TULSA, Okla. - Louisiana Tech will begin defense of its back to back Western Athletic Conference regular season championships when the eighth-ranked Lady Techsters (7-1) face Tulsa (7-3) at the Donald W. Reynolds Center Saturday at 4 p.m.

Head coach Kurt Budke's squad will take the court for the first time since the Lady Techsters 87-84 victory at Penn State Dec. 21 in State College, while Tulsa will be playing its third game in the last seven days.

"Tulsa definitely has an advantage having played a number of games since the Christmas break," Budke said. "It was nice for our kids to have some time off for Christmas, but now we have to regain the intensity we used to beat Penn State on the road. Sometimes that is hard to do when you've been off the court for as long as we've been."

Louisiana Tech will continue to rely upon a balanced offensive attack that boasts five Lady Techsters averaging in double figures through eight games as Trina Frierson (16.1 ppg), Amisha Carter (15.5), Erica Smith-Taylor (12.0), Amber Obaze (11.6) and Lakiste Barkus (11.3) form a high-potent, high-energy attack.

The Lady Techsters have also shown the ability to hurt opponents on both the interior and on the perimter.

"It's going to be very hard for opponents to focus on Trina and Amisha when our team is shooting 40 percent from the three-point line," Budke said. "We are so balanced both inside and outside and that makes this team so tough to defend."

Tulsa is riding a four-game winning streak with its last loss coming to No. 4 ranked Duke while the Golden Hurricane's other two losses have come against Arkansas and Missouri.

Head coach Kathy McConnell-Miller's squad posted an impressive victory over Big 12 Oklahoma State in the season opener while also defeating Alabama-Birmingham and Oral Roberts. Despite averaging only 65.6 points per game, Tulsa also boasts a balanced attack as six Golden Hurricane players are averaging 7.9 points or better, including three in double figures.

Tech, which has won 21 straight WAC regular season games dating back to the 2002-03 season, leads the all-time series with Tulsa 5-0 including three victories on the Golden Hurricane home court. The Lady Techsters are 15-1 all-time in conference openers, including 12 straight wins to open league play.

The game can be heard on KXKZ-FM 107.5 and via the Internet at either www.latechsports.com or www.z1075fm.com with the pregame show starting at 3:30 p.m.