RUSTON, La. -- Seventh-ranked Louisiana Tech (17-4, 8-0) looks to take a major step towards its ninth straight Sun Belt Conference regular season title when it hosts Florida International (15-3, 7-1) Thursday night at the Thomas Assembly Center.
With a win Head Coach Leon Barmore's squad would grab a two-game lead over both FIU and Western Kentucky in the SBC East Division race with seven games remaining on the conference slate.
"This is a huge game for us," Barmore said. "We still have to play at Western Kentucky and at Florida International so we can't afford a slip up at home. I believe this team knows the importance of this game and will come ready to play."
The Golden Panthers, who are receiving votes in both the Associated Press and USA Today/ESPN Coaches polls, reeled off 10 straight wins before falling 76-59 at Western Kentucky Saturday night. FIU's other setbacks were a pair of two-point losses early in the year to No. 24 Villanova (52-50) and Kentucky (60-58).
Barmore feels that one of the keys to the contest will be controlling the boards as both teams enter the contest ranked in the Top 5 in the country in rebounding margin with FIU at No. 3 (+11.2) and Tech at No. 5 (+9.6).
"Florida International is extremely strong inside," Barmore said. "They not only have a tall team, but a very physical team. Whoever is able to control the glass should have a better chance of winning."
Although Tech has outrebounded its opponents in 17 of 21 games this year, the Lady Techsters have gone on a recent tear, dominating the last four foes by an average of 53.0-32.7. In Saturday's 83-52 win over UALR, Tech had four different players grab 10 or more rebounds for the first time in Lady Techster history.
Meanwhile, the Golden Panthers have outrebounded 16 of their 18 opponents as only Western Kentucky and California won the battle of the boards.
Preseason All-Sun Belt selection Gergana Slavtcheva leads FIU averaging 19.9 points, 5.9 rebounds and 3.3 assists a game, while shooting 43 percent from the field. The 6-foot-1 junior showed Tech fans her offensive prowess last season when she scored 33 points in an 89-62 loss to the Lady Techsters in Ruston.
Mandy Shafer (14.3 ppg) and Cormisha Cotton (11.3 ppg, 8.2 rpg) have been FIU's other two main offensive threats although Shafer is out with a stress fracture of her left foot.
Tech counters with an offensive attack that has become more balanced as the season has progressed. Junior forward Ayana Walker still leads this way, averaging 16.8 points, 8.2 rebounds and 2.7 blocks a game. However, at least four Lady Techsters have scored in double figures in each of the last four games.
"Obviously, we are a tougher team to defend when we have more than just one or two players scoring for us," Barmore said. "Lately, we have had a number of people step up on the offensive end. We need that to continue."
The game can be heard on KNBB-FM 99.3 (Ruston), KBYO-FM 104.5 (Tallulah-Vicksburg) and KEEL-AM 710 (Shreveport).
