RUSTON - Louisiana Tech will welcome not only a former Sun Belt Conference foe but also a former Lady Techster fan favorite Tuesday night when Arkansas-Little Rock (2-3) enters the Thomas Assembly Center for a 7 p.m. contest.

First year head coach Joe Foley will lead his Trojan basketball team into the game along with an assistant coaching staff that includes former Lady Techster letter winner Brooke Lassiter, one of Foley's top assistants.

Under Foley's guidance and with Lassiter's help, UALR has already shown signs of marked improvement over last year's 5-23 finish which included an 0-14 mark in Sun Belt Conference play. The Trojans have posted wins over Tennessee-Martin and IPFW while dropping close contests to St. Louis (72-67) and Texas A&M (54-45).

"It will be great to have Brooke back in the Thomas Assembly Center," said Tech head coach Kurt Budke. "Last year she was at Florida State so we didn't get to see her. She is going to have a great coaching career, and I know all of our fans will be excited to see her again."

Lassiter lettered for Tech from 1998 through 2002 while helping the Lady Techster record a 119-16 mark and three Elite Eight appearances and one Final Four berth in 1999. The Hamburg, Ark., native, who finished her career as the NCAA Division I career free throw percentage leader, said that although she will be excited to be back in Ruston, sitting on the opposite bench of where she resided for four years will be a little different.

"I spent four years of my life there, and made a lot of friends and gained invaluable experience from Coach Barmore and the assistant coaches," Lassiter said. "It will definitely be strange sitting on the other bench, but I'm looking forward do getting back to see everyone. It will also be a great opportunity for our girls to see the tradition-rich environment of Louisiana Tech."

Louisiana Tech enters the contest two days after falling 85-65 to No. 3 ranked Tennessee in Knoxville, a game that Budke said he learned plenty from about where his team stands at this point of the season.

"What we learned from the Tennessee game is that right now it is more about us than who we play," Budke said. "That's why we play Tennessee and Penn State; they are deep, they are talented and they expose your weaknesses as a team. We have to concentrate the next couple of weeks on us getting better in certain phases of the game."

Tech leads the all-time series with UALR 4-0 including a 2-0 mark in games played in Ruston.

The game can be heard on KXKZ-FM 107.5 and via the Internet at www.z1075fm.com. Tech fans can also sign up for "BulldogVision" and watch and listen to the game streamed over the Internet by logging on to www.latechsports.com and clicking on the "BulldogVision" link.