeisha Lewis 0 9Ayana Walker 3 8Cheryl Ford 0 1Brooke Lassiter 1* 1** denotes points and assists
Dishing -- And Protecting -- The Rock: Although Louisiana Tech posted a 31-3 mark in 1999-00, Head Coach Leon Barmore was not happy about his team's assist to turnover ratio as the Lady Techsters recorded 542 assists while turning the ball over 610 times. However, through the first five games this season, Tech has shown a marked improvement, totaling 74 assists and 74 turnovers. The starting guard combination of Essence Perry (15-9), Brooke Lassiter (27-14) and Amber Obaze (11-11) have combined to record 53 assists and commit 34 turnovers.
Defense! Defense!: Through five games, Louisiana Tech has held its opponents in check offensively as the opponents have combined to shoot only 33 percent from the field, average 59.4 points, and combine for 42 assists and 87 turnovers.
Century Mark: The Lady Techsters have broken the 100-point barrier in at least one game in every season in the program's history.
Rebounding War: Last year Louisiana Tech led the nation in rebounding margin at +10.6 per game while outrebounding 31 of 34 opponents. Thus far this season, Tech has outrebounded its opponents by +5.6 a game.
automatic: Junior guard Brooke Lassiter entered this season as Louisiana Tech's all-time free throw percentage leader at .901. However, Lassiter has actually increased that mark by hitting on 28-of-28 from the line this season. Counting the end of last year, Lassiter has now hit a school record 30 straight free throws.
Tech Career Free Throw Percentage Leaders
(by percentage; minimum of 100 attempts)
No. Name Pct. FTM-FTA1. Brooke Lassiter .921 128-1392. Amy Brown .827 220-2263. Penee Hall .798 87-1094. Jamie Scheppman .796 129-1625. Sheila Ethridge .767 293-382
Long-range bomber: With three three-pointers this season, junior Brooke Lassiter is moving closer to 10th place on the Tech c areer three-pointer list. Lassiter entered the season with 25 and is chasing Amy Brown who ended her career with 30.
Tech Career 3-pointers Made Leaders
5. Betty Lennox 886. Christie Sides 697. Cara Guillon 468. Linda Watson 369. Amanda Wilson 3310. Amy Brown 30Brooke Lassiter 28
Tech Career 3-pointers Attempted Leaders
5. Betty Lennox 2516. Christie Sides 1547. Cara Guillon 1408. Linda Watson 1229. Amy Brown 10510. Jamie Scheppman 90 Brooke Lassiter 76
Rejection specialist: With 10 blocked shots this season, Ayana Walker now has 110 for her career and is slowly moving up the school and Sun Belt Conference list.
Tech Career Blocks Leaders
6. LaShawn Brown 1537. Erica Westbrooks 1468. Debra Rodman 1429. Ayana Walker 11010. Elinor Griffin 105
SBC Career Blocks Leaders
12. Teresa Bowlin, UNCC 120 Dina Jones, USA 12014. Melinda Carlson, WKU 11715. Ayana Walker, Tech 110
Techsters Dominate SBC foes in TAC: Over the past nine seasons, Louisiana Tech has dominated conference opponents in the Thomas Assembly Center, posting a 62-1 mark. Included in that impressive record is a 61-game winning streak.
Home, Sweet, Home: Tech currently holds the nation's 4th longest winning streak at 28 games. The last loss at the Thomas Assembly Center was against Tennessee 92-73 Nov. 30, 1998.
1. Grambling 662. Kent 313. Texas Tech 294. Louisiana Tech 285. Notre Dame 235. Old Dominion 237. Marquette 218. Geo Washington 209. Boston College 169. Penn State 16
All-Time Women's Home Win Streaks: Louisiana Tech holds three of the nation's Top 10 all-time home win streaks, including a school record 62 game win streak from Dec. 9, 1982 to Feb. 18, 1986.
1. Tennessee 69 (Feb. 1, 1991-Jan. 2, 1996)2. Auburn 68 (Feb. 5, 1986-Nov. 23, 1991)3. Grambling 66 (Feb. 1, 1994-present)4. Louisiana Tech 62 (Dec. 9, 1982-Feb. 18, 1986)5. Virginia 61 (Jan. 18, 1992-Dec. 20, 1995)6. Connecticut 54 (Jan. 24, 1996-Jan. 2, 1999)7. Colorado 53 (Feb. 20, 1980-Nov. 19, 1983)7. Rutgers 53 (Feb. 10, 1985-Dec. 30, 1988)9. Louisiana Tech 52 (Mar. 16, 1995-Mar. 16, 1998)10. Louisiana Tech 49 (Nov. 30, 1978-Dec. 4, 1982)10. Stanford 49 (Nov. 25, 1994-Nov. 26, 1997)10. Rutgers 49 (Dec. 10, 1977-Jan. 30, 1982)
frosh phenom?: Louisiana Tech freshman guard Amber Obaze was one of 42 players 18 years or younger invited to the 2000 USA Basketball Women's Junior World Championship Qualifying team trials this past summer. The Dallas, Texas, native is also the first true freshman to begin the season as a starter for a Leon Barmore squad since the 1996 season when Tamicha Jackson started at the point guard position.
Obaze Steps Up: Freshman Amber Obaze showed the poise of a senior when she nailed a game-clinching three-pointer in Tech's 68-63 win over Purdue in the championship game of the WNIT. Obaze scored a career-high 16 points in the win.
Kansas State ... Trinity Valley ... Louisiana Tech: Louisiana Tech junior Essence Perry is the starting point guard for the Lady Techsters, marking the third team in three seasons that the Lawton, Okla., native has started for. Perry started every game at Kansas State her freshman season, leading the Wildcats in assists (137) and steals (48). The 5-foot-7 guard then transferred to Trinity Valley Community College where she averaged 9.3 points and 5.3 assists for the Lady Cardinals.
Heating UP: Point guard Essence Perry started the season hitting only 1of her first 11 shots from the field in the first two games. However, in the last three games, Perry has made 10 of 23 shots, including eight three pointers.
Jones Cup Invitees: A pair of Louisiana Tech players were invited to the USA Basketball Jones Cup trials this past summer. Junior Ayana Walker and sophomore Catrina Frierson were among 45 college players invited to the elite camp.
Mailman Delivers: Don't be surprised if you think you see Utah Jazz star Karl "The Mailman" Malone when you look into the face of Lady Techster No. 32 Cheryl Ford. The sophomore standout from Summerfield High School is the daughter of Malone. Cheryl's brother Daryl plays for the Tech men's squad.
Smith Inks Early: Louisiana Tech signed its only recruit for the year during the early signing period when Erica Smith inked with the Lady Techsters Nov. 8. Smith is a 5-foot-10 guard from Palestine-Wheatley High School in Arkansas and has been rated by numerous publications as the No. 1 player in the state. Smith was one of 42 players 18 years or younger invited to the 2000 USA Basketball Junior World Championships Qualifying team trials this past summer.
